Tony Blair is godfather to Rupert Murdoch’s daughter

[dipsydoodle]

Source: The Telegraph

Tony Blair is godfather to one of Rupert Murdoch’s young children, it has emerged in an interview with the media tycoon’s wife.

The former prime minister was reportedly present in March last year when Murdoch’s two daughters by his third wife, Wendi, were baptised on the banks of the Jordan.

The information was not made public and its disclosure in an interview with Mrs Murdoch in Vogue will prove highly embarrassing for Mr Blair.

His close ties to the Murdochs could explain his reluctance to condemn the News International phone hacking scandal.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/8740530/Tony-Blair-is-godfather-to-Rupert-Murdochs-daughter.html

[sarcasmo]

1. Media and the country have become one.

[ret5hd]

2. ahhh...what a wonderful system... medieval family ties trump justice.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. His reluctance to condemn NI phone hacking may also be explained by his being an arsehole

which we were already aware of. Are we particularly surprised at this? I am genuinely more surprised that Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman are also godparents to his children. I didn't think they went in for that kind of brown-nosing.

[No Elephants]

9. Despite our celebrity worship, a member of the British government being in bed with Murdoch

is still more ominous than a couple of fellow Australian movie stars doing the same thing.

Ditto Kidman marrying Tom Cruise, as opposed to Nancy Pelosi or Hillary Clinton doing the same.

[DrunkenBoat]

10. Kidman? No surprise there.

[KoKo]

4. It figures...crooks, lies and criminals... Thanks for the post...

Tony Blair and Bill Clinton... Not who they seemed to be. "Crooks and Liars." :-(

[hay rick]

5. And I thought GWB was the only one bouncing him on his knee.

Contemptible.

[Prometheus Bound]

6. Blair probably charged Murdoch $250,000 just to show up.

[glinda]

7. Well that is cozy isn't it?

[No Elephants]

8. Well, if any Dem needed another reason to dislike Blair, there it is.

Al From and the DLC got to Tony, too. It's like a frickin' virus.




"Founded after a series of crushing defeats when some thought the Democratic Party was destined for extinction, the DLC has provided both the action agenda and the ideas for New Democrats to successfully challenge the conventional political wisdom in America and, in the process, redefine the center of the Democratic Party. From played a prominent role in the 1992 election of President Bill Clinton -- and served as Domestic Policy Advisor to the Clinton transition -- prompting USA Today to write: "The ideas at the crux of the Clinton candidacy were largely drafted by the DLC."

Today, many of the ideas that comprise the core of the Democratic Party's agenda come from work done under From's leadership at the DLC. National service, an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit, welfare reform, charter schools, community policing, expanded trade and re-inventing government were all championed by scholars and analysts at the DLC well before becoming part of the Democratic Party's great successes. Today, many leading Democrats from across the nation point to the DLC's brand of politics as a key element of their success.

In 1998, with First Lady Hillary Clinton, From began a dialogue with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other world leaders, and the DLC brand -- known as The Third Way -- became a model for resurgent progressive governments around the globe. In April 1999, he hosted an historic Third Way forum in Washington with President Clinton, Prime Minister Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Prime Ministers Wim Kok of the Netherlands and Massimo D'Alema of Italy."


http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=1131&kaid=86&subid=191

[fasttense]

11. Don't you just love the results of crony capitalism and it's baby sister free trade?

Nepotism, ill gotten wealth, welfare for the rich, it all trumps patriotism, common sense and democracy.

[Kingofalldems]

12. Kick and Recommend.

[Celefin]

13. Ewww...

Tony Blair, forever exploring new lows you hadn't even been able to imagine.

'On the banks of the Jordan', no less.

You just couldn't make it up. For some reason, to me this is one of the most disgusting revelations about Blair.
A you-lift-the-lid-and-all-you-see-is-rot-and-maggots moment.
Makes me ill.

[LeftishBrit]

14. That must hold a record for the amount of pure UGH contained in one news item!

[dipsydoodle]

15. Its curious this

They pointed out on Sky last night the complete mystery as to why on the Telegraph reported this initially. I came across the front page of the actual newspaper and they ran it smack in the middle of the front page as a headline in colour to draw attention.

off topic : makes me laugh the way in which this tries to tell me I've misspelt colour and then tells me I've misspelt misspelt too. :).

[Hubert Flottz]

16. Tony The Tool...

Almost as disgusting as W...

[AllyCat]

17. Well this just gets better every day, doesn't it?

[Honeycombe8]

18. Well, that explains a lot. nt

[legin]

19. What is also interesting

Is that this baptism took place in March 2010.

Blair has said to Hello magazine "keep my name out of it" and they have done, surprisingly when it would have made the story more juicy.

There appears to be a slight disconnect between 'actual history' and 'media history'.

