The folks on CBS Mornings this morning made it clear that the tourist who scrawled a message on the wall of the Colosseum was not an American – he was a Brit. Which seemed to confirm what the New York Times, a number of years ago now, said about today’s tourists. The Brits, the paper mused, were the new Americans, loud and obnoxious. The Americans were the new Germans, keeping a low profile because we know we’re unloved. The Chinese were the new Japanese, traveling in groups and taking lots of pictures. And the Russians were the new Arabs, buying not just souvenirs but property.
