Hi there, WordPress pals! I’m back from my travels, and trying to regain some balance after several days of not enough sleep, too much food, and general chaos. I am also finding that my WP stuff is acting up – my Reader is not showing me anything, so when I sat down to catch up with posts from everyone I’m following, they weren’t there. Not sure why, but I am trying to figure that one out. I can’t find anyone I’m following unless I search for them individually, and that is something I do not have time for today. So please forgive me if I’ve missed your posts – I’m not ignoring you, I promise, and as soon as I can get things functioning properly again I’ll make sure to read what I’ve missed over the past week or so.
I also have to drop a very quick post today, since I have no time to write much that’s useful right now. I’ve missed out on discussing a lot of news, but one thing I did want to mention was the passing of George McGovern. He was a public figure that I truly respected and it is sad to lose him, especially since he was still doing good work for others in this world until very recently. It’s also sad because I am not sure there’s anyone else doing things in quite the same way he did. I’d like to think others are picking up the liberal mantle of compassion that he once carried, but the world is very different now than it was when McGovern came to prominence, and I don’t know if the same sort of humility and charitable focus really exists among today’s political figures. As some of you may recall, a while back I began a series of posts that were inspired by McGovern’s recent book, What It Means To Be a Democrat. I meant to continue that until I’d covered each topic in the book, but I found myself struggling for the time to complete such in-depth pieces. I hope I can find time to write some more of them, at some point, because I do genuinely believe that McGovern’s messages need to be heard, now more than ever. At the very least, I wanted to note his passing here because the world really did lose a good man when he passed away, and no matter what your political affiliation, I think it should be evident that George McGovern believed in the importance of doing whatever you can to make the world a better place. It’s an example all Americans should aspire to follow.
Of course, there is also the final presidential debate happening tonight, and it is right here in my neck of the woods – South Florida. I am somewhat wary about this one, to be honest. I hope it goes well, especially for the president. Foreign policy is a topic that I’m not too enthused about right at this moment, partly because of the recent issues the administration has been facing with regard to the incident in Benghazi, and partly because I think most Americans would prefer to see a bit more discussion of domestic issues like jobs, the economy and education instead of foreign policy. Maybe I’m wrong about that, but I believe that, as we enter the final couple of weeks before election day, it would be more beneficial to expand upon and emphasize the issues that will have the most direct significance to American voters. I would like to see President Obama kill this one, in any case, so here’s hoping it gives him the boost he needs as we get into the home stretch.
And, as if that wasn’t enough excitement for one night, the season premiere of RuPaul’s All-Stars Drag Race is also happening tonight at 9, on Logo. I will not be watching that, unfortunately, since my jones for politics is greater than my love for this awesomely trashy (or is is trashily awesome?) show. But thank goodness for the internet – I will be indulging in the episode online at the first chance I get. I am not a TV person, outside of news and sports, but RuPaul’s Drag Race is one of the best things ever in my personal entertainment universe, and I am mega stoked for this season, y’all. Big love to my South Florida queen, Latrice Royale, but if I had to put money on someone I think it would be Raven, who was robbed in Season 2 (Tyra Sanchez? Puh-leeeeze!). Start your engines, hunty – it’s time to werrrrrk!
And for now that will have to be it, folks…I have much to do in the way of unpacking, doing laundry, and generally getting back to post-travel routine. But I will leave you with one little thing before I go. Our trip was to the land of fairy dust itself – no, not the set of RuPaul’s Drag Race (although that is a trip I would die for). We headed to Walt Disney World for a family get-together, and as always it was a lot of fun. But in one of the many – many, MANY – gift shops, I spotted a shirt which I’m sure wasn’t intended to be a political statement. Still, it’s something that would be great for both Mitt Romney and his boy wonder sidekick, Paul Ryan:
DoubleyooTeeEff 
I watched the debate. Obama outpaced, out-maneuvered and out-thought Romney in every way. It was clear that Romney learned foreign policy in a week and a half and he learned it by reading Obama’s website. Incredible how much he agreed that Obama was doing the right thing – yet, Romney “would have done it earlier.” Gotta love hindsight – that’s no foreign policy. It’s too bad that a lot of people won’t see the total lack of substance in Romney’s foreign policy positions and will be impressed, rather, by Romney’s memorization of the population of countries. Yes, he took time to tell us how many people lived in each country. And that was it. The other very noticeable thing is how once again he has flipped on Afghanistan and now is in total disagreement with his running mate, Ryan. Ryan wouldn’t give a date for departing that country, but Romney now says it’s 2014. And some fantastically hilarious one-liners from Obama: “The 1980s called and they want their foreign policy back, Governor Romney.”
That line was classic! This debate wasn’t as lively, but definitely showed Romney’s lack of foreign policy cred.