I've been following the Russian spy scandal with bemusement. What the hell were they spying on in Montclair and Westchester? I'm fairly certain that there aren't any major government operations located out there.

More irritating have been the chuckles from the media about suburbia. I mean if I have to read another reference to Weeds in connection with this story, I'm gonna puke. (This is my favorite version of Little Boxes, BTW.) This New York Times article referred to the spies as "suburbia personified." That's code for boring, predictable, banal, and should-be-ignored.

In truth, suburbia is increasingly diverse and should not be ignored. Suburbanites represent the majority of voters. Minority groups have been moving to suburbia in recent years; suburbia is much less white then it used to be. However, pundits and academics haven't caught up yet. There hasn't been a great book written on town politics in decades. 

The whole spy thing is cool though. I thought that spies went out of fashion during the Reagan administration. Time to reread The Little Drummer Girl

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