By Steve Clemons

Quite a number of serious and informed observers predict a spike in mass casualty violence hitting this week in Pakistan.

Kevin Nealer was a Fulbright professor of trade law & policy and is Guest Lecturer at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Markets generally take a “Stop them before they kill again!” approach to Democrats and trade policy.

I’m still in Doha, and Dennis Ross was here in Qatar yesterday meeting government officials and discussing America’s course on Iran. Now, there are denials from the Iranian press that Dennis Ross and two other senior government officials, including Puneet Talwar of the National Security Council, are planning a journey to Tehran.

Universities, think tanks, defense contractors, insurgent groups and new media operations all seem to be leaning towards Doha. Part of George Patton’s own 3rd Army Division is based near Doha. Al Jazeera is headquartered in Doha.

Joe Klein has written one of the best 100 day nutshell reviews of the Obama administration’s performance I have read. Klein’s take squares almost perfectly with a piece I have coming out in the next few days in World Politics Review — not there yet though.

Joseph Margulies in the Los Angeles Times offers anyone who wants to defend the Bush administration’s embrace of torture a chilling retort. His bottom line: the administration sold out the values Americans cherish most to torture not a kingpin in the al Qaeda network, but a clerk. Margulies writes: First, they beat him.

Barack Obama’s press conference last night punctuating the ritualistic 100-day review of new presidencies showed this President at his best I think — thoughtful, human, willing to take quite a roster of questions, and well. . .wonky. But Guardian US editor at large Michael Tomasky found a pretty significant error in Obama’s commentary last night….

Wow. The Democrats — if they ever bring in Al Franken — will control 60 seats in the US Senate fair and square.

I have had a couple of overwhelming weeks and haven’t been able to post until now what I would have preferred on this debate about George W. Bush administration torture policy accountability.

The Washington Note‘s actual image has made it on to Rachel Maddow’s terrific MSNBC show, been highlighted on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show, and has popped up on Wolf Blitzer’s The Situation Room on CNN, and George StephanopoulosThis Week. . .but there is a new first for TWN.