Straight Face

I’m up on a mountain along with Nancy Kress, helping fourteen very talented new writers hone their craft, and so I’ve been very busy.  But I’m not totally out of touch, and I was as surprised and baffled as anyone when Britain’s new PM appointed Boris Johnson* as foreign minister.

If you want to start your day with a smile, check out this video of the State Department spokesman trying to keep a straight face when responding to the news.

*(Mr Johnson is an odd choice for head diplomat, having once referred to Africans, for example, as “flag waving pickaninnies.”  He also referred to President Obama as a “half-Kenyan” with an “inherited dislike of the British Empire.”  The first is technically true, I suppose, and as for the inherited dislike of the Empire, I refer you to any encyclopedia, and urge you to view the article Revolution, American, 1775-1783.)