American TV is designed to distract

the masses from ever discovering that the politicos are busy selling the future down the river.

Short bursts of programming, interspersed with quick fire advert breaks, make up the majority of American TV. Because of this the average American seems to me to have the attention span of a dead goldfish and the intelligence to match.

A couple of days ago we stayed in a motel at cocoa beach where, due to an excessive consumption of Myers's dark rum, I got to talking to one. Firstly he started on the "Rag heads" then moved on to "Slopes" and finished with a rousing double barrelled denouncement of the "Camel Jockeys" and "Niggers."

It took me all my time not to let loose with a volley of insults but for all I knew he may have had easy access to a firearm and may have taken things the wrong way. My shock at the lack of respect for any race, colour or creed led me to think that we had inadvertently stumbled into Cracker Central.

Things like this could lead me to think that all Americans are ill informed, ignorant idiots that do not appreciate the basic rights that they proudly claim to have. And that would be wrong. Not only because it is wrong to tar a whole populace with the same brush but because I know quite a few Americans and they have all been wonderful, witty and welcoming people.

The ironic thing was that less than fifteen feet away a lesbian and her wife to be were celebrating the fact that they were to be married the following day and Bubba-Joe Fuckwit didn't bat an eyelid.