Arianna - The Blair Bitch Project

[realFedUp]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/arianna-huffington/the-blair-bitch-project_2251.html

06.07.2005 Arianna Huffington

The Blair Bitch Project
The lion needed courage, the scarecrow a brain, and the tinman a heart. Tony Blair -- he needs some balls. How many times do we have to watch him suck up to his "friend," George Bush, only to end up with nothing? Or worse.

The trans-Atlantic chums are having a face-to-face in DC today, with Blair trying to get his buddy on board for some humanitarian outreach for Africa and a little acknowledgement that global warming, you know, exists. Maybe the sweltering temperatures in DC will help his case.

And help he needs. On Sunday, I saw David Hare's new play, "Stuff Happens," at the Mark Taper Forum in L.A. The play centers on the relationship between Blair and Bush during the lead up to the invasion of Iraq. Time and time again, Hare’s Bush leans on Blair for political cover, and time and time again, Blair gets played by Bush and his team, sacrificing his credibility for empty promises on the Middle East Road Map and on a second U.N. resolution. It is on the prospect of such a resolution that the play sends Cheney into a tailspin, willing to forgo British involvement in Iraq: "When the cat shit gets bigger than the cat," he growls, "get rid of the cat."

snip

Wouldn’t it be cool if Blair suddenly located his family jewels and turned today’s press conference into a replay of George Galloway’s smackdown of Sen. Norm Coleman? Y’know: Fed Up Brits Gone Wild!

[getmeouttahere]

1. Hell, I would take something reminiscent....

of Hugh Grant's PM character in "Love Actually" and his light smackdown of Billy Bob Thornton's U.S. Prez character.

Just a little huevos, Blair!

[jobycom]

3. Hehe. Good timing. nt.

[jobycom]

2. I'm looking for Hugh Grant's speech from "Love, Actually"

"I fear that this has become a bad relationship. A relationship based on the President taking exactly what he wants and casually ignoring all those things that really matter to, erm... Britain. We may be a small country but we're a great one, too. The country of Shakespeare, Churchill, the Beatles, Sean Connery, Harry Potter. David Beckham's right foot. David Beckham's left foot, come to that. And a friend who bullies us is no longer a friend. And since bullies only respond to strength, from now onward, I will be prepared to be much stronger. And the President should be prepared for that."

The one speech turns that silly movie into a political must-see, in my honest opinion.

I'm not holding my breath for Blair to make the speech, mind you. Just wishing for it.

[Briar]

4. You know, it's amazing how often Bliar has been told this

and how resolutely he ignores it.

[jobycom]

5. Maybe Blair still thinks he is manipulating Bush?

Maybe Blair's incredible eloquence hides a stupid mind?

I don't get it. He once seemed so noble. Now he is Neville Chamberlain to Bush's Hitler. Only repeatedly, and without the excuse of stalling for time to build a military to defeat Hitler.

[Inland]

6. Blair's mindless loyalty to Bush is amazing.

Blair isn't getting a tax cut. He isn't a fundie. He knows that the Iraq war was based on deception at worst and blind stubborness at best, and he knew it before the war. Bush has already screwed him on the ME and Africa and the environment.

So why is it that Blair is so starry eyed? Why doesn't he just stop lending Bush the credibility of being "not so bad" and wait for a normal president, like the rest of us?

[shraby]

7. Maybe Bush has something on him that

he doesn't want known.

[Inland]

8. Something more embarrassing than Iraq and being Bush's poodle?

What, did he kill an orphan and eat his liver?

Blair has already seen his parliamentary majority whittled and been put on the hot seat at home: if not for the fact that it is understood he is going to leave in two years, he would probably have lost.

I just don't get it. Is it a Bushian, if I don't admit I was wrong nobody will be able to prove it type of thing?

[Matilda]

9. I keep asking myself "What's in it for Blair?"

And I can't think of a thing. Perhaps he should start asking himself
that question and wait for the light to dawn.

[Karenina]

10. Carlyle???

Board of Directors position??? :shrug:

[GCP]

11. This line was interesting

One way of looking at "Stuff Happens" is as the eternal story of how a supposedly stupid man can always get his way with a clever one — at least if he is cunning and ruthless enough.

Isn't there a proverb about the stupid are always being certain, while the wise know how much they don't know.

[yellowcanine]

12. Woo hoo, Arianna is on a roll. "Tony Blair -- he needs some balls."

Heh. Well said from a woman who has more balls than Tony OR the Shrub.