Blumenthal: How George transformed Tony's world

[T_i_B]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1094052,00.html

Bush entered into negotiations with Blair to act out something more like Hobbes's Leviathan. Blair had been put into the position of having to appear before the president as petitioner. He asked for relief on US steel tariffs; for the rendering of British prisoners at Guantanamo to Britain; and for US pressure on the Israel-Palestine peace process. But Blair was rebuffed.

Peter Riddell, in his book Hug Them Close, writes that from initial anxiety about representing British interests, Blair has grown to see Bush as something of a soulmate. Blair's rhetoric during the visit sounded trumpet notes as though it was still the call to the war in Iraq and the postwar realities had not intruded. Riddell reports that Blair in retrospect regards Bush's predecessor as "weird". That fact or factoid, true or not, may be interpreted as perhaps another gesture of ingratiation - demeaning Clinton is always deeply appreciated by Bush.

I recall being present at meetings between Blair and Clinton where, in 10 minutes, apparently difficult problems, including trade, were resolved to Britain's advantage. How weird was that? Now Blair has equated the long-term interests aligning the US and the UK with adamantine support for the short-term strategies of the Bush administration. Yet the tighter the embrace, the weaker the influence.

As Blair rightly insists, the US is the world's most powerful democracy and sets an example for the rest of the west: the rise of the welfare state in Britain followed the New Deal; Labour's resurgence of the mid-60s followed the New Frontier and the Great Society. Conversely, Margaret Thatcher followed the conservative reaction of Richard Nixon and became the partner for Ronald Reagan. Clinton was the trailblazer for Blair. Now Bush's America has taken a radical swerve toward authoritarian conservatism, creating an international undertow. Will Britain have a special exemption?

[acmavm]

1. This article included the most truthful description of the Medicare bill

that I've seen in the media so far. You will never, NEVER, see the facts laid out so bluntly in an American newspaper or on the American news channels.

<snip>
Wearing the laurels of his London triumph, Bush returned to Washington to roll back one of JFK's great social initiatives and challenge the patriotism of Democrats. Bush's draconian bill restricting Medicare (or public health care for the elderly) is the most significant attack on the social compact since the New Deal. It will drop about one-quarter of workers from their coverage for prescription drugs; 6 million elderly will lose coverage; another 3.8 million will have it reduced or eliminated.

The whole $400bn programme will be financed by regressive taxation, in contrast to the current untaxed entitlement; and $125bn will flow into healthcare and pharmaceutical companies, who are major Bush donors. Meanwhile, Karl Rove, Bush's senior political aide, announced that "reform" of social security, the foundation of the New Deal, is next.

<snip>

This article should be "required reading" for all Americans. Why is it that the people in this country are so damn stupid and refuse to acknowledge the disaster that this administration has been, and is, for this country. The futures of our children have been hijacked all for the benefit of corporate interests, we have lost and are in the process of losing our basic liberties and freedoms. This administration pretends to be trying to "liberate and bring freedom" to people when in fact all they are trying to do is steal their countries assets (oil). This is all just so damn depressing.

[T_i_B]

2. And the funny thing is...

...The medicare part is just an aside, mainly there to show the sort of policies that Britain risks being hitched to thanks to Blair's poodling. The article is written for an overseas audience to warn of the dangers of Blair's sycophancy towards Bush, but to see parts of it being so relevent to the US audience is ver reassuring.