Burning bridge

By Libby

Bridge is not a pastime that one normally thinks of as being fraught with political intrigue. In fact, bridge is not a pastime one normally thinks of at all, unless you're part of a certain age group where the term Wii means nothing. But remarkably, a group of professional bridge players stirred up some controversy when in accepting their trophy, they held up a hand lettered sign saying, "We didn't vote for Bush."

As I understand it, the sign was a spur of the moment attempt at humor in response to small talk around the table by teams from other nations criticizing America and the Bush doctrine. And already the hysterical cries of treason are rising from the usual quarters while the association is taking punative action against the players.

I'm not going to subject you to my own lame efforts at humor since snarkmeister extraordinaire John Swift, has already got that well covered. But, to interject a serious note into this silly kerfluffle, when anti-Americanism creeps into the conversation around a bridge table, it's a sure sign that our international standing has fallen far indeed.