Ditto

Like Isaac, I also saw The Queen this weekend and I also recommend it. Helen Mirren was excellent, and I actually felt sympathy for the queen despite the fact that I loathe everything to do with the monarchy.

The movie is obviously intended for an audience of small "r" republicans, portraying the Queen Mother as the odious person I have always thought her to be -- as befits a well-known Nazi sympathizer -- Prince Philip as a complete jackass, and Prince Charles as a well-meaning buffoon. Some of the funniest moments in the movie are those showing Tony Blair -- the (relatively) common man -- and his cabinet reacting to the absurd actions of the royal family and their hangers on.

It was refreshing to see this, because what is even more loathsome than the monarchy itself is the way the American media tries to shove it down our throats. Can someone please remind them that we fought a war so that we wouldn't have to kowtow to these imbeciles anymore?

We have our own set of rich people to provide fodder for our tabloids. Yes, I'm talking about celebrities. The American system has numerous advantages:

1) We don't have to pay them out of our tax money.
2) They are hot.
3) We can change them up when we get tired of the old ones, without having a revolution or anything. Corollary: A person does not automatically become a celebrity just because their parents are celebrities; they have to be (a) hot, (b) slutty, or (c) actually talented.

Q.E.D.