Though unable to attend the event with Leonard Weinglass, attorney for the Cuban Five, which Steve Clemons had mentioned over a month ago, I did take some time to watch a part of his lecture.

Rachel Morris has a superb piece just out in the Washington Monthly titled “Rudy Awakening” that exposes that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney may be small time aggrandizers of executive power compared to the former New York mayor.

Just arrived in Mumbai a few hours ago and am near the famous Gateway of India pictured above. I’m having tea with some TWN folks at noon here at the Hotel Taj Mahal Palace & Tower. If others see this in time, you are welcome to join. Just email me at steve@thewashingtonnote.

Bloomberg and the Los Angeles Times just released a new poll showing Hillary leads Barack Obama by 31 points among likely voters — and as things stand right now has her beating all likely Republicans in the general election. Giuliani continues to poll strongly pulling 32% of all likely Republican voters.

On October 13, New York Times correspondents David Sanger and Mark Mazzetti co-authored one of the most intriguing whodunit stories in recent memory. Really, it was a whydunit story and focused on the September air attack by Israel of a Syrian military site.

On Tuesday, November 13, I’m going to be on a plane to Beijing, so I can’t attend the American Enterprise Institute book event featuring the recess-appointed former US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton speaking on his new memoir, Surrender is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations.

A lot of folks sent their good wishes after the oral surgery I had a week ago. Many thanks to all of you. The pain proved to be pretty tough to shake — and thus I really couldn’t blog much the last few days. My apologies.

Ali Larijani has essentially been fired by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is not letting Larijani leave the negotiating scene yet. Despite Larijani’s blurry status, Iran has announced the “joint will” of Ahmadinejad and Khamenei that Iran’s top nuclear negotiator attend talks on Tuesday in Rome with Javier Solana.

(Andrew Rice, left, is running for Senate against Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma) Matt Stoller posted this gem last night and Taylor Marsh knocked one out of the park this morning.

About 20 people, a long table, a backyard under a fall night sky, carved pumpkins and gourds, candles flickering everywhere, pomegranate margaritas, a magnificent meal (some of which also arrived in personal pumpkins) — and the equally uber-connected and delightful Margaret Carlson and Judith Czelusniak as co-hostesses.