Despite the fact that Gordon Brown’s address to a joint session of Congress yesterday got 16 standing ovations, the general reaction to the first visit of the British Prime Minister during the new era of hope and change has been one of indifference. His plea to reject protectionism is likely to be given lip service, even as the Porkulus Act authorizes it, but that’s about as much as he’ll get. The general impression I get around this town is that Britain today is a busted flush — fatally weakened by its own financial mess combined with its currency crisis. Nevertheless, you’d have thought the President’s most important ally in Afghanistan deserved better than this. I’m not about to endorse James Delingpole’s theory that Michelle Obama was behind it all, but it does look as if the special relationship with Britain is one area of FDR’s policy that his devoted disciple will not be following.