What is surprising still is that the British chattering class cannot get past the ancient 2003 Tony Blair decision to join with George Bush in smashing Iraq's Hussein face in 2003 and pushing Iraq into civil war. It is a strange and repetitive mania for the Brits. The USA long left behind the Baghdad drama by electing POTUS Obama and moving on to domestic noise. Gordon Brown is not a bad pol, not a good pol; Gordon Brown is a stale pol and that is unacceptable. POTUS Obama turned the page, and for that he is a treasure. Imagine being stuck now with John McCain? We do not need leaders. We need foils. Blair is a perfect American foil: bright, charming, obedient. Brown is a character actor who has accepted the role of pariah junior.
Brief
Pariah Junior
2 Comments
Leave a comment
Events are rapidly overtaking any past positions that may have been taken. Our continuing obsession with blaming former leaders is sounding increasingly hollow. Yes, I have often said that had we elected John McCain, things would now be worse. I still believe that. For one thing, the Left's blaming of Bush's policies (and characterizing McCain as more of the same) would now still carry considerable weight. As it is, the Left in America is increasingly stuck with having to defend its own record, which now too sounds hollow and wrongheaded. In fact, what the Left has managed to accomplish since Obama's euphoric election - and even before, since taking majorities in congress (in 2007) - is now roundly seen as having been ineffective to the point of making George W. Bush's presidency look good.
The truth is that neither party has had much to offer, and both share in the blame. The way forward is at best painful. It is time to call on all the American people to sacrifice, something that Bush, to his eternal discredit, has never dared to do. His mantra after 9/11 was to continue as before. Never mind that the economy was already reeling. Ditto, our foreign policy. He, as president, must have known the score. Yet, he gave no indication that there were problems out there that needed be brought to our attention.
Perhaps, Bush - like the Democrats - did not want to alarm us. Perhaps he was hoping for a Deus ex machina event orchestrated by a higher power. Perhaps he, like a good father, did not relish the thought of bringing his work home for the family to deal with. That was a mistake. We are not children. We would have understood that we can't go on as we have. It would have involved no more than a straight-forward discussion about household finances. Instead, we were told everything is fine.
Everything was not fine. Nothing is fine now. Anyone claiming it is, is lying. Anybody claiming that a fix will be easy, is lying as well. The one positive thing that Obama has managed is inadvertently allowing us to see the paint peeling off our gilded walls.
http://peterkoelliker.blogspot.com/
Don't forget Britain threw the greatest Briton of all time, Sir Winston Churchill, out of office for a Labour government that promised an additional slice of bread from the government instead of improving the British economy.
I hear there will be a UK Tea Party organized, so there is hope. Do the subjects of the United Kingdom choose for a better economic future, or an extra piece of cheese this week?
Wisdom