Forget funny, as if I could pull that off anymore. The NYTimes story on buyers of peanut processed crap was profoundly depressing, simply because this country has one line of advice for consumers of food that should be the cleanest, safest, best in the world: Buyer assumes all responsibility. I’ve been railing since well before the salmonella in the peanuts was discovered that the whole outbreak has exposed the evil idiocy of our whole system. In the past, the government could get away with putting the weight on us — we just needed to scrub our chickens and cutting boards, cook our eggs to rubber, double-wash our scallions etc. etc. Now you have to wonder why we just can’t have clean food to begin with. Imagine if you bought shampoo you needed to boil before using.

Or don’t.