Blair plays the patriotic card in farewell speech

here here

Sheesh... excuse me while I throw up



OK.. That's better ...


Don't ya just get tired of idiots claiming they are the "greatest nation on earth" and how "special" and "blessed" we are?? He'll be ranting about "our beliefs" next.

That patriotic bullshit rarely goes down well - it's a disease.

Can ya ask him just to piss off and quit making stupid Bush-style speeches? Thanks!!

PS I'm British as well, but can't stand idiots spewing utter crap and trying to pander to the hope of getting some phony patriotism oozing. Did they provide sick bags for his speech??

Towards the end I think he had lost touch with the people. But when he first got elected he really was a ray of sunshine for Britain.

I totally disagree with his stand over Iraq, but I hope people will give him credit for helping to bring peace to Northern Ireland and bringing hope to Britain after the Thatcher/Major years.

It's very easy to knock people like Blair, but I do truly believe that most of the time he did what he honestly thought was best.

He was (and hopefully will continue to be) a real asset to the country.

Can't say the same about Gordon Brown though, he seems OK, but I think the country needs some fresh blood.

OK, just did and he will lol

His speech just struck a chord, that's all. Us Brits are great at moaning, but the UK is not all bad. The end of his speech reminded us of that.

What a pile of horse shit.

Do people really get taken it by this absurd nationalistic nonsense?

Can't say about that "ray of sunshine" when he was first elected - was not living in the UK then, but agree he lost a few of his braincells over time.

I'm sure he thought he truly believed he was doing the right thing in areas, including "wars" - the problem was he was not. There is no credit in "thinking" he is doing the "right thing" - he is or he is not.

Smell he wanted to play the international stage despite around 70% of the population did not want anything to do with wars and Bush's idiocy.

He is not a stupid man and, as you said, it's easy to knock him - but he chose the bed to sleep in and screwed up big time trying to follow a liar on an agenda.

Maybe he will begin to be useful again out of office - a few ex PM's have made that attempt.

Can tell ya now Marc, - it almost brings a tear to my eye with the background music and the slight breeze drifting across the lawn at the Ambassador's annual tea party - NOT! *lol* (He's another ass, but the woman before him was a swinger *s*)

Well.. we kinda like a moan and not inclined to listen to crap, eh?

But yes, it's not that bad - really - I think! Just makes it sound..... so obnoxiously "American" (the worse side of the US) - Nice to see him piss off

If you think about what it means to represent the people, it is inevitable that an elected politician is eventually going to pay the price for ignoring their wishes. Blair was unable to sell his views on Iraq, either before or after the event. Thatcher paid the same price for her arrogance.

Blair also paid the price that any long-term leader in the west must face these days, namely that - at least in terms of much of the middle- and working-classes - their economies are in decline. Globalisation is draining the wealthier countries of jobs, leaving them with declining tax revenues and less ability to fund services. The government of the day may be able to play with interest rates or taxes themselves, or it can choose what to cut and how. But the longer someone holds office, the more people will convince themselves that the grass looks greener on the other side.

Perhaps it will be another 50 or 100 years, but sooner or later we are going to have to start asking what is the relevance of nations and what we can now reasonably expect of national governments. Maybe we need to ask whether globalisation itself is something we want and if not, can it be reined in.

I'm not making judgements or proposing solutions, just making the point that we see major changes taking place, yet expect life to carry on as normal. Rather like the way that when I was a kid, almost every family had a parent always at home. All that changed, but unless the role of a parent was never necessary or was being played out wrongly, shouldn't we have anticipated consequences? Yet 50 years on, even our schools still keep the same hours and operate for the same number of weeks in a year.

Arguably, countries have never been more than pools of labor and consumers. Wealth began shifting from the countryside to towns, from towns to cities. But now it is shifting from continent to continent, without anyone apparently being overly concerned as to what that is going to mean.

See what I mean about British people loving to bitch? He can't even say one sentence that is positive in nature without people jumping on him. Would it have better if he said it was a crap nation? A little national pride would do the place good.

Come on, we're not children. This 'best country in the world' stuff gets a little old. Oooooooh, we live in the 'best country in the world!'. Lets all pat ourselves on the back and act all smug and superior.

Pfffft! What a load of codswallop!

And what better way to serve it than to erode all the traditions, values and standards that shaped it into that nation.

Campaign Against Political Correctness

well said!!

He never talks like that in general so in his goodbye speech let him do it. He might just actually believe it ..seeing as he had the goal to run said country. People just need to allow themselves to smile now and then without having to find a need to go out of their way to be grumpy.

Exactly.


Besides, everyone knows Canada is the best country on Earth. :D

Thank you for letting Muslims, and basically anyone else who isn't British take over our country Blair...

Ermmm... no

But, if he did say it - we could bitch about that Sarah

You must have noticed this ability to have total disregard for politicians or any windbag talking crap?

The flip side is that if there was actually something valid and "real" - that would be a different story and the bitching would subdue The only problem is there was little valid reason (apart from a deviant war) during Wot'sHisName's term of office that called for some support and "bonding".

