I (Gasp!) Gained a Grudging Respect For blair Last Night.

[MarianJack]

Please read before you flame.

ChicaAzul and I were watching the returns last night on CSPAN2. Earlier in the afternoon I saw The Daily Show segment where they compared **'s "town halls" to blair's appearance on a Q&A TV show where the audience and moderator gave him a very hard way to go. Later, when CSPAN2 was about to cut off their coverage, they went to blair's count room where a man who had run for the seat was addressing the voters. He had lost his son in Iraq 4 days short of his 21st birthday. This brave man was giving blair absolute hell about the illegality of the war and the failure to find WMDs. He spoke of all the things (like grieving) that he could have done instead of campaigning.

Where I gained some respect for blair is in the fact that HE TOOK IT LIKE A MAN. I can only imagine how president shithead would have reacted. I found myself giving blair credit for that at least.

Of course, not long afterward he tore a page from the rove roll of toilet paper and was speaking about his "mandate", so I was quickly reminded how much of a putz he is, but at least he had the courage to listen.

[bullimiami]

1. blair is still a lying fundamentalist freak.

he just happens to be literate and a skilled politician as well.

[MarianJack]

5. Yes, But...

...I wasn't saying anything good about him. Just that he at least can listen to someone else's view, unlike the shrub.

May I also add how much I admire the father who ran against blair? As a father, I can't imagine the loss of a son. The thought of the possibility makes my eyes well up. Yet this man got out and challenged what was wrong in a campaign dedicated to all of the young Englih men whose lives were taken from them by this LIE! I don't remember his name, but he is a hero in my book!

[FreedomAngel82]

13. Blair pretty much has to

He doesn't have controlled "town hall meetings" like Bush does or the media which is good. I think it's great that man ran.

[demo dutch]

2. At least his audience wasn't screened! Everyone is welcome like

a true democracy, which it NOT what we have in the US anymore!
The Brits would never tolerate that kind of staged nonsense!

[MarianJack]

6. And Did You Notice...

...the civility between the candidates and the workers?

The BBC reporters also seemed to be truly (dare I say it?) Fair and Balanced.

[demo dutch]

15. Yes, this country has cone to hell in a handbasket!

[danalytical]

3. I like Tony Blair

I wish we had him running our country instead of Bush. He's articulate, intelligent, and mostly honest. I think he probably went along with Iraq for the sake of his countries economy and to remain on board with the US. It looked like a good deal for Britain at the time. They get to look like US's staunch allies in the face of resistance. And he probably thought there was some merit to removing Saddam even if their real objective was a privatized oil sector that sold oil to the west for cheap.

[Benhurst]

4. Why trade one war criminal for another?

[MarianJack]

7. Isn't That Still Lying...

...your country's way into a war?

[JDPriestly]

8. Expediency is a lousy excuse for killing

God-only-knows how many innocent Iraqis and over a thousand coalition troops. Your "reasons" are worth nothing. Face it. The man has no integrity. If he made a mistake, he should have apologized for it on his own long, long ago without having to lose 4% of of his support in an election. If he lied and knew he was lying, the British people should demand justice regardless of his position.

[Bridget Burke]

10. Just ignore all those dead people....

But he thought it would help the economy?

[booley]

9. compared to Shrub, of course Blair looks good

As Blair was campaigning, he had to face his fellow citizens who got to actually give thie rhonets opinions.

Shrub, on the other hand, won't speak at any event where he isn't guaranteed that there wil be no voices expressing opposition or unscripted dialogue.

When Blair barely squeaked by with a slim majority, he admitted that the peopel had spoken and voted for thie rissues and that meant many did not vote labour.

Meanwhile, Shrub squeaks by with aslim lead over kerry and talks about his MANDATE, hyping that he got one of the largest number of votes for president in History..while ignoring that so did Kerry, his opponent.

Blair admits that he made mistakes... Shrub can't seem to think of a single one (as more troops are killed needlesly)

of course, none of this undoes the fact that without Blair's support, the iraq war probably would not have happened.

[MarianJack]

11. And Because of Your Last Point, booley,...

...I still consider blair to be a liar, a ** enabler and a total shit.

[kansasblue]

12. this is a tough one..

Labour has been so good for the UK. They returned their Labour MPs but it's not really an endorsement of Blair.

[MarianJack]

14. GOD Forbid That I'm Agreeing With a Conservative,...

...but one Consevative talking head on BBC last night described the Labour win as "a loveless victory".

Sounds pretty accurate to this "across the pond" observer.