The countdown is on. It won’t be much longer before Robert and I begin our next long cruise on Holland America. (For those who read this blog only for our travel dispatches, you don’t have long to wait.)
This time, we’ll be departing from London on a three-month excursion that takes us though the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, around India, throughout Southeast Asia and then back again to England. Twenty different countries and thirty-three different cities along the way. Forget about those New Yorkers who go to Florida for the winter, or the Wisconsin farmers who head to Arizona. This year, our winter home is going to be the world.
In one regard, leaving can’t happen one minute too soon. I don’t think I could abide the debates and campaign news that will certainly dominate the airwaves from January through April. A daily recap on the shipboard newspaper will be more than enough for me.
That’s not to say I don’t care deeply about what happens in this upcoming election. I do. I just reach a point where I feel I’m drowning in the pandering and ignorance.
The other day, one of our friends said they thought I looked like John Kasich, the Republican governor of Ohio. Unfortunately, there’s no chance of making money off that similarity by being his political double should he get elected. In my mind, Kasich is the only Republican candidate who has the credentials of actually balancing the Federal budget, running a major state and of showing willingness to think and listen. Just like the reasonableness of Jon Huntsman in the 2012 election, that dooms any chance the Republican base will listen to him.
Instead, some appear to consider a man who contends the Pyramids were built to store grain. Seriously? I don’t think there’s enough storage space in those buildings to store the oats we kept on our little Wisconsin farm. Carson may be able to separate conjoined twins, but sometimes I wonder if there are two brains in his head, because I don’t know how else to explain the nonsense that he spouts with the fact that he possesses great surgical talents. But does it matter? I wouldn’t hire the world’s best banker to do my brain surgery, and I don’t consider being a great surgeon a credential for political leadership.
Then there’s Trump. He’s the best. And biggest. And smartest. And scariest demagogue to come along in American politics in decades. I think it’s time to tell him, “You’re fired.”
I could go on. But I’ve probably angered enough readers. Which is why it’s good that soon I will instead be trying to describe the wonders of places like Knossos, Petra, and the dragons of Komodo Island.
So here’s to a happy Thanksgiving, a merry Christmas, and a wonderful new year to all my readers. We’ll be back in 2016 with the all new adventures of Dennis and Robert! See you then!
To check out my novels, visit www.amazon.com/author/dennisfrahmann
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