Thursday, May 10, 2007

Blair's Goodbye

I don't follow British politics that closely, but I always thought Tony Blair was one of Europe's better leaders and, certainly, one of its best politicians. Today, he announced that he will be leaving June 27th.

Enter Gordon Brown.

Labels:

posted by calgarygrit at 6:37 p.m.

15 Comments:

  • True! He is a natural born politician, i.e. one who enjoys massaging people.

    Neither, Dion or harper are anywhere as good.

    By Blogger JimTan, at 7:06 p.m.  

  • Hey, Paul Martin's website looks pretty nifty.

    Better than the ol' PaulMartinTimes, at least...

    By Blogger Josh, at 7:19 p.m.  

  • I always like Tony Blair, despite the debacle in Iraq.

    By Blogger Sean Cummings, at 7:36 p.m.  

  • I thought the Iraq war was a tragic mistake, taking our eye off of Bin Laden and Al Quaeda. Obviousy, its outcome, years from today, will be a big determining factor of Blair's legacy. I read once some writer opine very forgivingly that Blair's choice had been to allow a unilateral war with no voice in it, or to join the team as a major weight partner and participate in decisions. Perhaps that is true, perhaps he - like many other well-intentioned people - really believed in it. I'm interested in knowing more as time passes.

    By Blogger Jacques Beau Vert, at 8:17 p.m.  

  • Jason said

    “I read once some writer opine very forgivingly that Blair's choice had been to allow a unilateral war with no voice in it, or to join the team as a major weight partner and participate in decisions.”

    Got to disagree. Tony Blair is driven by a dangerous blend of religious righteousness and megalomania. Note that his vision of a post-cold war future is crouched in neo-con do-good talk. We must save … We must show an example…

    Yes, there are many appalling situations in the third world. But, the Anglo-American bush/blair alliance was the wrong vehicle.

    In fact, it was militant Tony Blair who influenced bush . In 2003, Tony Blair was the main European advocate for war. In 2004, bush had a moment of doubt as he faced re-election. He went to London to consult Blair. It was Blair who stiffened bush’s backbone.

    Since then, Tony Blair has never accepted any culpability in the false WMD claims, and continues to advocate a crusade against Islamic ‘terrorism’.

    By Blogger JimTan, at 12:47 a.m.  

  • "any culpability in the false WMD claims"

    Some ****** seem to forget that Chretien, Hussein, Clinton and even the Democrats in Congress witnessed the WMD which Iraq posessed.

    The only question has ever been what Hussein did with the WMD. And most informed experts believe that they were transported to Syria.

    By Blogger Paul, at 3:10 a.m.  

  • paul

    "And most informed experts believe that they were transported to Syria."

    When paul says this, I know that it must be false.

    By Blogger JimTan, at 4:25 a.m.  

  • Not me.

    Best European politician by far is Zapatero in Spain. Bertie Ahern has the teflon thing in him that makes him electable time after time.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:52 a.m.  

  • I'm 100% in favour of crushing Islamic terrorism -- any terrorism, actually. I just felt we should focus on Bin Laden and Al Quaeda, not Iraq.

    By Blogger Jacques Beau Vert, at 9:48 a.m.  

  • The best politician in Europe is Bono.


    ;)

    By Blogger Jacques Beau Vert, at 9:53 a.m.  

  • josh; If only Paul's blog would return...

    JBG; I'm a big anti-Iraq guy too but I do think it's unfair to have that as the only thing Blair's remembered for since he did do a lot of other good while in charge.

    By Blogger calgarygrit, at 11:35 a.m.  

  • "The only question has ever been what Hussein did with the WMD. And most informed experts believe that they were transported to Syria."

    most 'actual' "experts" (i.e. the weapons inspectors...hans blix and scott ritter) believed most of iraq's arsenal of wmd's was destroyed after the gulf war. they weren't sure as saddam kept pretending he had them in order to maintain his power within iraq and for iraq throughout the middle east. of course, senate committees in the US and a committee in the UK (name escapes me...lost in the timefog) illustrated that both the US and the UK were exporting wmds to iraq, throughout the eighties and nineties (even after the gulf war) including chemical and biological weapons. so, yes, the UK and the US knew iraq had (at one point) wmds...they still had the receipts.

    as for blair, an amazing politician and an even more imppressive megalomaniac. the millenium dome and the iraq war being prime examples of his dictatorial megalomania and utter incompetence. what an articulate orator though.

    By Blogger canuckistanian, at 1:54 p.m.  

  • The comparison between Blair & Brown and Chretien & Martin is inevitable, it's interesting that Blair actually endorsed Brown. Can you imagine if Chretien had done that?

    By Blogger Bailey, at 3:42 p.m.  

  • http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00246/p1-110507_246655a.jpg

    Yanked from kinsella's site, this picture says it all.

    By Blogger french wedding cat, at 4:52 p.m.  

  • But *why* did you think that Blair "was one of Europe's better leaders" ???

    By Blogger S.J. Valentine, at 5:19 p.m.  

Post a Comment

<< Home