Things Aren't Looking Good For Blair Based On This Editorial Round-Up

[Khephra]

'A reckoning will come in the end'

The Sunday papers reflect on the first week of the judge's probe

Monday August 18, 2003

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/kelly/comment/0,13747,1020796,00.html

[demgrrrll]

1. Does anyone know if his good pal Bushie has said anything about

Blair recently?

[efhmc]

2. This is neither a flippant nor, I hope, a naive question but how do you

think Blair's future effects us?

[PurityOfEssence]

4. short of a death-blow, but hardly just a flesh wound, ma'am...

If Blair is brought down over this, it will be a big kick in the face for Junior. For Blair, the whole issue is WMDs, because that was the entire sales pitch. Taking him down will be tantamount to showing that argument to have been either gross incompetence (yeah, right) or deliberate railroading.

The herd instinct has been well used by the neo-cons; this would be it working against them. To show that it was all cooked up leads one to believe that it was cooked up for a reason...hmmm...

It would bring questions; the Junta hates that.

One of the worst things that has come out of all this is that the world truly hates us now, and simply can't trust us. As a mere 4% of the world's population, we can't afford that kind of pariah status. They can live a whole lot better without us than we can without them, and as we become a rogue state, less leeway will be given.

People who's business interests will be disrupted by the destabilizing of a major country's politics will be most displeased.

Let's just say that it can't help.

More to the point of your question: don't feel bad about not having a glib response of how irrelevant (man, I hate that word) or important it would be to the current gangsters, I think that anyone who can really answer with certainty what will happen is probably fooling him/herself.

It can't be good or even neutral, though, to have it bring down the government of the only real ally we have in this adventurism...

[MrPrax]

7. Great Post!!!

well thought...and yes I think that the effort to undermine Blair there will have some reprecussions with Bush's admin
After all, the UK is one of the highly touted pillars of the whole coalition...
Leads to the obvious point...if the brits think their gov't is lying...then domestically the question will be asked.

What will Bush do? Paint the British as the French
Step back and look --who are bush's friends on this point of diplomacy--Blur and Berlocussi and Aswar...
Not much to go on in the foreign relations ploy...
Only fall back for the Junta is the the usual refrain of 'the world hates us coz of our freedom'
Sickening that these guys are so out of control

[AP]

10. Another thing: Bush wants Blair gone.

Remember that US diplomat from Greece who resigned over Iraq? He was on the Dianne Rehm show and said that one of the most unseemly aspects of this whole thing was that Bush was intentionally undermining Blair, who is a patriot who cares deeply about the best interests of his citizens.

Exactly. Bush IS INTENTIONALLY UNDERMINING Blair. A career diplomat can see it. I can see it. It's so obvious.

Now why in the world would Bush be pursuing an end like that if he thinks it's going to hurt him? It makes no sense. If Blair gets dumped, Bush will dance on Blair's grave.

[PurityOfEssence]

11. interesting point; let's run it up and see...

...who salutes.

This has been advanced before--not to take the wind out of your sails for your commendable perspicacity--and may well be part of the bargain. Blair moved his party farther to the right, like his pal Clinton, and built a thoroughly solid power base. The Bushies would always like to push everyone farther to the right, to the point where we can open the discussion about whether wages are really necessary, whether workers have the right to leave their jobs, and the like. They probably dream of pushing it even farther than that.

I don't think they'd want Blair to fall here though, because of the discredit that could befall them, but maybe you're right. One of the problematic things about second guessing these curs is finding a way to skew a civilized mind to their outlook. If you accept the premise that they think they can get away with anything--ample proof for that, eh?--then maybe they are willing to take an odd hit or two to be able to bring the shell-shocked Thatcherites back. Maybe it's just an additional benefit to everything. Maybe it really is the big unified field theory of ultra ratfuck conspiracies, but I'm a little twitchy about signing on to that one.

In short (ha) you may be right. If you are, we're in even deeper effluvia than I thought, but then again, they're so reckless that even their money and power can't sustain them. The really wealthy and powerful don't like deliberate destabilization of this sort. Then again, if the payoff's big enough...

Personally, I want to see Blair burn for this. I want to see screaming outcry and I want him packed off to that chicken farm in Surrey with Sherlock Holmes. My true ire is reserved for our domestic breed of raptors.

[AP]

9. That is so unlikely. Look at history. The US and UK have moved

in tandem. Tories wins there, a Republican wins here. A Dem wins here, Labour wins there.

If Blair goes, you'll see a resurgent Tory party. Bush will win a second term here and the Tories will win there. Then they'll work together like they did in the Thatcher-Regan years to have a mutual protection society. Britain will probably even pull out of Iraq, leaving the US to run the show on its own, which will destroy the European economy, and lead, Bush hopes, to a schism in Europe which will end the EU project.

The only thing that makes this scenario unlikely is that Blair, as soon as Bush became president, saw the handwriting on the wall. He knew Bush would use his power to undermine Labour in the UK, so Blair called an early election. You only have to call an election every five years (except your own party can vote you out). By running early, Blair ensured that he wouldn't have to run again until the second year of Democratic presidency, provided Bush gets the boot. Even if Bush doesn't get the boot, it's possible that America will be so weakened, that Bush's influence on British policits will wane.

[efhmc]

12. You make good sense. I am still wondering if the "average" American

will blink twice if Blair goes? They will hear that the "anti-wars, liberals" are happy about this. Therefore, it is bad and therefore we should just go on our very unmerry way.

[RapidCreek]

5. Blair's complicity in the lies used as a rational for war

affected us, our soldiers and about 7,000 now dead Iraqi civilians. As long as he holds office his lap dog acquiescence to Bush gives weight to the use of the word coalition, a guise intended to cloak our respective militaries implementation as a publicly funded, privately directed, mercenary force.

Does that clear it up for you?

RC

[jmatthan]

6. War Crimes

Blair and co. has to be charged with War Crimes, and that has to be followed by Bush and co. being similarly charged.

Jacob Matthan
http://www.findians.com/educated.html
Oulu, Finland

[Elidor]

3. With the revelation that Blair intervened personally to harrass Kelly,

On top of all the other shit, I'd imagine he's had his last leg knocked out from under him. Not only did he lie about the need for war, he and his minions hounded a man to suicide for criticizing them, using public inquiries and indiscreet backstabbing as their weapons of choice. At last all of England can see the mindset of the scum at the helm of the ship of state.

[Andy_Stephenson]

8. Change the name in this sentence...

"Even more difficult for Tony Blair and his inner circle will be to change the impression, now universally held, that this is a government so addicted to spin that it cannot change its ways"


To this

Even more difficult for George Bush* and his inner circle will be to change the impression, now universally held, that this is a government so addicted to spin that it cannot change its ways.

When Tony Falls can Bush* be far behind? Will they fall like dominoes.