Quiet on the Homefront

I know I've been quiet the last couple of weeks. Well, it really doesn't have anything to do with Indiana's recent losses to Minnesota and Ohio State. Sigh. I've just been busy. Of course, I've been busy at work as well as with planning a trip to Spain and Morocco! I've never been to either so this trip will add two new countries to my list. I love going someplace new. With a few of my friends, I'll be able to see new places, meet new and exciting people and try out lots of new foods. In addition, I'll have an opportunity to see just how rusty my haggling abilities have become! In Spain, we're going to visit Madrid and Toledo (the original). Plus, I'll spend a couple of days at Grenada to see the Alhambra. So cool!

In Morocco, we are going to spend a few days in Marrakesh, staying not too far off Jemaa al Fna, the main square. I'm so very much looking forward to returning to Northern Africa. Though a world away, I had the good fortune of visiting Egypt while living in Bulgaria. What a wondrous and enchanting place it was. So easy to fall in love with the region when you have places such as Turkey and Egypt, the two countries there I've seen. Morocco will be different. One - it has couscous. Enough said. All joking aside, though one should never really joke about couscous, I have wanted to go to Morocco ever since I was 16 years old and visited Epcot Center for the first time. I fell in love with the country even then and am now so incredibly excited to finally be able to see it with my own eyes. I will probably cry when I get there. Wow!

While I won't be able to post pictures during my trip, I promise that I will definitely share them with you upon my return! I also hope you'll please forgive the temporary lack of decent formatting as I can only control so much while typing this on my phone!!

Until then, now that they're calling my flight to Madrid, I wish you all the best. Safe travels, friends!

2012 Iowa Caucus

Did you know the Republican Iowa caucus is set for tomorrow?

Actually, the Democratic Iowa caucus is also set for tomorrow, but President Barack Obama is running an uncontested race there, so he's using the evening to have an online Q&A session with constituents.

Since May however, there have been at least six different Republican front runners so it should be pretty interesting to see who wins since it's still anyone's game.  According to the Des Moines Register's latest poll, a full 41% of likely Republican voters are still undecided as of the weekend before tomorrow's caucus.  That is unheard of!

It really is rather unusual that the field is still so varied this late in the game.  Editor-at-large for Salon.com, Joan Walsh, once likened the Republican race for a presidential candidate to a game of T-ball - where it's cute that everyone gets to play and everyone is a winner just for playing.  

As a Democrat, I rather hope a different person wins every single week so the race can go on and on, thus forcing the candidates to spend all the money in their coffers against each other, rather than against the re-election of President Barack Obama.

Some interesting things to think about if you're considering voting Republican:

Did you know that the Dream Act was originally proposed (during Pres. George W. Bush's first term) by - and championed by Republicans like Senators Dick Lugar, John McCain and Orrin Hatch?

In 2012, all Republican candidates are now campaigning against this.

Did you know that Cap and Trade was originally proposed by Republicans? And did you know that it was a major part of the McCain / Palin 2008 Republican Presidential Platform?

In 2012, all Republican candidates are now campaigning against this.

Did you know that it is the party that determines the rules of the caucuses in Iowa and that the Republican party is allowing both same-day registration AND voting WITHOUT having to show any form of I.D.?

In 2012, all Republican candidates are now campaigning against this. Several Republican-led state legislatures are also working on legislation against same-day registration and in favor of requiring photo ID to be shown at all elections.  Their argument?  That ID is required to do things such as going through security at airports.

Of course, travel on airplanes isn't enshrined in the constitution as a right of all American citizens.  Voting is.

The Iowa caucuses are interesting in part because they get a lot of attention, presumably because they're first in the primary schedule and we tend like all things shiny.  But after a while, many Americans will be sick of hearing about the election of the week and well - it'll be overshadowed by things such as the Superbowl or March Madness.  That said, they will go on.  They will continue and eventually, our incumbent president will have a challenger from the Republican party - the nominee for which will most likely be the lesser of two evils for most voting Republicans.  

In the long run, and if we're lucky, we'll probably have a third party candidate - either thrown out there by the Tea Party or the Libertarians.  Either one will cause the same kind of split brought on by Ross Perot's candidacy back in 1992.  After two terms by the guy who won that particular election, we had a booming economy and a budget surplus.  

Maybe if the Republican candidates can start working for the American people rather than their corporate campaign financiers, we can achieve that level of prosperity again.

It all starts tomorrow.  In Iowa.  Let the games begin!