FOR Britons waiting for some gesture in recognition of the risks that Tony Blair has taken for the transatlantic alliance, satisfaction has come at last. Mr Blair is to be admitted to the grandest of American halls of fame. He has been given a bit part in “The Simpsons”.

By recording his voice to go with his cartoon character, Mr Blair not only gets to join a star-spangled crowd of celebrity guests that includes Bill Clinton and most of Hollywood, but might also win back a little of the credibility his stance on the war has lost him among the generally left-wing British intelligentsia. “The Simpsons” is not just the most successful cartoon on American television, but also a brilliant satire on American religion, society and politics. The right usually comes off worst, which is why it is the favourite programme not just of countless six-year-olds but also of such luminaries of the left as the Archbishop of Canterbury and Glenda Jackson, an actress-turned-politician.

The trouble is that, in these extreme times, reality becomes hard to satirise. The Simpsons' main contribution to the war effort was the line “cheese-eating surrender-monkeys”. It was intended as a caricature of the American right's attitude to the French, but has been taken up gleefully by Francophobes and used to taunt cheese-eating surrender-monkeys everywhere for their lily-livered pacifism.

Still, “The Simpsons” are unlikely to treat Mr Blair badly. They are gentle with visiting celebrities, to ensure a steady flow. Mr Blair will probably get more joy out of it than the audience. Politicians trying to be funny rarely are. The true comic turns are unintentional, as Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, the former Iraqi information minister, who became a global television star for his pantomime refusal to admit that American tanks were thundering into the picture behind him, has shown.