Mr. President, He's Making Fun Of Me!

Readers of NIGP know that we are ugly Americans, people who think the rest of the world is populated by fools, imbeciles and enemies. A great example of why we think this way is the impending visit of Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev to the White House.

President Nazarbayev will visit the White House and the Bush family compound in Maine when he flies in for talks that will include the fictional character Borat.

And who is this fictional character Borat? He's a creation of British comedian Sasha Cohen, the man behind HBO's "Da Ali G Show".

Cohen, 35, creator of Ali G, has infuriated the Kazakhstan government with his portrayal of Borat, a bumbling Kazakh TV presenter.

And now a movie of Borat's adventures in the US has caused a diplomatic incident. The opening scene, which shows Borat lustily kissing his sister goodbye and setting off for America in a car pulled by a horse, had audiences in stitches when it was first shown last week.

But the film, which has just premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, has prompted a swift reaction from the Kazakhstan government, which is launching a PR blitz in the States. Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev is to fly to the US to meet President Bush in the coming weeks and on the agenda will be his country's image.

The row originally erupted in November 2005, following Borat's hosting of the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon.

OK, how stupid are these people? Cohen is British, he offended at the MTV Europe Music Awards, held and broadcasted in Europe. So they are complaining to the President of the United States. Maybe the portrayal of Borat as an ignorant fool who typifies his countrymen is pretty accurate.