WINGNUTTERY FROM BRITAIN

You are probably familiar with the right-wingnut smear about people who vote for Democrats: they're all on welfare. You probably didn't hear what Jed Babbin said when he was a guest host for Mark "Foamer" Levin: the Democrats "can't win with the regular American public" so they have to rely on ex-felons and illegal immigrants. The point is that Democrats mostly appeal to people who are at the margins of American society and thus aren't quite "American."

Today I find that this disease has spread to Britain, specifically Tim Shipman in The Telegraph. Shipman deliberately misuses the word "typical" in this passage:

James Pickens is typical of those who have been inspired by the black senator from Illinois. A reformed crack cocaine dealer, he is now peddling Obama T-shirts.

Mr Pickens, 50, has served three prison terms totalling 13 years, but vowed to change his ways after hearing Mr Obama speak.