By Steve Clemons

Earlier today, I wrote about the interesting press gaggle comment by White House spokesperson Dana Perino that Bush was not a “gambler.

No kidding. White House spokesperson Dana Perina yesterday said that despite Bush’s big gambles on Iraq, on his ‘bring it on’ battle against global terrorists, and possibly on Iran, “The President is not a gambler.

This tidbit just appeared in Robin Wright’s recent reporting on the Annapolis Summit in an article titled “Iran: The Uninvited Wildcard in Mideast Talks“: Iran will still have leverage in the event of peace, Arab officials concede.

Thanks for the good greetings from many friends and TWN readers who clocked in from China, Australia, Israel, and throughout Europe tonight regarding some comments I made on CNN International about the Annapolis Summit.

On the eve of the Annapolis Summit, former U.S. Army Chief of Staff General ERIC SHINSEKI has asked that his name be added to a letter to the President and Secretary of State about the fundamental requirements for a successful Israel-Palestine outcome.

The counter-neocon crowd really should be taking notes on not only the chutzpah of neoconservatives who helped take this nation on a self-destructive course, but on the tactics and vehicles they use. I think that David Frum’s new book and the forthcoming December 10th Bradley Lecture by Douglas Feith deserve particularly close inspection.

If you even have a smidgen of interest in Japanese art, an afternoon well done is visiting the “Patterned Feathers and Piercing Eyes Exhibit” of the “Joe and Etsuko Price Collection” at the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery.

Australia’s Shadow Climate Change Minister and former Midnight Oil Singer Peter Garrett Australia’s election that has today elevated the Labor Party to majority status and Kevin Rudd to succeed the conservative John Howard may signal a major shift ahead in America’s political order.

This just in from Bloomberg’s Lorraine Woellert: Presidential candidate Ron Paul said he has raised more than $9 million in the past two months and he predicted his campaign will exceed its $12 million fourth-quarter goal.

Arianna Huffington has linked three interesting graphics in an essay titled “Posterizing the Modern GOP.” I like the poster to the right the best, but the politician roster above is also effective.