Welcome to America

The United States of America: Land of democracy, choice and freedom of expression.








That is of course, provided that you aren't a homosexual democrat living in Alabama who isn't partial to Country & Western or Nascar, as proved by the BBC's brilliant Top Gear programme.



Now for a bit of partiality, Jeremy Clarkson is to Anglo-American relations what Margret Thatcher was to trade unions. The programme has told us time and time again that the Americans can't build cars. They can't go around corners, they have stupid buttons in stupid places and their interiors are made of of plastic thinner than tissue paper.
Add to that the multitude of jokes about fat people and gun-wielding manics, and you can see that Clarkson and Co are hardly the greatest diplomats.

So when they drive around the deep south with $1000 cars emblazoned with offensive slogans, they got exactly the reaction they wanted. They made the locals look like the inbred, small minded fools that so many movies portray them to be and the producers made a very good programme whilst doing it.

Sunday's episode was perhaps the funniest Top Gear ever broadcast. The programme is often criticsed from various quarters, those who complain they only show an interest in £120,000+ super cars, the tree huggers who dislike anything more technologically advanced than an Amish butter churner and those who claim the show is obsessed with speed, concerns that reared their head again after presenter Richard Hammonds miraculous escape from a 280mph crash in York.

For 50 minutes, the show was basically three lads mucking about with cars and having a good laugh, which is probably the main appeal of Top Gear. Yes it has a role as a consumer focused programme and does cover plenty of "normal" cars in it's programming, but it's that 'laddish' approach that makes the programme so original and is the very reason why 5-6m people watch it every week.

But despite the jokes and pranks, the drive through a completely destroyed New Orleans, fully 12 months after Katrina had blown though, saw the shows serious side and it was a fitting touch to give their cars away to the less fortunate.

Yes, the show has it's critics. The presenters might prefer to test drive an Aston Martin rather than a Hyundai Accent, yes they might not like speed cameras but it's still a thoroughly enjoyable programme and long may it continue.