They have been among the most eager Euro-enthusiasts, with most political observers reckoning them happy to go along with giving Brussels more say in Italy's affairs on the basis that it was likely to improve on anything offered by their own notoriously unstable governments in the past fifty years.

CNN: Berlusconi appointed himself as the new foreign minister

Now in fairness to President Obama, almost every president for the past fifty years has fallen in the polls after the first half of his term.

FORBES: Obama and the High Cost of High Expectations

According to the Potato Processors'Association, sales of French fries have fallen over the past year by 10 percent, the largest single drop in the last fifty years.

NPR: Rabid Reader: 'Fat Land' and U.S. Supersizing

In the past several years, Lang has averaged a hundred and twenty-five concerts a year, and he usually gets fifty thousand dollars for a recital.

NEWYORKER: The Olympian