Piers Morgan trashes the special relationship

I've been feeling guilty. As a Fulbright Scholar, I am obligated to promote mutual understanding between our two great nations, not only through the exchange of ideas and knowledge but by becoming an active member of my local community and exploring the many layers of American cultural life. I was reminded of this on Monday, which was Martin Luther King Day and this year was dedicated to the principle of community service. Having spent most of my time here confined to the offices and lecture halls of Harvard I concluded that I needed to be a better ambassador for Britain and promised myself that I would do some more local volunteering.

Then I switched on the TV to see that Piers Morgan had replaced Larry King and had his own chat show on CNN prime time. To launch his new series he was being interviewed by CNN superstar Anderson Cooper. There is something curiously disorientating about watching British people on American TV - I can only describe it as a feeling of both semi-pride and embarrassment: a bit like having an uncle turn up at school assembly. However, those feelings quickly subsided and were replaced by furious indignation as Morgan proceeded to trash his home country to an audience of millions.

First, he recycled the familiar American stereotype (used by countless Hollywood directors) of British class snobbery: apparently, if one makes a lot of money and owns a nice car in Britain one is sneered at - unlike the US, which of course, has no concept of class. Whilst this offended my sensibilities, I could sort of live with it on the grounds that he needed to have something to say about British culture that would play well with American audiences. However, things got worse. Anderson Cooper described how on a recent trip to London, he had been surprised to find that rather than being full of polite men in bowler hats, it was awash with drunken teenagers. Not only did Morgan fully agree with this assessment, he went further: according to Morgan, Britain is now full of drunken, violent imbeciles that will swear at/ stab/ puke on you the minute you venture out of your door. Ok things can get a bit hairy on a Saturday night in Croyden, I thought to myself, but Morgan has really crossed the line here. He is undermining the special relationship!

I concluded that Morgan was carrying out the opposite of Senator Fulbright's noble intentions: reinforcing mutual prejudice and fear. But I have to admit it made me feel less guilty about my own role as an ambassador. At least I've not done any harm...