Guardian: Get Mad – and Get Even (Blame Blair, rather than Bush)

[kskiska]

Bush deserves our rage, but Blair should take the brunt of it. We elected him, now we must get rid of him


The US president, George Bush, looks pretty baffled at the best of times. But after an hour-long meeting with "moderates" in Bali during his whistle-stop tour of Asia last month he cut a particularly confused figure. For reasons he could not quite grasp, his self-professed vision of America as a benign superpower spreading democracy through the Middle East was received with polite scepticism, even among those nations and leaders he considered allies. "Do they really believe that we think all Muslims are terrorists?" he asked. "I've been saying all along that not every policy issue needs to be dealt with by force."

(snip)

We did not elect Bush (it is a moot point whether anybody did) and can do little about him but hope that the Democrats get it together to beat him next year. We did elect Blair, and if these demonstrations are going to be about anything more than ire, then it is our responsibility to get rid of him.

(snip)

Meanwhile, Bush comes to the same country that turned out in droves to welcome Bill Clinton, when he walked through the centre of London with a smile and a wave and not a combat vehicle in sight. Bush is not synonymous with America any more than Blair is synonymous with Britain. We can make Bush uncomfortable; it is only Blair we can make unemployed.

more…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1086683,00.html

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Powerful writing.

My fav:

"Bush is not synonymous with America any more than Blair is synonymous with Britain."

[glarius]

2. Reading this account one thought came to mind.......

When Americans feel down and depressed about how the world perceives Bush, remember the line in this article...."Meanwhile, Bush comes to the same country that turned out in droves to welcome Bill Clinton, when he walked through the centre of London with a smile and a wave and not a combat vehicle in sight."....Clinton was greeted everywhere like that, and still is....

[grytpype]

3. I love it.

Those British public school types really know how to stick in the dagger.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. An excellent piece

The road to defeating Bush lays through Blair.

Run through the dog, then get the boy.

[T_i_B]

6. Run through the dog?

Run over the poodle more like!

This is a great article which shows the main challenge for the British left, which is without a really effective establishment/electoral voice. We have won the argument but lost all influence. It's time to take the power back.

[Catfish]

5. Thanks for the link

The point of the article is important. If we don't make Bush pay for his lies and the folly of Iraq, we fail. Blair should pay as should Bush.

[Manix]

7. Great piece!!

n/t

[T_i_B]

8. Michael Moore makes similar comments

http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/story.jsp?story=464491

Moore describes Tony Blair as the "rug" that needs to be pulled away from under the feet of the American President. His audiences, he thinks, are "afraid of saying the words 'Tony Blair must go' because they are afraid of what that means in terms of what he might be replaced with".

The media mogul, Rupert Murdoch, may believe the new Conservative leader Michael Howard is a potential prime minister but Moore does not. "People seem to be very afraid the Tories could come back into power. I have tried my best to ridicule that notion. They need to trust that the people in this country don't want to go back to those old days."

The fears, Moore believes, are an indication of the lack of depth in the ruling party. "It's a comment on how ineffective people feel the Labour Party is. It seems filled with a lot of wimpy, spineless people afraid to criticise their leader or stand up to him."