You may never have heard of Joseph Overton and his proverbial window but you most certainly have heard the Republican presidential campaign in 2015 year not just flinging the window open but shattering all its glass.

I'm not a screamer. I'm confrontational, but I don't think that translates into anger.

[Dan Fried] served six presidents over a 40-year career dating back to the [Jimmy] Carter administration.

Right after Secretary [Rex] Tillerson was sworn in, four of the top career diplomats at the department were told their services were no longer needed.

The artificial primacy of defense among our national priorities is a constant unearned windfall for some, but it's privation for the rest of America; it steals from what we could be and can do. In Econ 101, they teach that the big-picture fight over national priorities is guns versus butter. Now it's butter versus margarine—guns get a pass. Overall, we're weaker for it, and at enormous cost.

As secretary of state you can go out in a helmet if you want to. Even in Switzerland in front of reporters.

I like explaining things, and I believe that you can do very high-level explanation on basic cable news provided you are willing to work hard enough to be a good storyteller.