Yeah, he let those nasty American born immigrants become British citizens too :P

Indeed !!

I am in no way above taking shots at politicians but if it is done for every word that comes out of their mouth the power in the punch is lost.

I happen to think it is a nice country and a lot of people that complain have no solutions of their own to offer other than bitch. I don't think there is a 'best country' but essentially it is code for saying 'favourite country' and I would bloody well (man I have been here a while) hope that the prime minister would think this is his favourite country.

I am not a huge Blair fan but it is rubbish - and very Sun-ish - to say that nothing at all good has happened on his watch. The people getting minimum wage for the first time, for example, might be forced to admit at least one thing is better than it was in the past.

Okay, Iraq..but again most people that bitch about that have no solutions of their own but simply quote red top headlines rather than coming up with how they would have done things differently in the climate of the time.

So, when he wants to give a goodbye speech..just let him.

I always hold it is a bit of pride that I was allowed to have citizenship and the guy that owns Harrods keeps getting turned down. See, not letting all immigrants be citizens

OK then Seriously - it's not a bad country and agree, there is no "best country" on the planet.


I don't actually mind the guy Sarah, he's a fairly astute person and little doubt has done some good somewhere. It would appear that the downfall of "leaders" seem to stem from... call it arrogance. Blair ended up traveling that path and the end result was kinda inevitable. (Thatcher did the same thing - and chances are Bush will follow that route as well)

Somehow got a feeling Tony will do better out of office and may do some good stuff along the way.


Iraq was prob Blair's major failing and the start of his problems. He already knew exactly what he was supposed to do - that was more than clear in the public objection to involvement in Bush's "war". The "solution" was stay the hell away from Iraq and Bush - but he wanted to play that game and it's his legacy. In this respect - it's only my "opinion", but he very seriously failed the people who elected him.

It's prob the case if he was not "contaminated" with Iraq, he would have stood a chance at completing his term of office in a more gracious fashion and without cabinet revolts and having a better legacy.


OK then - we better let the old fart show a tear and ooze his patriotism As long as he does not take too long over it *lol*


You gotta excuse Grumpy He's never happy with any politician - irrespective of political persuasion. But, in the middle of the swamp, there are good people who have ability - it's just a matter of letting them surface, but that rarely happens. By it's nature, govt is always "at it" - either deceiving, conspiring with agenda's or, if all else fails, covering their asses and engaging in damage limitation exercises. (Eg they lied/conspired about the basis of a war. Of course they knew the truth - they are not totally stupid, but there was a "need". If it's not about a war, it would be some other shit they were up to.) Bottom line - as a group, they can't be trusted with 5 cents.

BUT... as said previously - there are plenty good and honorable men and women in that swamp - and hat off to em



PS Hehe.. just noticed your spelling and dialog (dialogue) Sarah. Never knew "American immigrants" used the "favourite" version of spelling? I'm busy learning how to misspell in the hope US folks have a clue what the hell I'm saying. And what's this "bloody well hope" verbal?? Damn - that Britty stuff is sure rubbing off

By the very nature of standing up and asking people to vote for you then you have to have a bit of arrogance.


As far as spelling goes - yah for Firefox having both British and American spelling dictionaries. I try to spell 'British' because this is where I live but I do get some confusion sometimes ..I have been here long enough that sometimes I forget is it is American English or British English that uses 's' instead of 'z' in words. So, I am happy for spell check.

If I start to sat 'at the end of the day' I know it is time to take a trip back home.

What is the benefit of the minimum wage anyway?

End of the day, you offer someone £1/hr - they dont have to take that job. You just make business more difficult for people at the very bottom end of business to get started.

Im happy about the smoking ban coming in July but im happier that Blair is out. Charming yes, eloquent yes, intelligent yes, but also...

Iraq - he ignored the people of the country and tried to con us into going along with it. He made one of the biggest blunders in history.

you guys are fucking retarded if you dont know what blair did for the uk , this guy deserves a whole hell of alot more credit than you guys are giving him. the guy may not have made the popular move with iraq, but ANY PM would have made the same mood, it goes back to the churchill fdr bond. anyway blair turned the late 90s brittish economy around, and alot of the uks economic growth is due to him. quit jumping on the bandwagon and learn some shit about the man before judging him.

edit: and id love to have him serve as president of the us, the guy is a class act.

The departure, too, was spun in classic New Labour, Dear Leader fashion. A carefully selected audience, a self-serving speech, the quivering lip and soon the dramaturgy was over. He had arrived at No 10 with a carefully orchestrated display of union flags. Patriotic fervour was also on show yesterday, with references to "this blessed country ... the greatest country in the world" - no mention of the McDonald's, Starbucks, Benetton that adorn every high street - nor of how Britain under his watch came to be seen in the rest of the world: a favourite attack dog in the imperial kennel.

