So after 'Slick-gate', 'Lockerbie-gate' (blame the Scots) and 'Winston Churchill's bust being removed from the Oval Office-gate', Prime Minister Cameron has now stepped into the lion's den with a pearly smile and an outstretched arm.
A journalist by the name of Alexander Chancellor, writing in the Guardian newspaper (not known for being the most Ameri-friendly of organs) posed this question:
"Britain has only one 'Special Relationship'. The US has many. What does that tell us?"
I appreciate that this headline was rhetorical in nature but I shall answer it. It tells us that Britain needs to get out more. We are, according to the guy I just mentioned, "like the faithful spouse of a philanderer".
Here in Blighty we are fast becoming the Millwall of Europe if not the world. However, whilst angry men in dusty caves burn the US and UK flags, they still drink coke, wear US labelled clothing and presumably yearn for a day where they might be free to live in a place like New York.
None of them drive mini coopers or wear Fred Perry tops. The French don't like us and I don't think the Spanish or the Germans care for us all that much either. The Aussies positively hate us, most people in the third world view us as a monsterous faded imperialist behemoth, we can't even get along with each other over Hadrian's Wall and Offa's Dyke.
So perhaps we should be starting to try and make new friends.
I believe that Mr Cameron was offered the same warm greeting as accorded President Medved several weeks ago when he visited the White House. David was likewise taken out for lunch by his US hosts although it was only to a Little Chef where he had egg, chips, mushrooms, black pudding and a cup of tea.
All in all the trip was a huge success, particularly the bit where the PM stated that the UK should be seen as the 'junior partner' to the US as we were in 1940 against the Nazis (America didn't actually enter the war until 1941).
But apart from this minor fawning and confusion over his dates, he did remain firm on the BP and Lockerbie questions although he made it quite clear that he was totally against Al-Megrahi's release at the time, which would surely have gone down very well with his hosts.
A journalist by the name of Alexander Chancellor, writing in the Guardian newspaper (not known for being the most Ameri-friendly of organs) posed this question:
"Britain has only one 'Special Relationship'. The US has many. What does that tell us?"
I appreciate that this headline was rhetorical in nature but I shall answer it. It tells us that Britain needs to get out more. We are, according to the guy I just mentioned, "like the faithful spouse of a philanderer".
Here in Blighty we are fast becoming the Millwall of Europe if not the world. However, whilst angry men in dusty caves burn the US and UK flags, they still drink coke, wear US labelled clothing and presumably yearn for a day where they might be free to live in a place like New York.
None of them drive mini coopers or wear Fred Perry tops. The French don't like us and I don't think the Spanish or the Germans care for us all that much either. The Aussies positively hate us, most people in the third world view us as a monsterous faded imperialist behemoth, we can't even get along with each other over Hadrian's Wall and Offa's Dyke.
So perhaps we should be starting to try and make new friends.
I believe that Mr Cameron was offered the same warm greeting as accorded President Medved several weeks ago when he visited the White House. David was likewise taken out for lunch by his US hosts although it was only to a Little Chef where he had egg, chips, mushrooms, black pudding and a cup of tea.
All in all the trip was a huge success, particularly the bit where the PM stated that the UK should be seen as the 'junior partner' to the US as we were in 1940 against the Nazis (America didn't actually enter the war until 1941).
But apart from this minor fawning and confusion over his dates, he did remain firm on the BP and Lockerbie questions although he made it quite clear that he was totally against Al-Megrahi's release at the time, which would surely have gone down very well with his hosts.
He even broached the subject of the Asperger Syndrome-suffeirng computer hacker, whose name I forget and whose extradition the PM is hoping to prevent.
So all in all, bonds have been re-affirmed, and ties re-strenghtened, President Obama again declaring that the US has "no closer ally and no stronger partner" (I bet he says that to all the heads of state).
For now, I shall leave you with the words that our eminent leader wrote in the Wall Street Journal on the eve of this trip:
"No other international alliance seems to come under the intense scrutiny reserved for the one between Britain and the United States. There is a seemingly endless British preoccupation with the health of the special relationship. Its temperature is continually taken to see if it's in good shape, its pulse checked to see if it will survive. I have never understood this anxiety.
The US-UK relationship is simple: it's strong because it delivers for both of us. The alliance is not sustained by our historical ties or blind loyalty. This is a partnership of choice that serves our national interests. Yes, it always needs care and attention, but it is resilient because it is rooted in strong foundations."
He also described himself as "unapologetically pro-America", saying he "loved" the US and "what it's done for the world", great news for me since I am now utterly convinced that he will sign the flag....
So all in all, bonds have been re-affirmed, and ties re-strenghtened, President Obama again declaring that the US has "no closer ally and no stronger partner" (I bet he says that to all the heads of state).
For now, I shall leave you with the words that our eminent leader wrote in the Wall Street Journal on the eve of this trip:
"No other international alliance seems to come under the intense scrutiny reserved for the one between Britain and the United States. There is a seemingly endless British preoccupation with the health of the special relationship. Its temperature is continually taken to see if it's in good shape, its pulse checked to see if it will survive. I have never understood this anxiety.
The US-UK relationship is simple: it's strong because it delivers for both of us. The alliance is not sustained by our historical ties or blind loyalty. This is a partnership of choice that serves our national interests. Yes, it always needs care and attention, but it is resilient because it is rooted in strong foundations."
He also described himself as "unapologetically pro-America", saying he "loved" the US and "what it's done for the world", great news for me since I am now utterly convinced that he will sign the flag....