[hulka38]

20. That's the Third Way I know.

[Taverner]

21. +100

[beac]

22. Can you be godfather to a spawn of Satan? n/t

[pscot]

24. I think it requires the addition

of a new orifice.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

23. Lovely. Tony Blair is a FAKE lib. He's a right winger in disguise nt

[LeftishBrit]

32. And not a very good disguise!

[Sarah Ibarruri]

38. Very true, not a very good one! nt

[City Lights]

25. Oh how quaint!

'splains alot.

[suffragette]

26. No wonder Blair has been "instinctively sympathetic to what Murdoch was aiming to achieve"

After all, he's part of the family.

Still, adds perspective to info like this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/01/media-rupertmurdoch


And this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/09/phone-hacking-scandal-rupert-murdoch?INTCMP=SRCH
Throughout his years in power, Blair had regular secret meetings with Murdoch, many abroad, and was in regular telephone contact. Price has gone as far as to claim that Murdoch "seemed like the 24th member of the cabinet".

Blair insisted no record was ever kept of the meetings or calls, so they were totally deniable. Cherie Blair has said that her husband's decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003 was a "close call". So it was – and there is evidence that the final decision was taken only after Murdoch's encouragement was received and his blessing given. Blair talked to the media tycoon three times on the telephone in the 10 days before the US-led invasion. Details obtained under freedom of information show Blair called Murdoch on 11 March, 13 March and 19 March 2003. British and US troops began the invasion on 20 March, with the Times and Sun voicing total support.

The Murdoch penetration into the heart of political life has accelerated under Cameron. His links to the Murdoch empire are arguably even closer than those of Blair or Gordon Brown, whose wife, Sarah, helped to arrange Brooks's 40th birthday party.


ETA 2nd item

[hulka38]

27. Thanks.

[suffragette]

29. See below as well

I've been saying for awhile that Blair's actions still bear close watching.
He may not be in office, but he's still heavily in the mix of global policy, especially through his role as Mideast Envoy for the Quartet and his Tony Blair Faith Foundation.

Some info on the envoy part here and more on his Faith Foundation connections below:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x408048
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6244358.stm

The Murdoch connection fits right in.

[hulka38]

31. It's like putting in the last few pieces of a puzzle.

It's easy to see where they fit in and the big picture is laid out before you. Thanks again.

[suffragette]

33. One more piece here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7873000.stm

[suffragette]

28. Blair has also joined with Rick Warren to "launch a "faith offensive" in the U.S.

Wasn't aware of this until now.
Found it when searching for articles from March 2010 on Blair.

Why is this reminding me of "Aspen roots"?


http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/mar/14/tony-blair-faith-foundation-america
Blair courts controversial US pastor Rick Warren in bid to unite faiths
Former prime minister builds network of Christian allies as he prepares to launch a religious 'offensive' in North America

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/3da2d8d2-c29d-11e0-8cc7-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1X6BHKH7k

Warren "is also on the board of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, the former UK prime minister’s interfaith charity, which aims to “promote understanding” between major religions. “He’s been here at Saddleback,” says Warren of Blair. “I’ve given him relationship connections I have because I know religious leaders around the world.” "

http://www.ocregister.com/news/blair-290973-warren-world.html?pic=1

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, left, does a fist bump during a moment of agreement with Pastor Rick Warren during the "Civil Forum on Peace In a Globalized Economy" at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest Sunday.
PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

[bbgrunt]

40. ewwww!

[Auntie Bush]

30. Tony Blair also lied and helped bush start the war in Iraq.

[Arugula Latte]

34. Tony, you will go down as one of History's Biggest Disappointments.

[GliderGuider]

36. Depends on who you ask.

To us, yes he was a massive disappointment. To his owners he was a out of the park home run.

I think he may have been a Trojan Horse. They have happened on both sides of the Atlantic.

[Scurrilous]

35. K & R

:thumbsup:

[12AngryBorneoWildmen]

37. Fox News loved the idea of a new war......

Ratings, visually spectacular, etc. And fucking cocksucking Tony Blair was his linchpin as well as Cheney's poodle. Just a horrible piece of shit. Nearly as bad DubbleBubbleU. An interviewer once asked Clapton "Aw c'mon, there must be at least one person you hate?" EC: "Well I guess there is one. That would have to be Rupert Murdoch." And that was 25+ years ago.

[Enthusiast]

39. It is a vast right wing conspiracy.

The right has infiltrated and undermined all the traditionally left wing parties on both sides of the Atlantic.

[classysassy]

41. Criminals always stick together

Tony and Rupert,the Aussie and the Brit or the ass hole and the butt man.

[Fool Count]

42. Suddenly, Blair's conversion to catholicism starts making sense.

As does the rest of his career. Apparently, his foremost ambition in life was godfathering Rupert Murdoch's children.
That's some kind of dedication to one's dreams.

[Blue_Tires]

43. "Anthony Charles Lynton Blair -- Do you renounce Satan?"

(well, one can dream):crazy: