Fair, balanced and boil-inducing

Yet another reason I'm happy to no longer actually live in America: not being confronted with television election coverage.

But someone else is not so lucky:

Last night I was reminded of two things: one, watching televised political coverage makes me break out in weeping boils. Candy “Green Tea” Crowley alone would do it, but when she’s combined with the bloviations of Bill Bennett (who was lamenting Pennsylvanians’ inability to understand the virtues of that good, good man, Rick Santorum) I find myself rolling around on the floor and tearing the upper layers of skin from my arms. And that makes the boils burst, and that just makes a mess.

The second thing (and the rest of his comments) are available here.

I had, incidentally, missed Crowley's green tea comment the first time around. It's interesting, since I'm about to fire up a nice pot of green tea myself...but I wasn't aware that this sort of thing puts me in the ranks of the cultural elite.

Which brings up another reason I'm happy to be here rather than there. Since I moved to Europe, I've become ever more confused by some populist right-wing efforts back home to cast perfectly everyday foods - brie, espresso, baguette, whole-grain bread, balsamico vinegar, good wine etc. - as some kind of effete, snobbish and anti-American conspiracy.

Do real Americans only eat hot-dogs and apple pie? Or perhaps they prefer OxyContin and methamphetamine.

Now...to the tea and some real work.

And later, perhaps, some wine and cheese.