So, farewell then Tony Blair

[avsp]

OK, so its not till the end of June that he actually goes
but good riddance to the lying p.o.s

BBC NEWS | Politics | Blair will stand down on 27 June

Iraq obviously is going to hang heavily over his place in history, "Hand on heart, ..., But believe one thing if nothing else, I did what I thought was right for our country", (Really? I regularly do what i believe to be the wrong thing.), but even so it is not enough for having allowed the mission to be executed so very very badly

Perhaps the horror & shame on his face on those aircraft steps when told of Kelly's death do him credit, OTOH the fact that he refuses to admit his lies wipes any credit out.

Meanwhile
The countries economy is in fairly good shape, but isn't that Browns & Majors doing?

There's now a working power sharing system & relative peace in NI, but isn't that Major & Hume's & Adams' doing?. OK so I'm probably being unfair here . All he had to do was be patient, resolute & quiet, which, ,perhaps, go against his nature

Perhaps his efforts for Africa are more flattering, ..., well maybe so but again its seen as equally Browns initiative if not assorted sandal wearing do-gooders. Again I'm possibly being unfair, but either way its still a long long way from complete

His main legacy is the triumph of style over content, which has served to just further increase voter apathy & general public political disengagement.

His 'presidential' & 'sofa-style' procedural ways just serve to hide any paper trial of the whys & wherefores of policy, (very Rumsfeldian IMO), & are best typified by the dissembling on the legal advice on the case for the war that he did even to the cabinet itself. I also find the 'Britain is the greatest country in the world' bit of his speech distasteful, ..., but that just me I suspect, but I still reckon its not very 'British' to behave like that.

Other highlights include numerous aborted 'media motivated' initiatives summary on the spot fines for anti-social behaviour being my favourite. Also his close friendship with the incredibly unsavoury Berlusconi also doesn't go down well in my abode

& of course the every increasing authoritarian nature of the state, ..., but the pyramid fan within me sees this as a cross party effort , ..., 'Everywhere I look I see a blind man'

But what of his likely successor Gordon Brown?

They rose together rebuilding the party to make it electable but Brown is seen as more serious less frivolously concerned with 'spin', less euro-friendly, (he nixed UK join the Euro currency)

Brown has been seen as a 'safe pair of hands' economy wise & the decision to hand interest rate setting to an independent body is seen as a a good thing.

His has a reputation for prudence. No net borrowing across the economic cycle etc. . However this reputation took a battering when he moved the historical start point for the cycle when his plans meant that he'd break this rule

His biggest initiative 'family tax credits', (a Clinton-esque idea), is too complicated to actually work effectively, (> £6billion handed out in error over 4-5 years). This will return to haunt him I think. As will possible mistakes on pension policy.

He has famously stood shoulder to shoulder with Blair on Iraq.

Personally I like is dour stylings but I imagine the much of his & the parties energies are being spent in making him seem more 'friendly'. I don't think they need to do this, they should associate him with the long & glorious history of incredibly dour very successful Scottish football managers

Either way my views on him are electorially irrelevant as I will never forgive the party for not jettisoning Blair for lying on such an important matter as the intell evidence

Media comentators are comparing Browns style & personality to that of your own Mccain

[ballz2wallz]

I'm curious to see who's next, and what choice and decisions they make for the country.

[Stylerod]

10 years he was in power and he just "steps down". Such a different system than ours but I guess it works.

Well, he's done good and done bad. Just like every other world leader in history.

[avsp]

Originally Posted by Stylerod

10 years he was in power and he just "steps down". Such a different system than ours but I guess it works.

Well, he's done good and done bad. Just like every other world leader in history.

What he has done is very unusual. But as you say unusual things are allowed when there no tight constitution

He annouced before the last election that he'd not serve a full term. Its widely believed that he did so for the party as a sop to those outraged by his conduct on Iraq.

However, it meant that in many ways he has been a lame duck the last few years. Policy does seem to have stalled as the party fought itself internally.

