Remember how Margaret Thatcher came to believe that abroad was more important than at home? Didn't do her much good.

Seeing John Major govern the country is like watching Edward Scissorhands try to make balloon animals.

Disney World has acquired by now something of the air of a national shrine. American parents who don't take their children there sense obscurely that they have failed in some fundamental way, like Muslims who never made it to Mecca.

Most successful American politicians look well-fed on endorsements, campaign contributions and chicken dinners.

Americans are fascinated by their own love of shopping. This does not make them unique. It's just that they have more to buy than most other people on the planet. And it's also an affirmation of faith in their country.

In Washington, success is just a training course for failure.

Reagan was a flesh and blood version of any other mute national emblem, say the Statue of Liberty. Everyone knows what she represents, but no one would dream of asking her opinion.