I watched Winston Churchill's funeral on youtube the other day. It's worth doing, for one curiousity.

Towards the end, an American commentator is invited to speak over the BBC broadcast. At this solemn event, he proceeds to give a full five minutes on why Britain is so awful. I think he called us "an arrogant and impudent colonial power".

Churchill's death closed the book on the British Empire, and finally crowned the US as the new leader of the Western world - but not one without its insecurities, as the above incident seemed to demonstrate. I mean, talk about picking your moment.

The rise of the US was actually both very quick and rather quiet, for the most part (a little like the rise of its current president). I suspect its "fall" will be the same way. We'll one day wake up to find that the US is just another country among many, and that the word "superpower" no longer has much meaning.

Well, one can hope. American exceptionalism is getting long in the tooth. I'm not sure what the rationale is for being a superpower anymore. It's not as though we don't have what we need to protect our interests.

"Churchill's death closed the book on the British Empire, and finally crowned the US as the new leader of the Western world"

It wasn't Churchill's death that crowned anything for the US. It was the fact that the US became involved in WWII, used the atomic bomb, saved and then rebuilt Europe, and then immediately after all that proceeded to build the world's fastest growing economy.

Those things gave the US superpower status, not the death of the prime minister of an island.

"Impudent" is about right. "Island" is also correct but over looks one or two rather staggering facts. The United Kingdom has been written off every year of my life. I view this debate about the 'end of America' as part of the process of growing up.

Much work on the atomic bomb (and jet engine, radar, etc.,) was done before 1940 in England, U.K. This work was handed over gratis to the U.S.A. when many Americans in and out of government were hostile to Britain (i.e. prior to Pearl Harbour) in exchange for war fighting materials which had to be paid for.

The United Kingdom finished paying (the U.S.A.) for the priviledge of being the only country to fight on every day of World War Two in 2006.

Perhaps it is silly for me to get involved when clearly a person's national pride is at stake, but here I go anyway.

The United Kingdom has been written off every year of my life.

What do you mean by written off? Pretty much every time I hear about the UK, it has been correctly represented as a still rather important country that has not nearly the impact it once had.

Much work on the atomic bomb (and jet engine, radar, etc.,) was done before 1940 in England, U.K.

Yep, and the US space program is largely founded on work by German scientists. Point being?

the only country to fight on every day of World War Two

Well, that depends on how you look at it. Poland I'm sure would disagree that the UK was fighting on day 1. If a country is defeated but continues to have a resistance, is it still fighting? If so, France and Poland have a bit of a claim (as could Germany). Is there a need for the contribution to fighting be significant? If so, UK was largely done after the krauts surrendered. Or, we could take a less Euro-centric view of the war and recognize that hostilities were undergoing between China and Japan prior to the invasion of Poland and neither country stopped fighting until Japan's unconditional surrender.

Anyway, I have nothing against the UK, I rather like them. But your contention that the US didn't become the premier western power until Churchill's death in 1965 is laughable. I suppose you think it was the English military keeping the soviets at bay.

I just watched the video of Churchill's video, and GreenwichJ is absolutely correct.

Whether you watch it out of curiosity (which is the only correct spelling of this English word, whether you live in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa) or out of "curiousity" (did you just make that up, GreenwichJ? I'm only asking because It's pretty awesome haha), I think we have to agree with his political analysis.

I for one welcome the rigorous (rigourous?) sub-editorial standards you are bringing to the web, MichaelGraves.

It's "rigorous". And I don't know what you're talking about.

What does "sub-editorial" mean?

I was just calling foul on your (actually pretty fabulous, I have to admit haha) combination of ignorant anti-Semitism and badly misspelled internet posts. I wasn't trying to become your editor.

Arguably, by self-identifying as a Jew and then posting obnoxious idiocy on the internet, it is you who are spreading anti-Semitism. Whaddya think?

I suspect its "fall" will be the same way. We'll one day wake up to find that the US is just another country among many, and that the word "superpower" no longer has much meaning.

I think we've already passed that point.

...the population of the US is going to get ever bigger. I reckon it'll top out at around one billion, but possibly much more.

That rule does not apply to China (pretty much full), Europe (ditto), or India (too many people already).

Indeed, the 22nd Century could become a two-horse race between the US...and Canada.

Well, yes, GreenwichJ, when you put it like that, I guess you're right about the whole anti-Semitism thing. I have to admit I had never really thought about it that way before.

And I kind of flew off the handle there and I wasn't too respectul too. So I'm honestly sorry. Please accept my apologies :(

So, my Jewish wife and my Jewish 3-year-old daughter and I would like to learn more about your theories. Do you have any more information about how Jews cause anti-Semitism and how, when people write hateful things about Jews, it's their own fault? Websites, e-mail addresses, anything? We'd like to read up on this.

My apologies again, GreenwichJ. I clearly didn't understand where you were coming from.

Wow, good sarcasm there. You people really are clever (kidding! Just an anti-semitic joke!)

Personally, I doubt very much whether you're Jewish. The internet is a perfect forum for anti-semites like yourself to masquerade as Jews and then go around acting like a dick.

This would work brilliantly as a means of stirring anti-semitism. After all, human beings know they shouldn't abstract from the particular to the general. But they do, often in spite of themselves.

Thankfully, I know lots and lots of real Jews, none of whom act like you (i.e act like a dick). So, through the process of inductive reasoning, I suggest that you are in fact blue eyed, red haired, probably about 300lbs, hunched in a trailer somewhere, surrounded by Nazi memorabilia, jerking off over pictures of Leni Reifensthal...