As someone with his finger firmly on the erratic pulse of the American body politic, I might at some point in the past have thought of it as my patriotic duty to watch at least a tiny portion of the Republican convention. But in these enlightened and blogospherical times, ordinary folks are saved from the need to torture themselves by the generous sacrifice of intrepid souls with a modem and a sense of humor; between Michael Bérubé and Fafblog!, it’s better than being there.