“When I was in Norway one of the Norwegian politicians sat next to me at a dinner and said, “You know, there’s one good thing that President Obama has done that we never anticipated in Europe. He’s shown the Europeans that we can never depend upon America again. There’s no president, no matter how good he sounds, no matter what he promises, we’re never again going to believe the patter talk of an American President. Mr. Obama has cured us. He has turned out to be our nightmare. Our problem is what to do about the American people that don’t realize this nightmare that they’ve created, this smooth-talking American Tony Blair in the White House.”Controversial proposition: Outside the issue of Iraq, Blair was actually much better than Obama. Discuss.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Nightmare
Our quote of the day comes from this excellent piece:
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21 comments:
"Outside the issue of Iraq, Blair was actually much better than Obama."
...reminds me of hearing too often some "people" say : "Outside the issue of killing some jews, Adolf was quite good, he fought the bolshevist'and gave people work, building autobahn.."--
behind which is the SAME metaphisical way of everyday "thinking", which all the priests rely on..
Because its so wishfull, arbitrary,ideological,na0 YOU name it, so there will be a learningvurve ;-)>
And then You are allowed an extra
sweety: ->
http://www.mundaneum.be/index.asp?ID=625
"Transcending Boundaries in Europe in the Period of the Belle Epoque"
You didn't tell me there was gonna be a test today.
"na0" -now
"learningvurve"
learningcurve ;-)>
Is a Ford Pinto really "better" than a Chevy Vega? Or vice-versa?
Spluttering into my tea. I voted Blair in the first election. I still regret it terrible. He was voted for because of the corruption of the incumbents Tories at the time. Instead of rooting it out he encouraged it and institutionalised it. "Trust me", yeah right! Right now he is off justifying the killing of Palestinians and making 12.5 mn quid a year. He has had practice. He did the same to Serbia and Iraq.
Like Bush he took over a country which had just emerged from a deep recessiom and was on the verge of a stronger economic period. And like Bush he squandered the opportunity it presented in frippery and star f*cking, doing nothing to address the future. He sold an entire country to Murdoch for his own career.
I would vote for hanging.
Anon, I'll presume you used the term "hanging" in the poetical sense of the term.
Any literal use of such phrasing is against the law, and also against my own personal sense of decency.
Let that stand as a warning to future commentators.
Also, please add some sort of identifying signature. You don't have to sign in to Blogger -- just add a name (even a made-up name) at the end of your missive, the way you would append a name to a handwritten letter. Experience has taught us that people write more thoughtfully when there's a signature attached.
I was in the UK until 2004. Having now seen Obama's MO, I see him and Tony Blair as more or less identical - as near as can be, given the different political systems. Gordon Brown was better (in my view) but nobody gave him credit for anything. His face didn't fit.
People in the UK are almost as daft as those in the US when it comes to voting against their best interests. The best PM the UK never had was Neil Kinnock - or maybe John Brown (but he died before he got the chance).
abbeysbooks here. How about getting on disqus. It helps with ID's and sign in. Jes sayin.
People know what they do. They even often know why they do what they do. But what they don't know is what they do does. - Michel Foucault
Obama has made it obvious that our political regime is a simulation now. That's what Europe gets but Americans who don't know they are in Disneyland for real, don't get it.
Now how to push it to its extremes so it will collapse before we are in Virtual Reality where we can't get out. Not nohow.
Twilight, I used to refer to Blair as the Briton Clinton -- but now, perhaps, I'll call him the beige Barack. Except I still think that Tony has more personality.
You know, I followed some of the hate-fest that followed Gordon Brown's departure, via BBC radio online. I just didn't get it. Nobody had cited anything particularly detestable that they guy had done -- it was just one pundit after saying things like: "Brown is ikcy. Totally icky. He's just a mountain of ick, ick, ick." That's what they said, over and over. There were no specific charges against him, except to lambaste him for being ambitious. How can anyone achieve that position WITHOUT being ambitious?
And let's face it -- Brits do not vote against their own interest in the way that Americans do. If Brits did that, they would not have a national health service, and the BBC would be eradicated.
Joseph ~~ NHS and BBC -Yes, national treasures, both, but they come from a different era though, different generation casting votes, and different circumstances all round.
