No Fear or Loathing in Aspen

Anita Thompson says that her late husband, Hunter Thompson, used to call himself "a teenage girl trapped in the body of an elderly dope fiend." This weekend Ms. Thompson saw the Dalai Lama in Aspen, and wrote, "I realized something as I watched the highest ranking monk of Tibetan Buddhism: His Holiness is a teenage girl trapped in the body of a Dalai Lama!"

Whatever. Ms. Thompson's account of His Holiness's talk in Aspen is charming and provides plenty to think about.

While His Holiness was in Aspen he was visited by Senator and Republican presidential candidate John McCain. (Aides to His Holiness stressed that the meeting was not an endorsement.) Tim Johnson, the Beijing bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers, wrote, "Apparently McCain’s policy analysts figure that this kind of image assures voters that McCain can take a tough approach to China, and that it’ll draw votes."

Again, whatever. I don't know how much the U.S. is in debt to China. Some googling turned up numbers between $500 billion and $1.5 trillion, so let's call it $1 trillion. Which is, um, a lot. Let's face it; until that's reduced, getting his or her picture taken with a sweet old monk is as "tough" as any U.S. politician is going to get with China.