There’s basically no national or ethnic group you can make fun of these days without being accused of racism, but a few are considered mildly less offensive than others. For example, you can always call Scots “stabby,” because they love to stab each other for sport, and Belgians are usually fair game, too, due to their treacherousness and love of mayonnaise. But as Paul Krugman discovered last week, you do not get away with insulting the Swiss. MORE »

OH BLAST YOU Congressional poll trackers, why will you not do a fresh poll of Minnesota District 6? Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s opponent, a rare Upper Midwestern wood sprite of the species tinklenbergus, may be winning by zillions of points after Bachmann’s Friday-night meltdown on Hardball. Or maybe not, who knows! But one thing is for certain: Bachmann keeps having to explain herself, and it is not getting any easier. MORE »

Heart was a late 70s Led Zeppelin cover band, and then one of the band members became a Pacific Northwest Hollywood Liberal Activist. With that sort of a history, it’s no surprise that Nancy Wilson is steamed that the Republicans were playing “Barracuda” all over the place last night to celebrate Sarah Palin, a woman who is only a snaggletoothed fish on the inside. MORE »