More half-rightness after the jump.

So, lots of Rush Limbaugh buzz buzzing around! There's that thing about the NFL, which I refuse to understand because the American Sports Industrial Complex is killing children in Africa by diverting spare American dollars into the pockets of men who eat too much and then run into each other. Then there's that other thing, wherein anchors at ABC and CNN, in classic Ron Burgundy style, parroted to their audiences two "facts" about Limbaugh they read in a book that was copied from Wikipedia:

I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.

You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honour? James Earl Ray. We miss you, James. Godspeed.

I can't outdo Toby Harnden for eloquent outrage, because Limbaugh is a bastard assclown and defending him is like openly wanting to be canonized. But I can say this: John Huberman very well could be fucked for starting the horrible, no good, untrue rumor of the week. Three years ago, Huberman wrote the book 101 People Who Are Really Screwing America, and god, who knows, possibly copied everything in the book from the free encyclopedia, including the two made-up quotes above. Where is this guy? I smell an exclusive Q&A! Also, why did it take someone this long to dig up those quotes? Probably because Huberman's book was remaindered right after Christmas. BREAKING: I just realized that there will never be another "TK # of People Who Are Screwing up TK" book ever again; thanks to Internet!

Arts stuff: "Hell awaits for illegal file-sharers"; an ape on a crucifix; the FTC responds incoherently to my antagonistic Internet posts!

Take, for example, this piece in the Guardian, conservatively titled "How these gibbering numbskulls came to dominate Washington." It's by George Monbiot, who despite stating in his second graf "I have for many years been mystified by American politics," goes on to explain American politics. The answer? Quoting heavily from a Book He Just Read, Monbiot determines: It's cuz we like God 'n' stuff! "Teaching in the southern states was dominated by the views of an ignorant aristocracy of planters," he explains, "and a great educational gulf opened up," he writes. Planters!

By contrast, here's Leslie on Sarah Palin.

Does that mean I think she's a towering intellect, the next Reagan/Thatcher etc? No. A combination of the moribund state of her party, and her premature ascent to the national stage, means that she's not being forced to use that brain to do any real thinking. She's interesting as a figure, but she really has nothing interesting to say. Anyway, I suspect she relies too heavily and lazily on her 'instincts' to do the hard thinking required to develop a distinctive political vision. But I do think she'll emerge as very strong contender for the GOP nomination in 2012 and that she'll come back as an improved, more substantial version of her 2008 self.

I'm not saying we don't make it easy for people like Monbiot, but single-sourced, empirically researched twaddle like his article isn't a far cry from the fuzzy education he blames for Americans' inherent stupidity. And he's not alone in his belief. Half my family is British, and whenever I'm over, I'm always struck by how firmly most folks there accept as gospel that Americans are idiots. If it weren't for our movies, music, clothes, technology, food, cars, money, and amusement parks (single-sourced, empirically researched fact of my own: nine times out of 10, if a British person has been to a U.S. city other than New York, it's Orlando), we'd have nothing to offer at all!

But Leslie has lived here, and it's clear from his writing that not only does he have great affection for the place, he's taken the time to try to actually understand it, something rare to British writers (and I'm counting Gary Younge here). As such, his perspective on our batshit-craziness is worth reading. And he mentions Moistworks as a favorite blog, so that's in his plus column, too.