ALEX Salmond took the opportunity on his visit to the United States last week to talk about the merits of independence.
Speaking at Virginia University as part of his Scotland Week programme, he invoked the spirit of Thomas Jefferson, telling the Americans: "Where you chose independence, we have yet to follow." But comparing Scotland's position now with that of the 13
American colonies in 1776 is stretching historical analysis, to say the least.
By the time the British Empire was reaching its zenith in 1763, with the defeat of France in Canada and India, Scotland was a full and willing participant in, not a victim of, the global spread of British influence. If anything the reverse was the case and Glasgow was on its way to becoming the Second City of the Empire.
However much Mr Salmond would like to identify with America's 18th century rebellion, there was never any likelihood of a Scottish version of the Boston Tea Party – dumping crates of tea into the Forth or Clyde with cries of "No taxation without representation" – and if anything the rebellions of 1715 and 1745 could have seen the return of an absolutist monarchy and the removal of representation.
A much more realistic comparison than likening 21st century Scotland to 18th Century America is that between modern Scotland and the individual states of America.
Most state legislatures have more power than the current Scottish Parliament, including levying their own local taxes and control over law and order, up to and including whether or not they impose the death penalty.
But another key observation is that despite their fierce defence of state rights, none question the fact they are all part of the one United States of America.
The US allows its component parts to be different, make their own laws and find their own ways through problems, but there is a universal acknowledgement that they are stronger together than any of them could be on their own.
Even the most independent-minded southern governor in the US salutes the Stars and Stripes, which is in sharp contrast to the SNP attitude to the Union flag.
Back in the early days of devolution, rising Nationalist star Andrew Wilson caused an outcry when he referred to the Union flag as "an offensive symbol". And in 2004, another SNP MSP Bruce McFee objected to "flying the butcher's apron above the Scottish Parliament".
But there is nothing contradictory in dual loyalty. The American Civil War remains one of he most brutal conflicts of modern times and the north-south rivalry is just as much alive as the Scots-English rivalry here, yet they recognise there is more that binds them together than keeps them apart. And that's just not in Mr Salmond's script.
