I’ll admit to being a South Park con. I mean, I laugh at the show, I like

gross humor, I believe PC is such a horrible and oppressive thing that no

amount of scorn, mockery, or insult directed at it can ever be enough.

HOWEVER, I am not happy about the First Lady cracking off-color jokes. It’s

a matter of compartmentalization. I like a dirty joke, and deliver a good

unforced belly laugh when I hear one… in the right surroundings. Which

probably means, at a bar, with a few old guy friends I’m comfortable with.

If my minister were to crack that same joke from the pulpit, I’d get myself

another church.

An important part of getting the hang of life is being able to move from one

little “world” (colleagues, family, friends, neighbors, club,…) to

another, adjusting one’s behavior accordingly. It’s a kind of hypocrisy;

but then, as every conservative surely knows, a measured and understood

hypocrisy helps hold society together. The larger social version of this is

that we expect a proper demeanor from public persons, and think poorly of

their judgment if they stray from conventional paths. That’s one reason we

were so scandalized by Bill Clinton’s behavior. “It’s private!” whined the

Left. Not when he’s in the Oval Office, it isn’t.

So I think a bit less of Laura Bush now than I did this time last week. I

doubt that’ll lose her much sleep. Anyway, it’s nothing personal — she is

plainly an awfully nice person. I just don’t think so highly of her

judgment.