Skipper

The political scene over here is pretty bleak: double-dip recession, Tory led coalition intent on cuts with a right-wing baying for their candidates to be promoted in the upcoming reshuffle. And, as usual in the summer, it's raining and miserable. Meanwhile, though, we should remember, 3000 miles away things are so much worse. The weather is sunny, but so much so corn harvests have failed catastrophically. In addition the Republican Convention is beginning. But here, maybe, a few crumbs of comfort can be gleaned by those of us this side of the Atlantic, who care about who sits in the White House. At least our right-wing is not as bonkers as their right wing.

Let me quote from my favourite newspaper to make the points so much better than I or a series of in-depth articles could possibly do:

Going into their 2012 convention, the Republicans are a party in which there is no significant internal division over the claim that taxes must be slashed, that all government programmes other than defence must be cut, that the government economic stimulus should be undone, the federal pension system privatised, the federal healthcare insurance law abolished, that climate change is a hoax, that a high wall should be built along America's southern border, that abortion in all but the tiniest exceptions should be a crime, that gun control laws are a threat to freedom, that civil partnerships and gay marriage should be outlawed, that Iran's nuclear programme should be destroyed and more Jewish settlements encouraged in the occupied Palestinian territories. Oh, and a lot of them still think Mr Obama isn't really an American too, while Mr Romney is a member of a church that believes Jesus travelled to America.

See what I mean?