Wow. I just received email #513 requesting either a transcript, tape or weblink from the conference Al Qaeda 2.0: Transnational Terrorism Since 9/11 which Peter Bergen, Karen Greenberg and I produced on Thursday for the New America Foundation and NYU Center on Law & Security.

Yesterday in the Russell Senate Office Building where we were holding the Al Qaeda 2.0 Conference, Howard Dean walked by and looked slightly interested in the proceedings before running into a meeting room that didn’t seem to belong to any particular Senator or Committee.

Folks, the Al Qaeda 2.0 Conference discussed below went superbly, but I am exhausted and am coming down off of all the Robitussin, Cepacol, Motrin, Advil, and Tyleno Flu pills I survived on most of the day.

But we are way oversubscribed! Always a good problem. I just sent the note below to the email list for the New America Foundation and wanted readers of TWN to see this as well.

My cold is still in full swing, but I am doing a one-hour long radio interview talk show today on “Your Call with Farai Chideya,” KALW 91.7 FM in San Francisco. The subject is the falling dollar and what that means for you (and me).

Walter Russell Mead calls them Jacksonian Americans. Anatol Lieven calls them pugnacious nationalists. I call them “Fuck Yeah Americans.” If you missed Team America: World Police, you need to watch this music video.

Folks will have to bear with me today. I have a rotten head cold, and my temperament is set on the “difficult curmudgeon” setting this morning — sort of like William Safire on most days. There is so much that can be said about William Safire, and many in the progressive community are saying them….

In the film, Guarding Tess, Secret Service Agent Doug Chesnic (played by Nicholas Cage) shoots the foot of the man who kidnapped the President’s widow (Shirley MacLaine).

Many of you who stop by to read The Washington Note are very familiar and may have even begun your journey to my site through Josh Marshall’s Talking Points Memo. His site turned four years old on November 12th, but he forgot until today to note his anniversary — which we too want to salute….

I gave a talk at the Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany a few days ago and was impressed with the city and the quality of thinking demonstrated by the students.