Okay, fine, some politics. Just a little.

I like the pick of Joe Biden as Obama's running-mate. None of the choices were very strong, and few of them were likely to deliver key states. As former chairman of both the Judiciary and Foreign Relations committees, Biden shores up a lot of the doubts a lot of Americans (like me) have about Obama's lack of experience. He's also a heck of a lot more centrist than Obama.

But what I actually like is the symbolism. Biden shot his mouth off last year about "clean, good-looking" Obama in a moment that was widely seen as the very end of his political career. He has also been extremely critical (again, like me) of Obama's foreign policy inexperience and naivete.

I have been highly dubious regarding the Obama campaign's claims of operating a new kind of electoral politics, but I have to admit that the choice of Biden says two things: 1) We forgive gaffes and refrain from the politics of disqualification by foot-in-mouth disease, and 2) We welcome our critics to the table. Those are perhaps the two things I believe the American political dialogue is most sorely lacking.

I still have many doubts and fears about an Obama presidency (and a McCain presidency, just so you know). But today I applaud the senator and his advisers on their choice.

(Then again, Cheney was supposed to shore up Bush's lack of experience, too...)