As for" good & bad & ho-hum etc", ..., destablising the worlds premier energy producing region & failing to win & destroying the credibility of the west & democracy counts as a little more the usual run-of-the-mill mistakes in my book.

Blairs attempts to paint the situation, ('mistakes' etc) , in a similar manner to that which you suggest makes my blood boil & is all too typical of the reality defiying head-in-the-sand 'spin' that has characterised his Premiership.

B2W: Brown is seen as even more of a control-freak than Blair. He may feel the need to distance himself from accusation of 'poodle-ism' towards Bush that has plagued Blair. Even so he is likely to continue support for Iraq, ..., but the UK military want out ASAP & its seem as electorially advisable, even if I think a pull-out anytime soon is unwise.

[DosEquis]

Originally Posted by Stylerod

10 years he was in power and he just "steps down". Such a different system than ours but I guess it works.

Well, he's done good and done bad. Just like every other world leader in history.

I would like to see our presidents subjected to the "firing squad" they have there in their parliment. They get railed with tough questions

[Stylerod]

Originally Posted by DosEquis

I would like to see our presidents subjected to the "firing squad" they have there in their parliment. They get railed with tough questions

I know. They are ruthless!

[RMNIXON]

Originally Posted by Stylerod

I know. They are ruthless!

Yeah, they run it like an Old School Debate Society. They would never keep within the rules on this board!

[Miss Givens]

Originally Posted by ballz2wallz

I'm curious to see who's next, and what choice and decisions they make for the country.

The next in line is one-eyed Jockanese miser called Broon, who by virtue of his singular ineptitiude in selling off a hefty chunk of Britain's gold reserves at below market value, is considered by some to be an exemplary Chancellor of the Exchequer.

To use the idiom......exemplary my arrse.

Transatlantic observers may puzzle over this apparentely uncontested and undemocratic transfer of executive authority......you got THAT right bro......


He's currently playing up the ' I'm the straight guy - no more spin' card for all it is worth........it will be interesting to see if he can unglue his face from Dubya's arrse long enough to say

' Erm, we don't want to play in Iraq anymore.....so, if it's all the same to you mister prezz....we'll be awa hame the noo'


Ain't holdin' ma breff none Cuz.......


Laetitia Givens, CDM and Bar, Late spinster of this parish.

[Miss Givens]

Ahem, further to my last that nice Rose Gentle popped this under my antimacassar:

Blair's legacy: Iraq, Iraq, Iraq



Friday May 11, 2007
The Guardian

Tony Blair has announced his resignation, but the legacy of his disastrous foreign policy is still with us. In Iraq and Afghanistan we are fighting with no clear objective and no legitimacy. While Tony Blair will now travel the world trading on his reputation as a war leader and earning many millions of pounds, he abandons servicemen and -women to their fate in the wars he started. April saw the largest number of soldiers killed in Iraq in any month since the invasion of March 2003 - 12 died. The people of Iraq want our troops to leave, the people of Britain want the troops home and soldiers themselves have begun to speak out publicly against their misuse. Soldiers from the Staffordshire regiment went public about the real situation in Iraq when they returned last month. Private Paul Barton said: "Basra is lost. They are in control now and the government are just trying to save face." We believe the safety and wellbeing of our soldiers is being fatally compromised by a lack of decent equipment and reasonable medical support both in the field and back at home. We are demanding better treatment for the troops, but we believe more than anything that they need to come home.
Rose Gentle
Reg Keys
Military Families Against the War
Link here
----


Rose's son Fusilier Gordon Gentle was killed in Basra in 2004.


Reg Keys lost his son L/Cpl Tom Keys, one of six Royal Military Police killed in Al Amarah in 2003, aged 20. He has repeatedly asked for a meeting with Tony Blair.....with no response. It isn't just POTUS who does not wish to be photographed by a serviceman's grave....




British casualties , like their presence on the ground, are dwarfed by those of the US.......but to a bereaved parent only one casualty really counts........

Miss Givens

' At the going down of the Sun
And in the Morning
We will remember them '