One of the nice things about our jobs here at the New America Foundation is that we get paid to do things like read Gail Collins. So since today is really gray and wet and yucky here in Washington, and we're stuck in one of those capital of the free world moments of Waiting for the CBO, we're gonna share her latest column. You can pretend you are working too.

In troubled times, it is important to try to maintain a certain level of serenity. Right now we citizens have quite a lot on our plate and there is no reason to go completely crazy about the least little thing. 

For instance, at that right-wing tea-party rally in Washington last week, it seemed a little weird when Jon Voight warned the crowd that if President Obama wasn't stopped, the United States would wind up with a health care system like New Zealand's.

At the time, I could not help wondering what New Zealand ever did to Jon Voight. Also if he's made any movies since the one where he got eaten by a really big snake.

Ben Nelson, Joe Lieberman and Olympia Snowe (more favorably) all make appearances in the rest of her column, although she does show some restraint and avoids urging them to feed themselves to any Anacondas.

(P.S. According to all the work that the Commonwealth Fund does on international health comparisons, there are far worse things than healthcare in New Zealand. We wrote about some of their achievements in primary care here.)