Live from Lexington NH

Funny: just the other day I was wondering whether the teabag bigmouths are stupid enough to believe what they say, or if they're just feeding various lines of crap to their undoubtedly stupid followers.

Thank you, Michelle Bachmann. Now I understand that you, at least, are really stupid enough to believe what you say. The "apology" was a dollar short, being on the lines of "Feh! No big deal."

Not around here. It's no surprise to residents on either side of the MA-NH border that there is a certain degree of friction between the two states. Conflating the two, then disregarding the pride of the respective states, is right up there in the list of dumb things one can do in a primary campaign. New Hampshire may not make candidates, but it can sure as hell break them. Step right up! Who'll be next to prove their idiocy?

Speaking of idiots: The Japan tsunami arrived on the left coast as a series of four-foot high swells. Having been out there, I know that most people with boats don't moor them, but float in marinas. Fine. 'Tis a big ocean, the Pacific, and it seems reasonable to suppose that four-foot swells would be routine. They certainly are on the ocean down my street. Nevertheless, many marina docks don't seem to have enough slack to compensate for swells, and it doesn't seem to have occurred to boat owners to tie up loosely enough. These oversights apparently caused $55 million in damage. I move we send marine surveyors from the East Coast to assess the damage, and have them tell the boat owners and marina owners that the $55 mil can come out of their pockets. I'm not minded to pay for Californian stu---err, oversights.