The Battle Bus

The BBC, which is the Gray Lady of British television, has not for a generation seen a liberal cause it didn't applaud. But President Obama's million-dollar campaign bus (one of two that have been pimped up by the Secret Service at taxpayer expense) is an exception:

In British elections we're used to what we call "battle buses", cheerfully painted wagons, festooned with party slogans and colours.

US President Barack Obama has embarked on his first bus tour in office. But his vehicle for the trip through the rural parts of three Midwestern states looks like it really is heading for a battle.

Big, blocky, black, with painted-out windows, it looks more like a police mortuary van than a symbol of hope arriving on your street.

Mr. President, if you've lost the BBC, you've lost Mittel Europa. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford