The English Achieve...What America Cannot...
Pupils at a school in St. John's Wood, north of London,
protest ahead of a visit by Blair.
Apologies for the public, and a deal in private...
A not so friendly truce was struck yesterday between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown after the prime minister reluctantly gave in to the demands of the chancellor and rebel MPs by promising to step down within 12 months. What a resounding humiliation for what was once an admirable career...or so I thought.
Though neither commented on the timetable for Blair's departure and insisted no secret deal had been reached, (yeah right!) both sides will now accept Blair's announcement that he will step down in February. Blair would leave Downing Street in early May having spent 10 years in office. Yet still gives enough time for his successor to make adjustments before parliament goes into its long summer recess.
Blair prefers to stay on until May's Scottish and Welsh elections...although they don't want him to. That's got to hurt the ego! Tommorrow in a speech he will reveal what he wants to achieve in his final months in his official capacity.
The week's (knock-down-drag-out) at Westminster, which left Blair accusing his chancellor of blackmail, appeared to have improved yesterday when the two men broke their silence and gave statements of reconciliation. Blair apologised for the last few days, admitting the nasty infighting "has not been our finest hour, to be frank". Now if the Bush administration could just do the same thing.
In his brief statement, made during a visit to a London school, Blair said: "I think what is important now is that we understand that it's the interests of the country that come first and we move on. I would have preferred to do this in my own way but it has been pretty obvious from what many of my cabinet colleagues have said earlier in the week. Well...you've got to give the bloke some credit for that. Serious credit. I know a certain President that would rather choke on a pretzel than come forward with the truth...any truth...that would shine the light of gross indifference to what is happening to his country and his people. I surmise that Tony Blair was shone the distinction...and since HE is an educated man with great intelligence...he did what he reluctantly came to realise were the many mistakes...bonding to the Bush.
Blair also had a message for his rebel MPs, saying: "It's the public that comes first and it's the country that matters, and we can't treat the public as irrelevant bystanders in a subject as important as who is their prime minister." And in America the same goes for us. The citizens comes first and it's the country that matters, and the Bush administration can't treat the public as irrelevant bystanders (for the administration is employeed by us afterall)...in a willy-nilly fashion by just rendering some of its citizens up for sacrifice in the blooody sands in a foreign desert to perhaps die for naught.
It has been a shame to see Tony Blair go from holding admiration from his people and the rest of the world...to a second class citizen of the world...by virtue of holding hands with the beast...and the beast's name just happens to be Georgie the Dub...Ma Babs' little bundle of sunshine and tantrums. America is held at bay by his sinister plots and lies...and we must fervently hope that they do not take flight on the wind and the seeds of despair take hold and grow such roots as would bind us forever. That I do not want to live to see.
We the American citizens can only hope!
Cross-posted@Blanton's & Ashton's
Iraq certainly is essential to the war on democrats! But I can't believe how many people still are pro-war, even here in democrat land.
Posted by
PBS |
4:10 AM
It's sad that Blair's relationship with Bush has affected relationships between citizens of both countries. I have a number of blogger friends over the pond who don't want to comment on my site now - they are afraid of being tracked down by Bushites and called terrorist appeasers or something. How bad is that?
Posted by
Peacechick Mary |
5:06 AM
And another pompous a** hits the dust..Good riddance..
Posted by
Anonymous |
8:00 AM
Looks like Bush has accomplished a regime change in another country. I thing that is the last one left after Spain and Italy.
Gawd... the man has a midas touch when it comes to this.
Posted by
fallenmonk |
8:02 AM
I've always wondered about the Bush/Blair relationship. Blair-urbane and articulate, Bush an utter clod.
Sure there are plenty o national interests shared--big business interests really--and there's all the historic and cultural ties and what not. And I don't doubt that Blair cozied-up to Bush for intended British gain. But the relationship seemed abusive and Blair stuck around, taking the beatings and then apologizing for them?
I think the thing that kept the relationship going was their shared evangelism, both political and religious.
Yeah, there was some apparent humility there ( I'm talking to you Joe Lieberman!) but the remainder of his tenure will be spent trying to concoct some kind of glorious send-off. It's a shame how things are turning out but it's his own damn fault. And it's not like he'll be spending his "dole" money on fish and chips and "woodbines" ( famously cheap cigarettes). So if anyon else wants to be tougher on him than I am being here--go right ahead.
Posted by
5th Estate |
8:12 AM
The only thing he has going for him is the fact that he wasn't nearly as bad as Margaret Thatcher. Don't get this Irishman going about Margaret Thatcher...
In that respect, he can count himself lucky that he doesn't hold the same title as his U.S. counterpart ...Worst Ever
Posted by
PTCruiser |
6:01 PM
I for one would like to commend PM Blair on not providing a time table for his withdrawl. As we all know, to do so would only give aid and comfort to the enemy!
Posted by
Anonymous |
9:11 PM
Marvelous piece, Sumo! I detect some regret in your "voice" about what happened to Tony, but I guess it boils down to him sleeping in the bed of his own making. Granted, that his style makes Shrub look like a court jester but that doesn't mean that their philosophies were that different. 5th estate pretty well pre-emptied me, but I would like to add that Tony's camble to be the leader of the "new Europe", wich Bush&Co were promising, bombed just as any other neo-con plan so far. To be out of touch with your people to his extent makes any politician richly deserving his faith. Long live democracy!
Posted by
Anonymous |
12:01 AM
Pekka...regret in so far as I hate to see someone as obviously smart (most of the time)as Tony is get bamboozled by this moron. But then...perhaps he saw what he thought would be a political advantage for himself...go figure that one! Maybe because he speaks so well and doesn't appear to be the kind of cowboy that would fart insessantly in his #10 Downing St. office that makes him seem a better clown. They're all just a bunch of jokers anyway...
Posted by
sumo |
1:03 PM