The award goes to a burst of Upper Manhattan anti-patriotism on the cover of the July 1 New Yorker (unfortunately, the image isn’t online, and if you don’t subscribe, you’ll have to visit your local newsstand or supermarket magazine section to take a look).


The red-white-and-blue cover, by illustrator Barry Blitt depicts George W. Bush done up as Uncle Sam sitting at a table all by himself morosely staring at his Fourth-of-July “Happy Birthday” cake. Flanking him on either side are rows of empty chairs and empty place-settings, six in total, each place-setting including a different paper flag, each representing countries that are not with us in Iraq. The title of the illustration: “Party of One.” Get it?


So let’s see which six countries are represented by the flags:


France


Germany


Well, yeah, we know all about them. Of course German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was in Washington on Monday schmoozing with the real-life George W. Bush. Said Schroeder afterwards: “We spoke about many international topics and reached a large measure of commonality.”


The Netherlands


Along with the Belgians, the Dutch always sign onto whatever Old European piece of , pro-Islamist bit of pacifist tomfoolery their pals in France and Germany cook up.


Italy


Wait a minute–Italy’s with us! True enough, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has promised a gradual withdrawal of troops starting in September. Maybe that counts as an empty seat.


Algeria


Bangladesh


That’s the best you can do, Blitt? Three Euro-economic basket cases with declining populations and fast-growing masses of often-violent, culturally unassimilated Muslim immigrants, two out-and-out Islamic nations, and one country, Italy, that’s actually fighting with us, if only for now. Good thing the New Yorker’s cover is only 10 1/2 inches long and you didn’t have to scramble around for more empty place-settings: Iceland, Saudi Arabia, Congo, Tahiti, whatever.