NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT BRITAIN

...or, so says the Obama Administration:

Further confirmation that the Obama administration may be downgrading the Special Relationship with Great Britain is provided by a State Department official in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph.

Asked about the underwhelming reception given to Gordon Brown when he visited the White House last week, the “furious” unnamed official, who was involved in the planning of the meeting, declared:

There’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment

.

It's good to know that The One's administration has been working so hard to make us loved in the world once again! Friends and foes alike are apparently gaining a new appreciation of the United States. Take North Korea, for example:

North Korea says it will retaliate if its "satellite" launch from its northeastern coast is intercepted, with the communist nation saying interference would "mean a war." The statement came as the North cut off communications with neighboring South Korea.

"Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war," a spokesman for the North Korean army said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

U.S. and South Korean officials have said that North Korea appears to be preparing to test-fire its long-range missile, the Taepodong-2, under the guise of launching a satellite into space. The missile is thought to have an intended range of about 4,200 miles (6,700 kilometers), which -- if true -- could give it the capability of striking Alaska or Hawaii.

Not to mention that Iran, who has crossed the nuclear threshold, thinks the US should apologize for how badly we've treated them.

Under Bush, North Korea and Iran made up two thirds of the infamous "Axis of Evil", with the former Iraqi state under its ex-leader Saddam filling in the last chunk of evilness. But now, since we are cozying up to those poor, misunderstood and oppressed regimes; not to mention reaching out to the Taliban, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah, Cuba, and (fill in your favorite terrorist, thuggish, or tyrannical entity here)-- perhaps we are seeing the unveiling of a New, Improved Obamasized Axis of Evil? And the members of that new troika of troublesomeness are none other than America, Israel, and Great Britain! All of these vicious regimes need to be taken down a peg or two now that the reign of the Obamessiah has come to pass.

After all, there's nothing special about Britain...or Israel...or the United States, for that matter--unless you consider their unique place in the PC/multicultural postmodern universe.

UPDATE: Jonah Goldberg is outraged at the State Dept "dufus" who said Britain was nothing special:

As an unapologetic, full-throated Anglophile I find those comments idiotic, offensive, ahistorical, and in a certain sense anti-American.* I'm of course appalled.

But it's worth focusing on one aspect of this sentiment: It's idiocy. According to the liberal-realist school, some countries matter more than other countries because they are powerful and have the ability to adversely affect our national interest. According to the liberal-internationalist school, allies matter more than non-allies because grand international coalitions are the best way to do the wonderful things want to do on the world stage. So, China matters because it's a rising hegemon. Burkino Faso matters . . . eh, not so much. "Europe" matters because they are allies on security, global warming, human rights, etc. Well, Britain just happens to be our most important, reliable, and powerful ally.

So even if you take the pragmatist's razor to our shared history, culture, and all other romantic attachments to Great Britain, the bulldog still matters — a lot. In other words, to say that Britain isn't any more special than the other 190 countries in the world, you actually have to dislike Britain to the point where you're willing to suspend what are supposed to be your guiding principles and objectives about foreign policy.