WHAT I LEARNED FROM THE BBC WORLD SERVICE TODAY

It's the Brits, not Americans, who are the most addicted to fast food! The U.S. is No. 2-- although with Americans' legendary sedentary lifestyles, it's still our countrymen who are the most obese people on the planet. One in three Americans is obese.

In the most obese state, Haley Barbour's and Trent Lott's Mississippi, 45 percent of the folks are obese. Debilitating-- and in some cases fatal-- diseases related to obesity, particularly type two diabetes and heart disease, are approaching epidemic proportions in Mississippi. It is a state that is notoriously badly run-- by and for the country club set-- and now it is headed down the short, smooth road to obesity-related bankruptcy. The BBC warns developing nations that if they're not careful, they can be the next Mississippi.

If you've somehow managed to amass as much weight and wealth as Mike Huckabee did, you can afford bariatric surgery and halve your waistline and create your own inspiring fable about fighting off the dragon. If he wins the Iowa Republican caucus tomorrow, I suspect it won't be only because of his inspiring-- even if untrue-- weight loss story. Iowa Republicans like that he revels in the good old boy ignorance of a Baptist preacher who doesn't believe in science.

They also like that he turned against Bush before many of the others-- although now even the ultimate flimflam man, Willard, has turned on Bush. He "defended his failure to read the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran in early December, joking in an interview Monday that President Bush didn’t read intelligence reports for four years." Funny, huh?

Not to Romney. He has probably spent more money in Iowa than all the Republicans combined-- only to see his lead evaporate as the Huckster surges. Yesterday staid, careful Flip Flop Mitt lashed out at Bush in his frustration. All the pygmies are frustrated. Mr. None of the Above, who didn't spend a dime or gladhand any of these damn rubes, is still beating all of them.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said on Tuesday the Bush administration mismanaged the Iraq war, distancing himself from his party's unpopular president two days before Iowa's first-in-the-nation presidential contest.

"I think we did a less than effective job in managing the conflict following the collapse of Saddam Hussein," the former Massachusetts governor said at a news conference. "I think we were under prepared for what occurred, understaffed, underplanned, and, in some respects, undermanaged."

Romney's comments echo those of his rival John McCain, who for years has criticized the way former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld handled the war. Polls show McCain and Romney locked in a tight battle for first place in New Hampshire, which holds the nation's second primary contest on January 8.

Of course, the Huckster, Flip Flop and McCain all support the war-- might even expand it. They just think it's a disaster because Bush is such a dolt.