Doin' the NSC Shuffle

 So for those who haven't yet heard, there's been a slight shuffle at the top of the NSC.  Denis McDonough is taking over Mark Lippert's position as chief of staff, and head speechwriter Ben Rhodes is taking over McDonough's position as Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications.  Lippert will be missed, no doubt, but the other two moves are great news. McDonough will continue to do everything times seven, while Rhodes will be able to concentrate on the strategic communications dimension.  Both were key players during campaign days, and both really get Obama's instincts and approach to foreign policy.  Congrats to both!

 I know that many of my friends in the administration weren't thrilled with this week's post on the travails of their global engagement and strategic communications efforts. I'll have more to say about this soon -- especially on the appropriate relationship between long-term efforts such as the Cairo speech follow-through and the more tactical demands of strategic communications support for immediate policy objectives, and on the organizational issues involved with getting the whole of government working together on these issues.  But for now, I'm just especially happy to see Rhodes, a first-rate talent, moving in to this key position... and feeling a bit more optimistic than I was a few days ago.