NO SATIRE, PLEASE, WE'RE MINNESOTAN. James Lileks, a huge Simpsons fan since time immemorial, slags the most recent episode. Key complaint: you can't make fun of British people because the Brits are our allies. To make his point, he invents a guy who can see into the future, and places him at the original Simpsons story conference (a device I thought went out with old krauts in Tyrolean hats muttering "This Hitler will be the end of Germany, mark my words"):

"...Well, I'm just thinking -- say we're at war in a year, with Iraq, okay? Britain would be our closest ally, and it's quite likely we'll be hearing all sorts of stories about battlefield valor, as well as casualties. This line is going to look really stupid. I mean, these guys were there for us in the Afghan thing just a few months ago. The Brits love our show. Why kick them in the yarbles they so obviously possess?"

Got that, America? Stop laughing at Guy Ritchie, Simon Cowell, and the Upper Class Twit of the Year. Willing coalitionists are off-limits! And that goes for Eritrea and Mongolia, too. A list of approved humor targets will be issued by Homeland Security as soon as we figure whether the Solomon Islands are in or out.

Jacked-up prairie pundits, on the other hand, are always good for a larf.