I dunno, I could never understand why so many people enjoy watching Big Brother -- but, seeing as many unquestionably do, I don't think it's a big surprise that everyone's watching what's essentially a multi-billion-dollar-budget eleven-month non-stop Big Daddy of all Big Brothers, in which the winner gets to rule the world.

I'm sure it didn't use to matter so much, or at least British people thought it didn't. If you'd asked me in the Reagan or Clinton eras which political party the President belonged to, I'm not sure I'd have known. The US is still the only foreign country where I could even name the two main political parties, let alone reliably remember which is which (especially as the colours are the wrong way round ), and let alone have an opinion on which one I'd vote for.

Peter