I've been AWOL for the past two weeks. Put my quill pen aside and coordinated my absence with the Obama vacation.

Hey, if he's not working, neither am I!

I did return to the office with a new granddaughter, which was my original reason for fleeing the office.

So, upon my return, I scanned the headlines to see exactly what I had missed in the past couple of weeks, and to be real honest, I didn't miss much.

I got a hoot out of the rodeo clown story from Kansas City which, for some odd reason, grabbed national headlines.

It reminded me of the Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo in Sikeston where the rodeo clown wore a Clinton mask in the same gag during the '90s.

I can only wonder what difference there was in the two episodes? I can only assume we're more "sensitive" now.

But then again, with that many bulls in a rodeo, there was bound to be some "bs."

I was amazed to learn on my return that Hillary Clinton has been elected president in the 2016 election.

I missed the primaries and the debates and the fond memories of Hillary's storied career. But if MSNBC says it's so, well, it certainly must be true.

I was saddened to learn of the turmoil in Egypt and the ramifications for our nation. But I am reassured in our administration's position of backing the wrong side and then the right side and now the wrong side again.

But leadership demands tough decisions and at least we have a commander in chief who is willing to straddle every fence he sees.

My heart truly ached when I read about the 26 deaths in the war zone during the past two weeks. Nothing compares to the loss of young men who gave their lives in the service to this great nation.

Oops. I was confused. Those deaths were in Chicago and not the Mideast. I'll have to pay more attention from this point forward.

I was pleased to learn that Obamacare is still on track to wreck our economy and that even some early staunch supporters are starting to get cold feet. But if the president continues to exempt certain groups from this massive monstrosity, there won't be anyone left to pay the bill and it may crumble under its own weight.

The truth is that little changes in the blink of the eye and a two-week sojourn is not sufficient time to see any real change.

All I've learned in the past two weeks is that Lindsay Lohan is still crazy and I have a new granddaughter.

Not a bad two weeks!

Michael Jensen is the publisher of the Sikeston Standard Democrat.