By Steve Clemons

Joe Lieberman knows the ways of the Senate. He knows that there are votes that matter — and votes that don’t.

Just back to Washington after a long trip back from Tokyo. Our plane got diverted for an emergency landing to Anchorage, Alaska after a person on board was felled by a serious stroke.

Thanks to Steve for giving me a chance to blog about (flog?) my new book The American Way of Strategy — which, if you’re interested, I’ll be discussing with Lou Dobbs this evening on “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on CNN, 6 pm EST.

I have been learning a lot of behind the scenes stuff on this Japan trip. I realize that many TWN readers are not into the soap opera that is Japanese politics, but I used to be a real addict and find myself easily sucked in to the complex intrigue here. A couple of quick things….

We needed to see it for ourselves. Today, George Soros, a few others, and I visited Yasukuni Shrine — both the war memorial and the adjacent museum.

George Soros met me in Japan last night, and we had a fascinating dinner with Tadashi Yamamoto, President of the Japan Center for International Exchange.

Wow…my room is still rolling. Just felt a pretty sizeable earthquake in Tokyo…30 seconds ago.

This post is just a fun one — nothing serious. I am over in Japan right now, up at a really, really early hour from jet lag and had a humorous exchange I want to share. A Time Magazine friend of mine suggested we meet up for drinks and catch up.

This is a bit of a disappointment as Warner would have given any Senate-based challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination a real fight. In Tokyo, some folks are already asking what this means for Hillary and John McCain. More later.

I’m off to Tokyo for a few days of meetings. I will have much to report.