Mark McGowan, wearing a turkey on his head, walks backwards through London in 2003 calling on people to eat less junk food. Photograph: Martin Godwin
There is a line in Sting's An Englishman in New York in which he sings "a gentleman will walk but never run".
Well, the London-based British "performance artist" Mark McGowan might be tempted at some stage to break out into a sprint when he carries out his latest madcap stunt.
He says he is going to crawl around New York for three days wearing a George Bush mask and a sign saying "kick my ass", carefully placed over his backside.
McGowan, who is now a veteran of a string of, some might say, frankly ridiculous, stunts, including recently eating a swan to protest at the monarchy, and pushing a peanut to Downing Street with his nose, has said he is anticipating injuries.
"I like to think of it as a service - a kind of therapeutic engagement with the people of America," McGowan told the Press Association.
"Hopefully people will be able to come and kick me - the President, George Bush - as hard as they like, and gain some comfort in the fact that they can say 'I kicked George in the ass'."
Clearly Mr Bush is not the most loved of US presidents - opinion poll approval ratings have been terrible recently - but many Americans are known for having a heart-felt respect for the office of their president.
McGowan is likely to come across lots of Democratic voters in New York, and they, of course, might be the most interested in kicking his ass. But disgusted Republican voters might also want to express their displeasure at his stunt. Maybe it would work better if he headed down to a nice little town in the bible belt?
