Pajamas and press outreach

My pajamas are so much better than his. Source

I had all of these fancy plans for how I was going to spend my evening, and somehow that turned into me filling out security clearance forms in my pajamas for the better part of two hours.

Yes, the life of a public diplomat is just as glamorous as you've always imagined. And yes, I've been wearing my pajamas since 8pm. Your judgment means nothing to me.

But let's close the evening with a quick highlight from the realm of public diplomacy, this one courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, which reports that the foreign press is often marginalized while covering the U.S. presidential race:

The Ron Paul press operation, the most open and easygoing in the Republican race, has disappointed the Dutch and the Scandinavians. They are enamored with the Texas congressman's noninterventionist foreign policy but haven't been granted any interviews with the candidate, via email or in person.

"They show us pictures of Ron Paul yard signs in their country and say 'See, there are signs and stickers all over Stockholm,' " said Ron Paul spokesman Jesse Benton. "I'm not without some compassion and sympathy for them. But until we annex Denmark, there's just not much benefit for an American political campaign to be dealing with foreign press.

However, the Journal reports, the U.S. State Department's Foreign Press Centers have stepped in to create an outreach opportunity out of what might otherwise be seen as a snub.

U.S. diplomats with experience in foreign hot spots lead scores of foreign journalists on tours of the nation's electoral landscape. On the itinerary: introductions to local politicos, voters suffering from the foreclosure crisis, and special interest groups like "actual Florida seniors," according to a State Department description.

I like the idea, and I'd like to make some sort of witty or analytical observation here, but after two hours of form-filling, my brain is shot and my pajamas are cozy, so for tonight I'll just encourage you to follow the link to the original article and trust that I'll come up with something far more clever to say later in the week.