The United States of France

There's a great article by Bill Saporito over at Time magazine about the bailout.

This is the state of our great republic: We've nationalized the financial system, taking control from Wall Street bankers we no longer trust. We're about to quasi-nationalize the Detroit auto companies via massive loans because they're a source of American pride, and too many jobs — and votes — are at stake. Our Social Security system is going broke as we head for a future in which too many retirees will be supported by too few workers. How long before we have national health care? Put it all together, and the America that emerges is a cartoonish version of the country most despised by red-meat red-state patriots: France. Only with worse food.

I would disagree with the characterization of the Social Security problem, but other than that, yeah, we are getting a little more like France.

Maybe we'll get better chocolate.