John Major on cancerous politics

[mdhunter]

Read the full essay at http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/02/22/do2201.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2005/02/22/ixopinion.html

He's talking about New Labour, of course... but replace every instance of "Labour" with "Republicans" and "Prime Minister" with "President" and you have the most eloquent critique of Bush yet offered.

Consider this.

"The lopsided composition of the Commons has made it easier for the Government to deal in half-truths and in the barefaced daily recitation of the unbelievable until it fixes itself in the public mind as if it were true. Our country has never seen anything like this before – certainly not on this scale. Politicians have always used spin to put a favourable gloss on events. No party has entirely clean hands. But the difference now is that, as New Labour uses it, truth is too often turned on its head. As a result, millions of electors believe the Government "lies" as a matter of course."

[quiet.american]

1. Tony, we hardly knew ye

Mdhunter, tragically for the world, you're right about being able to replace the words "Labour" with "Republican" and so on.

Admittedly, there was a time when I very much admired Tony Blair, even though, in watching PM Questions every week, I could clearly see he has a tactic of not answering a direct question with a direct answer, but of answering with a lot of bluff around the question -- however, I put this down to "politics" and still really liked him as a politician.

It's still stunning to see how easily and readily he's embraced Bush's corrupt and brutal style of governing with all but a big, sloppy kiss.

Blair's true brand of politics was there all the time for those who would see it, I suppose. Guess I just didn't want to.

[E_Smith]

2. I posted this in the politics forum

I was fascinated by this--Blair using the exact same tactics as Bush. Major even called him "Orwellian"... this is scary when you think about Blair/Bush uniting like this into a kind of fascism. Funny though that Blair used to be associated more with Clinton as the "third way". Maybe Clinton/Bush/Blair are all more alike than we care to admit.

[struggle4progress]

3. "More specifically, our ancient system requires a respect for ...

.. Parliament; strict impartiality in a Civil Service that must serve different political masters; a tolerance of opposing views; and a code of behaviour between parties that imposes restraints on how hostilities are conducted."

Mutatis mutandis, that is the nub of our current troubles in the ole US of A