Category: General

Just back from Japan — thanks to Sameer Lalwani and Scott Paul for keeping the wheels rolling while I was in air.

Reuters is reporting an important story on the reinstatement of over a thousand candidates for the March 14th Iranian parliamentary elections who were initially struck from the lists by government committees: Over 2,000 registered candidates out of 7,200 were initially barred by government committees.

The Bush administration has bent over backwards to cater to business interests. At least, that’s been my perception from the outside. Last week, I met with an influential operative in the business community about the Law of the Sea. We agree on the importance of U.S.

Hillary Clinton told her supporters last night: “One of us is ready to be commander-in-chief in a dangerous world.” Setting up the “dangerous world” frame is right out of the Frank Luntz playbook. I’d link to his writings on national security but I can’t seem to find them online — I only have hard copies….

It’s about 3 am EST and I’m getting on a plane in 9 minutes here at Narita Airport in Japan. . .finally. But I’m very pleased that the Philadelphia Inquirer ran my Cuba reactions as an oped today.

Joshua Micah Marshall and his Talking Points Memo franchise have just won a prestigious Polk Award. This is a key development in recognition of blogging. The judges sited specifically Josh and his team’s work in connecting the dots in the patterned firing of US attorneys. Josh is a co-parent of The Washington Note.

In his speech tonight, John McCain referenced a “holiday from history” to deride his opponents — well, really, mostly Barack Obama. Guess what — STOLEN WORDS! There’s an epidemic. Charles Krauthammer seems to be the proprietor of this cliche — although lots of others have used the term.

Toles (c) 2008 The Washington Post. Used by permission of Universal Press Syndicate. All rights reserved. This so completely captures where we as a nation are. Forget about Cuba.

Joe Cirincione is one of the great, high energy intellectuals in Washington who knows that the stakes are big in Washington — and that the policy battles we engage in really matter. They do.

There is no doubt that Obama is a juggernaut now. CNN just called the Wisconsin race for him — his 9th win in a row.