The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.

CanadianFlagBottom Stories of the Day
“Canadian Productivity: Even Worse Than Previously Thought”–headline, Globe and Mail (Toronto), Aug. 28

Out on a Limb 
“Snowden’s Background Check Found to Be Inadequate”–headline, NewsMax.com, Aug. 28

Every Problem Looks Like a Nail

  • “Activists Call Drug Sentences Civil Rights Issue”–headline, Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Aug. 10, 1993
  • “Census Is Civil Rights Issue”–headline, Deseret News, Dec. 20, 2000
  • “Bush Calls Education ‘Civil Rights Issue of Our Time’ “–headline, CNN.com, Jan. 19, 2002
  • “School Choice Is the Current Civil Rights Issue”–headline, Cedartown (Ga.) Standard, June 27, 2002
  • “Same-Sex Couples Call Gay Marriage a Civil Rights Issue”–headline, Miami Herald, Aug. 10, 2003
  • “Is Abortion a Civil Rights Issue?”–headline, Salon.com, Jan. 8, 2008
  • “Legalizing Marijuana Is Civil Rights Issue, California NAACP Says”–headline, CNN.com, July 7, 2010
  • “Unions Frame Bargaining as Civil Rights Issue”–headline, Oakridger.com (Oak Ridge, Tenn.), March 15, 2011
  • “Are Lower School Achievement Levels a Civil Rights Issue?”–headline, WGCU-FM website (Fort Myers, Fla.), Aug. 7, 2013
  • “Health-Care Costs Are a Civil Rights Issue”–headline, Washington Post website, Aug. 28, 2013

At Least Russians Are Allowed to Make Fun of Obama 
“Police seized a painting of Russia’s president and prime minister in women’s underwear from a gallery in St Petersburg, saying the satirical display had broken unspecified laws,” Reuters reports:

The painting showed President Vladimir Putin wearing a tight-fitting slip and brushing the hair of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is wearing [women’s underwear].

The officers also removed a picture of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, his torso covered in tattoos, and two others poking fun at lawmakers who have backed legislation banning so-called gay propaganda, gallery staff said.

Just thank goodness you live in a country where people are free to make fun of our leaders. Unless you’re one of those wingnuts who think rodeo clowns are people.

For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.