Thursday, September 07, 2006

Humble pie?

Well, Blair has spoken. Not much has been said, but he has uttered the ’12 month’ words that the ‘rebels’ within his party and the media have been braying for. Whether this will be enough to quell the boiling pot I am not entirely sure. I should think, in reality, that there is more to come.

We heard an apology (of sorts) today, and that is the very least that we deserve for the debacle which has played itself out in front of our eyes. He said he would have preferred to do this in his ‘own way’. I imagine there are very few times during his reign that things have not been carried out as he would please. It is refreshing, at least, to see him pushed into a corner from which he cannot escape. But there is something rather tragic about witnessing this once fine party crumbling before our eyes. I fear it cannot be saved and Brown most certainly is not the man to try. Blair has lied and lied, stood by Bush through his reign of terror and consistently ignored his public and their views. He is managing his swansong about as well as he managed to convince us about the existence of WMD. The dirty washing is being aired in public and that is never a pleasant sight to witness whoever the laundry belongs to. The least he could do for his voters and his party is manage his exit with efficiency and dignity. He has even failed in that. There is no point in that man being in office any more, tomorrow would be too late for him to stand down in my eyes.

As Blair frowned and twitched before us, his comrade across the Atlantic delivered his own painful confession. Secret CIA prisons have indeed existed he admits at last. He obviously thinks the gamble will pay off. Admit he's told a porky (tactically in the lead up to the 5th anniversary of 9/11 when the whole world, myself included, is jittering in their sleep) in order to bring these 14 men back out of the wilderness so he can use them to justify his continuing war on human rights.

Are these two indominatable pals crumbling simultaneously? I have to admit to enjoying watching them squirm upon our screens. Where is their cocky bravado when their power is whipped from beneath their feet and they are forced to publicly admit that they have lied. I would like to see them both held to account for the chaos they have caused with their foreign policies. That, I fear is a pipe dream, so we must cherish these moments of seeing these statesmen humbled. They are few and far between, but they are truly sweet.