NEW OFFICIAL ADVICE : "SHUT UP AND LISTEN"
The US State Department is softening the ground back home for a stunning public relations exercise to patch up the reputations of the United States, and Americans abroad in general, in countries like Britain.
The US Government has now acknowledged that the myth of the "Ugly American" is anything but a myth, and that it is, in fact, true, at least in the minds of the Brits, who see more than three million American tourists and business people arrive on their shores every year.
Too loud, too brash, too opinionated, too fast to bag out everywhere else that isn't the United States. The US State Department is now considering issuing a set of guidelines with US passports that basically say "Shut Up And Listen".
This is an attempt at American Image Makeover on an epic scale.
How will it go down back home?
Probably not so well.
But the rest of the world will no doubt cheer the initiative by the US State Department.
Next, maybe the State Department should try and do something about the Ugly American Military Invasions, and the Ugly American Air Bombing Campaigns and the Ugly American Torture Programs.
There's more to the widespread feelings of anti-Americanism than just loud shirts and loud voices.
