Well, I’m back in New York City.

No, I haven’t given up on LA. No, this whole “moving” thing wasn’t a ridiculous ruse to excuse my stepping out of town for the RNC (okay, well maybe it was, partly).

No, I’m here for the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Yes, we got into it and my beloved cast decided they just can’t do it without me, so I’m in town for three more performances of The Next Big Broadway Musical. You should come. Peter’s probably coming (though I won’t say which night in order to protect his privacy).

Anyway, what’s going on, you wonder?

- Israel once took down Iraq’s nuclear capabilities, all on its own. Now Iran’s building up nuclear capabilities. Israel just bought a passel of bunker bustin’ bombs. And now, Israel has announced that Iran is new Biggest Terror Threat in the world. What’s gonna happen next? Who could possibly predict what is going to happen next? Is Israel going to bake Iran a cake? Maybe there will be a gradual thawing of relations? Maybe Israel will come to accept that Iran’s nuclear intentions are peaceful? Who knows? Whatever happens, you can be sure that it will only improve the United States’ relationship with our Arab friends. Seems like we can stop worrying about that one.

- Today, Iraq’s freely chosen Prime Minister got up before the US Senate to reassure everyone that everything’s going to be fine. Sure, the situation may be “getting worse,” okay, there might be “constant and growing violence,” right, some people might find themselves being “beheaded” occasionally… Okay. But the truth is that we’re going to win, because… well, just because. It’s weird (in a really nice kind of way) - it’s almost like this news is sort of exactly what we’d want to hear, even if it’s not supported by any evidence at the moment. It’s cool when things work out that way. Case closed on Iraq, by the way - we’ve heard it from the horse’s mouth. Next question.

- The House just passed a bill that prevents the Supreme Court from even ruling on that whole “under God” controversy. This is great for two reasons. For one, it’s about time that someone stood up and told the courts that they have no business interpreting the Constitution or the law. For too long, activist judges have been allowed to think that their jobs somehow involve passing judgement on what is and isn’t legal or Constitutional. And secondly, it’s just nice that the real issues are starting to make their way back into the news in this important election cycle. With any luck, this will start a real movement towards substantive debate, and we can spend the next month or so debating the Pledge, same-sex marriage, the ten commandments, and flag burning. The politics of real content have returned.