THE NEWS has been drowned out by the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac situation, but brewing behemoths InBev and Anheuser Busch have arrived at a purchase agreement. The deal will, in all probability, be a good one for Anheuser Busch, but the end of family control of that most American of companies has irked some citizens (especially those residing in St. Louis). With the Dubai Ports World fiasco still hovering in recent memory, many business types have wondered whether the deal might survice political pressure.

Well, according to Paul Krugman, the backlash has begun, in hilarious fashion:

“I’ll tell you one thing,” said the 21-year-old concrete worker during his lunch break at The Brick of St. Louis bar, in the shadow of this city’s storied Anheuser-Busch Cos. brewery, “if Budweiser is made by a different country, I don’t drink Budweiser anymore. I’ll go back to Wild Turkey.” (Wild Turkey, a Kentucky bourbon, is owned by French drinks giant Pernod Ricard SA.)

Not that funny for the American workers who would continued to be employed by InBev-owned Anheuser Busch, however.