I should really have qualified my comment" "UK voters in the past couple of decades or so have become almost as daft as those in the US when it comes to voting against their best interests.
:-)
If Brits did that, they would not have a national health service, and the BBC would be eradicated.
Or they both would have been sold to a shadowy investment trust organized by Goldman-Sachs.
Sitting on this side of the pond, I sort of liked Blair when he was Clinton's lapdog. I didn't when he was Bush's lapdog. There are no bad dogs, just bad masters.
I fail to see how saying one would (hypothetically) vote for hanging could possibly be illegal. Our anonymous friend wasn't suggesting that a rope be procured, nor was he offering to build the gallows, tie the knot, or spring the trap - he was merely expressing his choice in a hypothetical referendum.
Myiq, you're the resident legal expert - care to offer your professional opinion?
Alas, Willy, I think Barack is more of an AMC Pacer.
It's kind of hard for this particular American to accept criticism about Obama from the folks who awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize.
Maybe they could set an example for us by withdrawing it.
Very interesting piece you link too.
I suspect future historians will look more kindly on Blair than most of his countrymen today. As for Obama, I anticipate the opposite will hold.
Everything Sextus said!
I'm not disagreeing with your sentiments, Joseph, but apparently inflammatory violent remarks are not illegal....at least, not anymore:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/07/online-call-to-shoot-obama-was-free-speech-not-a-crime-appeals-court-rules.html
What can I say. I am from Eastern Europe and haven't felt the effect of Obama or Blair's ruling. But, as of yet, I am thinking that any national politician who accepts war with 3rd world countries is the worst kind. Really, everybody preaches for peace, but when they see an opportunity, they attack the smallest arab countries. Why? For oil and money? For power? I don't know. Everything is a speculation. But I do not agree that Nobel prizes should be handed to presidents who are currently sending soldiers half a globe away to "keep peace". Thank you for reading.
___
Just dial
There's lots of things that are legal but stupid. Like Salvia or these new "Bath Salts" all the kids are snorting and smoking. Legal and still stupid.
And voting for hanging can be taken out of context. Sorta like saying "I'll buy the bullets" which might sound humerous to a Canadian like myself (try to find a gun store up here. just try) but in heated times would certainly be read as a violent statement.
Nowadays I think we can "Vote him off the island" or "hand him the first rose" I don't think we'll be back at hanging anytime soon. heck offering Tony B a whiskey colonic would do the trick (whilst forced listening to Ugly Rumours! Aw, heck, since he stole the name from the good 'ol grateful dead, I'd say the last colonic wash should also include some of the very last Augustus Owsley stash. Give Tony something to hallucinate about....
Anyway, good thing it was a reference to hanging Blair and not about lenchin' Obama (then the baggers would be calling you a racist) but all in all i think the "reality TV" format is safer. No one will accuse you of anything (save for watching pablum and rotting your mind) OFF THE ISLAND WITH YOU!
Joe I hate to go against the grain but Discus sucks ass. Don't go with it. It allows for sock puppets and other shenanigans. All you have to do is add a word and the @gmail.com and it will think you're a person. I had a lot of experience with a highly popular green website which over the past 3 year became a target of sock puppetry of the most anti-green hues(think Koch or Bureaucra$h). it was a daily attack. As soon as there was a post that mentions carbon-- a half dozen proto-fascist climate deniers chimed in and bully anyone else... Discus is useless. Sadly the site in question found a way to finally end the sock puppet (and persona management software)byhanding their comments section over to facebook. Urg! really. That's the solution to no more harassment? to go to the harassers and let them mind the store? OFF THE ISLAND!
Is that reference to hanging as in the punishment for treason?
Is it writer feels that the amount of damage done to the UK amounts to a treasonous act?
An interview with journalist Richard Gizbert at "Democracy Now" sheds light on Blair and Brown's relationship with Rupert Murdoch (starting at about 31:24):
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/7/21/the_british_watergate_a_backgrounder_on_the_murdoch_hacking_scandal
Goodman makes the comment that Gizbert seems to be saying that Blair was Murdoch's poodle rather than Bush's.
The whole interview is worth watching for its information on the hacking scandal and the differences in media regulation between Britain and the U.S.
old dem
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