"I'm probably one of the four or five best known Americans in the world"

That's what Rudy Giuliani told reporters during his trip to London this week to get some cash, press and street cred in the international diplomacy world.

Give or take a few dozen others, he's pretty close to right. He's in the upper echelon, no doubt.

And this seems like a distinguished sort of thing to say about oneself, but it's not necessarily a sign of virtue.

Off the top of my head, I came up with a few other honors I might not want:

• McDonalds is among foods America is best known for
• Colombia's most notorious export got Robert Downey Jr. in a fair share of trouble
• Minnesota's best-known governor was also a former professional wrestler
• The face of Cuba is not universally loved
• The Soviet Union's most famous leaders were not exactly choir boys
• Would you want your daughter to date the person most-associated with Waco, TX in the 1990s?

I get where you're going with it, Rudy, but you open yourself up for some other comparisons when you let your ego run your mouth.