That's so gay

Among the long and growing list of things I like about Britain is that in this country, the term "gay", while sadly hardly ever used in its original OED sense, is almost exclusively used as a derogatory.

I am glad, in general, that my experiences thus far have bolstered my theory that the great majority of people here are not on with the Labour/BBC/Guardian political orthodoxies. That "gay marriage" is just as scare-quoted in ordinary conversation as it is in certain online publications. (In fact, I was very happy to note that the Daily Telegraph also uses the quotes. Good on 'em.) That the only people not willing to openly admit that it is mass immigration from cultures wholly alien to ours that is causing most of this country's problems, are the members of government (and their media toadies) who have allowed it. That nearly everyone thinks the "political correctness" thing has gone to absolutely intolerable lengths of absurdity (though no one seems willing just to thumb their noses at it...yet).

Happy to report that the Ordinary British Subject (that I have met so far) is, while not the intolerant xenophobe so gleefully depicted in the self-hating screeds of Jeremy Paxman, every bit as old-fashioned and sensible, honest and normal as one could hope.

Today I realized something very important about the difference between Britain and That-Country-North-of-the-US. In TCNOTUS, there is no market for a paper like the Telegraph. There could not possibly exist anything like a backlash party like the BNP. It seems clear that the average Canuckistani is totally incapable of thinking outside the box of Officially Approved doctrine, a gift that, TBTG, still exists here. (Of course, the question is now, how to get the polite Brits to move from "Oh isn't it dreadful, they've banned Bonfire Night, conkers and fox hunting," to the pitchforks and torches phase.)

In contrast, the Canuckistanis are, in a word, Goodthinkful. To a man.