I don’t mean to linger on Starbucks, I really don’t.  But the company - from opening two stores on opposite sides of the street, to its prominence in films - really is a weird metaphor for American culture.  It’s a corporate monster that we corporately loathe and worship.  It represents the best, and the worst, in America.  You’ve already read here recently about the incipient $1 bottomless cup (that may be coming to a Starbucks near you) and the relative merits of the Waffle House.  Starbucks is getting a lot of attention these days, and not necessarily the kind it likes.  Take this story, which starts off all too familiarly, but with a whole new end:

When a Starbucks moved in next door, the coffee fanatics who run the Broadway Cafe [in St. Louis] trembled. Sure, they roasted their own beans and served up handmade espresso drinks to a loyal clientele. But would it be enough to fight off a corporate behemoth?  That was nearly 10 years ago, and now the results are in: the Starbucks is about to shut down.

This is less the triumph of a small, authentic (read: puritan) coffee house versus the giant, hydra-headed beast of Starbucks and more about the triumph of the free market.