Don't Tread on Me

Amy Ridenour alerts me to a possible instance of the Law of Unintended Consequences, as staffers at a Left-wing British newspaper wonder whether their attempt to have British "pen pals" influence undecided voters in Clark County, Ohio may have backfired on the candidate they were trying to help.

As the newspaper soon found out, "a fair number of Americans, even ones who weren't particularly fond of George W Bush, found the whole project condescending at best and mostly an unwanted, unwarranted foreign attempt to influence a US election."

No kidding. The $64,000 question: Did undecided Ohio voters who had been leaning toward Kerry switch to Bush just to spite meddlesome correspondents from across the Atlantic? Clark County residents with Irish ancestors may have decided that one item of unsolicited "junk mail" was all the motivation they needed. To quote the inexplicably controversial Ohio state motto, "with God all things are possible."

Just because we no longer use the Gadsden Flag doesn't mean that Americans aren't ornery.