“I do not suggest you choose to comestibulate (lol) with the citizenry of Chicago, who are not free enough to partake of such things”.Obloodyhell

Yes, I am aware of the ridiculous Chicago ban. Although I live in San Francisco now, I grew up in Chicago and retain my Chicago sports loyalties (Cubs in first place BTW!). The foie gras ban is an embarrassment. The French are aware and amused by the Chicago ban too. We stopped at a charming little shop on Isle Saint Louis called “La Petite Scierie” specializing in duck delicacies. The proprietor – Paul Duoys – prepares the foie gras himself from his 20 acre farm. He was a delight. We bought a couple of jars of preserved foie gras and asked about customs regs to bring it back. He assures us we can bring it back except – he turns and shakes his finger at us sternly – “You cannot take this to Chicago!” As we leave we take a picture outside of the shop, and a French woman walks by and exclaims sarcastically “Sacre Bleu! Americans buying foie gras! Heresy!” She then laughingly takes a picture of the foie gras eating Americans to preserve for posterity. We were greatly amused. Personally, I think the whole foie gras “PC” thing is complete rubbish. It is one thing for a vegan to criticize foie gras, but anyone who eats any industrial meat or dairy product like beef, pork, chicken or eggs, has absolutely nothing to say about foie gras as far as I am concerned. It is stupid hypocrisy.

Regarding the rest – I suggest you read the post more closely, or my more recent post, and I think you will find it more balanced than you imply in your comment.

I do not suggest you choose to comestibulate (lol) with the citizenry of Chicago, who are not free enough to partake of such things.

> does not undermine our constitutional checks and balances, as we saw most recently during the six years of Republican rule.

Uh, yeah. Which policies would those be?

“Extraordinary rendition”? Specifically initiated under Clinton.

“Wiretapping of International Communications”? Specifically initiated under Clinton (see “Tempest”).

If you’re going to whine about GOP depredations on the Constitution, at least make sure that the Dems aren’t just as guilty. At least the GOP had an event, 911, to give credence to the notions, right or wrong.

It’s one thing to ack that ALL politicians are the enemy of the people. It’s quite another to suggest that it’s only the GOP who sucks in this regard.

P.S. we still have troops in: Korea, Japan, Germany, and “the former Yugoslavia”. Not directly relevant, but it’s still worth pointing out, since sooner or later I suspect an idiotic cry of “Get out of Iraq!” will be floated.

Glad to see you’re back. I’m sorry to hear you were forced to eat and drink in France. Such a shame. I hope you are fully back to a diet of hambugers and freedom fries here in the U.S. of A.