Tony Blair's principal success was in winning three general elections in a row. A second-rate actor, he turned out to be a crafty and avaricious politician. Bereft of ideas, he eagerly grasped and tried to improve on Margaret Thatcher's legacy. But though in many ways Blair's programme has been a euphemistic, if bloodier, version of Thatcher's, the style of their departures is very different. Thatcher's overthrow by her fellow Conservatives was a matter of high drama. Blair makes his unwilling exit against a backdrop of car bombs and carnage in Iraq, with hundreds of thousands left dead or maimed from his policies, and London a prime target for terrorist attack. Thatcher's supporters described themselves afterwards as horror-struck by what they had done. Even some of Blair's greatest sycophants in the media confess to a sense of relief as he finally quits.

Blair was always loyal to the occupants of the White House. In Europe he preferred Aznar to Zapatero, Merkel to Schröder, was seriously impressed by Berlusconi and, most recently, made no secret of his support for Sarkozy. He understood that privatisation and deregulation at home were part of the same mechanism as wars abroad.

If this judgment seems unduly harsh, let me quote Rodric Braithwaite, a former senior adviser to Blair, writing in the Financial Times on August 2 2006: "A spectre is stalking British television, a frayed and waxy zombie straight from Madame Tussaud's. This one, unusually, seems to live and breathe. Perhaps it comes from the CIA's box of technical tricks, programmed to spout the language of the White House in an artificial English accent ... Mr Blair has done more damage to British interests in the Middle East than Anthony Eden, who led the UK to disaster in Suez 50 years ago. In the past 100 years we have bombed and occupied Egypt and Iraq, put down an Arab uprising in Palestine and overthrown governments in Iran, Iraq and the Gulf. We can no longer do these things on our own, so we do them with the Americans. Mr Blair's total identification with the White House has destroyed his influence in Washington, Europe and the Middle East itself: who bothers with the monkey if he can go straight to the organ-grinder?"

This, too, is mild compared to what is privately said in the Foreign Office and MoD. Senior diplomats have told me it would not upset them too much if Blair were tried as a war criminal. But while neither Blair nor any of those who launched a war of aggression and occupation in Iraq have been held to account, a civil servant and MP's researcher were yesterday shamefully jailed for exposing some of the dealings between Bush and Blair that lay behind the war.

What this reveals is anger and impotence. There is no mechanism to get rid of a prime minister unless their party loses confidence. The Conservative leadership decided Thatcher had to go because of her negative attitude to Europe. Labour tends to be more sentimental towards its leaders, and in this case they owed so much to Blair that nobody wanted to be cast in the role of Brutus. In the end he decided to go himself. The disaster in Iraq had made him hated and support began to ebb. One reason for the slowness was that the country is without a serious opposition. In parliament, the Conservatives simply followed Blair. The Lib Dems were ineffective. Blair had summed up Britain's attitude to Europe at Nice in 2000: "It is possible, in our judgment, to fight Britain's corner, get the best out of Europe for Britain, and exercise real authority and influence in Europe. That is as it should be. Britain is a world power."

This grotesque fantasy that "Britain is a world power" is meant to justify that it will always be EU-UK. The real union is with Washington. France and Germany are seen as rivals for Washington's affections, not potential allies in an independent EU. The French decision to reintegrate themselves into Nato and pose as the most vigorous US ally was a structural shift which weakened Europe. Britain responded by encouraging a fragmented political order in Europe through expansion, and insisted on a permanent US presence there.

Blair's half-anointed successor, Gordon Brown, is more intelligent but politically no different. It is a grim prospect: an alternative politics - anti-war, anti-Trident, pro public services - is confined to the nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales. Its absence nationally fuels the anger felt by substantial sections of the population, reflected in voting against those in power, or not voting at all.

· Tariq Ali is the author of Rough Music: Blair, Bombs, Baghdad, Terror, London

i persoanlly think that blair is one of the best prime ministers we have had in a long time, sure lately their seems to hjave just been scndal after scandal for the labour party, but i still feel he has done a better job that thacher or major ever did.
Personally i think its a shame that he is going, mainly because i dont think brown can do a better job

What an absolute suck up

A position of power is a thankless task, leader of a country tops the list obviously. You won't and can't please everybody...Being elected 3 times (if the competition wasn't strong thats their fault) means TB and his party did much more right than wrong. Jeeez, British people will moan about anything.

Sure.. it is a thankless task - irrespective if that is in the private sector or public.

The "duty" in the private sector is to answer to, and comply with the wishes of investors/shareholders. In the public sector, the duty is to answer to and serve the electorate (think it has been called a democracy).

Prob Blair's major failing was he ignored the "serving" word when it came to taking the country into a war the electorate did not want. This has got to be one of the most serious actions for any politician - and one where he screwed up bigtime. For this alone, the electorate have more than a right to moan as long as they like - it's justified.

blair is a big idiot.. bush is next out the door

Wow after reading all that it looks like the only party left the B.N.P.

Criminal kills maybe dozens

War criminals kill hundreds of thousands

Blair and Bush are War Criminals...they should be in prison

LOL when I think how they would treat GFY's if it would get them off the hook.

War is the real pornography