Demagogue

Just a brief note from the Air France departure lounge before resuming radio silence. This bloody French keyboard (the "q" is where the "a" should be, for instance) will drive me nuts before long in any case.

After a week in Paris with the wife and kids, I can report that it is even worse than we thought. I already knew that Paris was the home of the evildoer Jacques Chirac. But I didn't know that it was also the first major European city to elect an openly gay mayor (he was stabbed and hospitalized three years ago, but the attacker was an immigrant, so I don't think Parisians should get full credit for that). Also, not one Parisian I met apologized for being in the Axis of Weasels, and I think they were secretly laughing at my American accent. Oh, sure, they seemed happy when Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France again last weekend, but I think that's just an act.

The clinching proof is the computer I'm using. Not only are they so arrogant as to have a different keyboard--what, QWERTY's not good enough for them?--but Air France has put a Macintosh in the lounge. If there's anything more un-American than a Mac, I can't think of it.