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Threat Status with Peter Bergen: U.S. foreign policy and the presidential election

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Joseph Curl

Joseph Curl

Joseph Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The Washington Times. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on Twitter @josephcurl.

Columns by Joseph Curl

** FILE ** President Obama pauses as he speaks at the daily news briefing at the White House in Washington on Friday, July 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

CURL: Obama picks scab off America’s racial wound

President Obama, America's first half-black, half-white president, went to the White House podium last week to address the nation's most racially divisive case since Rodney King. But he wasn't there to calm the country. Published July 21, 2013

President Obama symbolic visit last week to the "Door of No Return," through which African slaves are said to have passed as they boarded ships for the Americas, most likely was a rubbish chute on Senegal's Goree Island, Britain's Telegraph newspaper reported.

CURL: Obama stands at his own ‘door of no return’

The White House has a team of people — you taxpayers foot the bill, of course — that spends its days thinking of the best way to portray the president in the most favorable light. ("Maybe we should snap him riding a bike in Hawaii?" "Let's snap him playing hoops!" "His 122nd round of golf? No cameras please.") Published June 30, 2013

President Obama pauses while talking about national security on Thursday, May 23, 2013, at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington. He was interrupted multiple times by hecklers. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

CURL: Why Obama scandals aren’t scandals at all

Another hot summer week in Washington, another scandal for President Obama. And this one was a shocker: Turns out the president has been doing — Wait, what? Exactly what presidents have been doing since 1978? Stop the presses! Published June 9, 2013

A soldier with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, also known as "The Old Guard," places flags at grave sites at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Thursday, May 23, 2013, as part of the annual "Flags-In" ceremony in preparation for Memorial Day. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

CURL: Remember Memorial Day

Today, we'll take a break from politics to remember the men and women who have served in America's military. Today is their day. If you see a soldier, just say thanks. It's that easy. Published May 26, 2013

** FILE ** President Obama listens to a question about Benghazi during a joint news conference with visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron on May 13, 2013, in the East Room of the White House. (Associated Press)

CURL: Benghazi is the only scandal that matters

Spoiler alert: The IRS scandal, the AP phone records scandal — they go nowhere. In September, we'll all be looking back thinking, "Huh, that was a big waste of time." It will be — in fact, it already is. Published May 19, 2013

President Obama speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel on Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

CURL: After failed charm offensive, Obama back to bashing GOP

President Obama's charm offensive has been a dismal failure. Of course, he didn't really try all that hard. He bought dinner for a few Republican lawmakers, vowed to meet them halfway, but within a week — after his gun-grab bill went up in flames — he called them "liars" and stomped off in a huff, taking his ball with him. Published April 28, 2013

President Obama stands with former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter at the dedication of the George W. Bush presidential library on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Thursday, April 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

CURL: W outclasses Barack and Bill, without even trying

Shortly after Barack Obama was elected in 2008, a fellow reporter who'd covered President George W. Bush all eight years told me she'd had enough of the travel and stress and strain of the White House beat, that she was moving on. Published April 25, 2013

Alec Baldwin portrays Jack Donaghy in a scene from "30 Rock." (AP Photo/NBC, Ali Goldstein)

CURL: The undistinguished press corps

Sometimes, the nation's reporters perform their duties to the highest degree: They root out corruption, uncover scandal, speak truth to power. But increasingly, America's "journalists" are falling well short of what the founders envisioned when they sought to ensure a democracy kept honest by a free and vibrant press. Published April 14, 2013

President Barack Obama waves to the crowd as he watches the first half of the East Regional final in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament between Syracuse and Marquette, Saturday, March 30, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Tenally)

CURL: The Obamas live the 1 percent life

Being president of the U.S., the most powerful man in the world, is often most about perception. But something remarkable has happened with these occupants of the White House: Neither President Obama nor first lady Michelle appear to give a damn about perception. Published March 31, 2013

Vice President Joseph R. Biden

CURL: No go for Joe in 2016

Joseph R. Biden took the vice presidential gig, after something like 87 years in the Senate, because he knew in his tiny heart of hearts that that was the end of the line. Published March 24, 2013

Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Hotel at National Harbor, Md., on Thursday, March 14, 2013. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

CURL: Young bucks rut on old GOP timbers

After back-to-back drubbings in presidential elections, the Grand Old Party is deep in contemplation — navel-gazing, really — over what went wrong and, more, what to do about what went wrong. Published March 17, 2013