Usa

Larry Kudlow, who normally sees brilliance in every aspect of the Bush administration’s record, now sees only disaster. Here he is at The Corner: If Sen. John McCain wants to run as a candidate of change, and if he’s truly interested in distancing himself from President Bush, he should reverse the declining fortunes of the Bush wartime dollar. America’s prestige is on the line… The falling U.S. greenback has become a symbol of American decline… Folks are making fun of the dollar. Our enemies around the world are pointing to the unreliable dollar as evidence of American weakness. It’s as though the administration’s neglect of the dollar is “peso-izing” or

Many years ago now, I had occasion to change trains at Pisa en route to Perugia and it was there, I think, that I first became aware of the Ugly American phenomenon. The station was pretty quiet as I recall, or rather it would have been had the air not been filled with the screeching complaints of a well-upholstered middle-aged American lady, dressed in the standard issue kit for European expeditions: too tight t-shirt, loose shorts, white socks and sneakers, complaining loudly about the station masters’ reluctance or inability to confirm that the reservation she held for her party was valid or not. So far so normal. This was Italy.

This is how a “No Spin” government works. Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development and Gordon Brown’s long-time Mini-Me, comes to Washington to bravely speak truth to power. Choosing a suitably establishment venue such as the Council on Foreign Relations, Mr Alexander tells the United States that: “In the 20th century a country’s might was too often measured in what they could destroy. In the 21st century strength should be measured by what we can build together. And so we must form new alliances, based on common values, ones not just to protect us from the world, but ones which reach out to the world.” And: “We need