Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes and newly minted State Department Policy Planning Chief Jake Sullivan just held an on the record conference call on events in Egypt and America’s position. Rhodes outlined the three central pillars of the Obama White House’s approaches to the turmoil in Egypt.
Egyptians are still in the streets. There is violence in some parts of the country. The demands for Mubarak to go are still echoing through Tahrir Square.
All of a sudden, I am getting a lot of email asking for my Twitter address. I guess there is some confusion about which Steve Clemons is the DC version. OK folks.
I recently did an interview with the Daily Beast‘s Michelle Cottle on the erosion of comity in Washington. One of the interesting places that warring parties in DC still meet (and seemingly leave their guns and holsters with the concierge) is at Nixon Center annual dinners.
This article by David Corn and Siddhartha Mahanta first appeared at Mother Jones. It is reprinted here with permission. David Corn is Mother Jones‘ Washington bureau chief. For more of his stories, click here. He’s also on Twitter and Facebook. Get David Corn’s RSS feed. Siddhartha Mahanta is an editorial fellow at Mother Jones.
US Senator Jim Webb is not going to run again. Politico‘s Ben Smith has the scoop. Bad news is that Jim Webb has been a force for good in most of the issues I care about. In particular, Webb has a tenacious view on the separation of powers between the Congress and Executive Branch.
I’ve been harassed by some of you and other friends for words I tend to use a lot. In fact, some have suggested a new drinking game of Clemons using the words “stakeholder”, “seduce”, “civility”, “General Motors of countries”, and the like.
During the Democratic National Convention, I did some political commentary for Al Jazeera as well as MSNBC, CNN, Alhurra, TV Asahi, and others. But when in the Al Jazeera English booth, which they shared with a local Fox News affiliate, I saw then DNC Chair Howard Dean walk in.
I really like this video clip titled “We are Israel” which I got via the Israel Embassy’s Communications Chief Jonny Peled — and this is the Israel that I want to see be sustained. It would also be good to see an Egypt of similar energy and diversity emerge.
US Senator Chris Dodd is reportedly in negotiations to be the next President of the Motion Picture Association of America, a lucrative lobbying spot to protect and promote the interests of Tinseltown. According to Politico‘s Mike Allen, Dodd is the only one to whom MPAA is talking.
