On the Road in the USA: Trees at the "Right Height", Bottle-Opening Flip-Flops, and Cole-Slaw Wrestling
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 7:50
However many trips I make to the US, I am always astonished by something new. Sometimes it’s the politics, sometimes it's the gadgets. More often than not, it's the culture.
Last week, Mitt Romney was campaigning in Michigan, his home state, as he tries to secure the Republican nomination for President. He looked happy and relaxed as he took the podium as he declared, “I love this state. I was born here. The trees here are just the right height.”
Sprawled on my daughter’s couch, I sprang to life. “What did he say? He did not say that, did he?” I asked those nearby. They confirmed I had heard correctly.
I needed to ask questions. Were Republican “values” to be applied to trees? Under a Romney Administration, what would happen to those states whose trees were too short, or too tall, or heaven forefend, too wide? Sadly, I could not find a GOP spokesman to whom I could address these questions, and I was too scared to go online in case the Republican Tree Police caught me and tried to have me deported.