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The Washington Note Profiled in new Capitol Hill Powerhouse Political Webzine, Politico
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This was a nice surprise yesterday.
The Washington Note received a terrific write-up in the new Hill newspaper, Politico that has hired so many high-powered DC political writers away from the Washington Post and other publications -- including John Harris and Jim VandeHei.
Here is a fun excerpt:
"The Washington Note is one of the better blogs coming out of the Capital right now," e-mailed Helene Cooper, who covers the State Department for The New York Times. "Steve has been first to report a number of scoops, particularly on the diplomatic beat, where he seems to know just about everybody."The blog started getting hits in early 2005 when President Bush nominated Bolton -- a move Clemons called everything but boneheaded.
"You can't forgive President Bush for nominating John Bolton when John Bolton is so hostile towards alliances," said Clemons, describing the former ambassador as a "turbo-charged Jesse Helms.''
And he urged readers to telephone Sen. Dick Lugar, the Indiana Republican who was then chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. More than 3,000 did, and the senator postponed what had appeared to be a rushed hearing.
"All the people reading my blog looked at this as a big victory,'' explained Clemons. "Nobody had won against President Bush on any foreign policy issue. I mean even a meeting date. It was just remarkable.''
Many of Clemons' blog readers, though, are adoring fans.
"He's kind of like obsessed with Bolton,'' said Eli Lake, a reporter for The New York Sun whom Clemons calls his "intellectual opponent.''
Lake, who covers international security, said that during the Bolton issue he checked Clemons' blog daily, labeling it "the headquarters of the lynch Bolton central command."
Still, the self-described "foreign policy nerd" said TheWashingtonNote.com is on his list of "political blog favorites.''
And Lake isn't the only one taking note. At a Senate hearing on Bolton, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., congratulated Clemons on his online success.
Clemons even succeeded in getting Senate Democratic Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., to release a statement saying, "John Bolton is not the diplomat for the job. Americans deserve someone they can be proud of acting in this capacity."
More later -- but for those immediately around Dupont Circle in Washington, come join me for a lunch discussion in one hour (at 12:30 pm) (and we are providing the lunch -- very rare) at the New America Foundation with the Chair for Foreign Policy of the Free Democratic Party in Germany, Werner Hoyer, who will be discussing with me and others whether given what we are seeing at play in the Middle East and the missteps of the U.S., whether the "West" is now in precipitous decline.
-- Steve Clemons
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Reader Comments (19) - post a comment
VandeHei's the one who's married to the (now former, I assume) DeLay official, right? Pass.
That was a nice tribute to you Steve-and well deserved. Your blog is very informative and much appreciated.
Hey Steve, maybe you could take on the "Impeach Bush/Cheney" campaign with the same fervor as you did with Bolton? You never know.. just thought I'd ask.
Indeed an excellent blog, congratulations. here is my latest posting, your response will be appreciated:
Is Condi Rice on her way out?
During President Bush's State of the Union address Condi Rice appeared distanced and aloof. Also during her recent visit to the Middle East she did not seem to be convinced at of all of what she was saying, especially reviving the peace plan. And if she is not convinced how is she going to convince others?
Could it be that she is getting ready to jump from the sinking ship? It would be interesting to find out what other bloggers think?
You've earned this honory mention and more. Congratulations.
Well deserved praise for your blog that is intense, thoughtful, and informed. You also make corrections and updates which inspires confidence, and are not afraid of criticism.
Congratulations!
BRAVO !!! for SC & TWN...
Bravo. Well deserved accolades. TWN provides indispensably thoughtful and measured insights into the often invisible workings of the nation's capital.
PUBLIUS
Well deserved!
Any feedback on calls to Hagel?
His admonition to those w/o the spine to take Constitutional responsibility for war planning:
"If you want a safe job, go sell shoes"
was priceless.
How about a comment on Josh Marshall's:
"Practice to deceive- Chaos in the Middle East is not the Bush hawks' nightmare scenario--its their plan"
You're always fair and provide a very balanced, informed account of things. Thanks, Steve! Congratulations!
Can't remember how I learned about The Washington Note, or when, but it was certainly one of the best discoveries for someone looking for an invaluable, utterly honest and insightful blog. I too was impressed early on with your intellectual integrity and willingness to make any corrections post haste. It is clear that you are on a journey of political exploration, and you do a noteworthy job of including your readers. Many thanks.
I didn't catch the online. The question I would have asked, is, "What is her position on the Bush Adminstration's seeming rush to war with Iran?"
Steve, your blog is consistantly interesting, informative and thoughtful. There, can you stand such deserved praise?
A nasty question, is the Bush Surge an experiment to see if General Petreaus's theories work? Or, at least, a chance to see if his book needs revision?
Got home in time (MST) to see part of Dr. Hoyers presentation, and Steve and audience interaction
on C-Span2.
KNOCKOUT!!!! Makes the Politico review appear a star short. And some time in DC attractive.
goes so well w/ Josh's article linked above, written one month after the invasion. Nice to know there is a high probability of senior policy aides reading such things.
Josh getting Steve to blog brought me here.Steve's(German- Japanese?) sense of how to pursue truth, enter into political dialog, his energy to really WORK for truth (as opposed to spin), his extensive international network (Werner explained such individual international networks are one of the three necessary conditions of a German Liberal) and especially his hosting public forums that have a permanent life via podcasts, kept me coming back as part of my routine.
And of course this gave birth to a colony of participants that enriched this blog immensely.
Steve, creating such quality events and lowering the cost of access to them is you at your finest.
Only disappointment is lack of notice (are they just seeds that sprout by happenstance), and inability to find link to podcast of the event at either New American Foundation or in the C-Span archives. Sigh....
Will check again, hoping the event becomes low hanging fruit by someone's gentle pull.
Cheers and Kudos!
PS. Steve, you likely have other priorities, but I'd still like to your take if it was a hornets nest, or killer bee hive that got swatted. Or perhaps a reader could point me to a link where steve already has.
PPS.
Short Version.
Steve is the Charlie Rose of political blogs.
Steve, we already knew that but perhaps don't say it enough. And thanks for what you do that is way over and above CBS, NYT/etc.
Who is Politico and why did Katie Couric introduce them to America>
what a shocker! The latest Beltway cocktail-weenie circuit website (run by two notorious White House suck-ups from the Washington Post -- Pool-Boy Vanderhei and Whiny-Ass-Titty-Baby Harris) sings high praise for a blog that personifies the Beltway cocktail=weenie circuit!
And of course, the Blogger says nice things about his cocktail-weenie circuit in return....
This is called "log-rolling".... Vanderhei and Harris are journalistic embarrassments, as anyone familiar with their work can attest.
The Washington Note is useful because it usually previews the latest in "conventional wisdom" coming out of the Beltway cocktail-weenie circuit, and because Steve Clemons is so blatantly transparent in his willingness to act as a stenographer for the spin of his friends that its like getting access to the actual talking points themselves. That's why I read it-- to know what it is that the cocktail weenie types WANT people to think...not for any actual factual information...
Yeah Steve! Yeah team! Now let's go get Darth Cheney.
That wouldn't be the same p.lukasiak about whom this was written?
p.lukasiak - you're done posting in this thread. Subsequent posts by you will be deleted. I don't have to read your invective and insults, because that's all you offer.
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