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denem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Aug-29-10 09:26 AM
Original message
Bush put pressure on Blair to keep Brown out of office
Source: Sydney Morning Herald

LONDON: Tony Blair sees himself as a visionary who first recognised the terrorist threat from Islamic fundamentalists - and prolonged his time as British prime minister because the Bush administration had ''grave doubts'' about Gordon Brown, his autobiography is expected to reveal...

The Sunday Telegraph quotes insiders as saying the US administration of George Bush had ''grave doubts'' about Mr Brown's suitability to follow Mr Blair to 10 Downing Street, and the warnings played a significant role in Mr Blair's attempts to stay in power long enough to groom David Miliband as his successor.

Mr Miliband is presently engaged in a head-to-head battle for the Labour Party leadership with his brother Ed.

The alleged plot to hang on for his young successor was apparently hatched when Mr Bush's aides made it clear the US president would have ''big problems'' working with Mr Brown after he ''harangued'' the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, over US policy on aid and development in Africa.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/bush-put-pressure-on-blair-to-keep-brown-out-of-office-20100829-13xkw.html
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aquart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Aug-29-10 09:34 AM
Response to Original message
1. No wonder they called him "Poodle."
Although Poodles are intelligent.
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Jefferson23 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Aug-29-10 12:17 PM
Response to Reply #1
4. That is correct, he should have been called Bush's Afghan Hound.
The least intelligent of dogs, they have a propensity for thievery. One famous Afghan Hound was named What-a- Mess, seems more fitting
to Blair than Poodle. It takes 80-100 repetitions for them to learn a new command, lol. Poodles by contrast are ranked number 2 on the most
intelligent breed list.


No disparaging intent to Afghanistan btw!
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Peace Patriot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Aug-29-10 10:16 AM
Response to Original message
2. A couple of interesting points...
Brown harangued Rice on Africa--not Iraq, not torture, not Guantanamo Bay, not "renditon," not mercenary death squads, not lying about WMDs, not bombing a hundred thousand innocent people to smithereens, not oh so many things that he could have harangued Rice about? Africa's certainly important, and we can be quite sure that the Bushwhacks were spreading death and mayhem there as well, but still I find it odd what is reported to have nettled the Bushwhacks about Brown.

Another oddity--maybe something lost in the English v American translation? Blair took on "antisocial behavior"?

--

"Mr Blair has long argued that his administration's legacy would ultimately ''stand the test of time', citing investment in the National Health Service, education and social policy reforms to take on antisocial behaviour as his main achievements at home."

--

Unjust war is about as "anti-social" as you can get, it seems to me. And speaking of "anti-social behavior"...

--

"He has already donated the advance paid for his autobiography, said to be about £4.6 million ($8 million), as well as any earnings to the Royal British Legion.

"The donation has not left the Blairs broke: they are reportedly looking for a holiday villa in the Caribbean, their eighth property.

"London's weekend papers revealed that Mr Blair and his wife, Cherie, have spent £975,000 on a maisonette in West London for their only daughter, Kathryn, 22, a student. All their children have been bought a home and the family's property portfolio is said to be worth £15 million."


---------------------------

The "Labour Party," as with the "Democratic Party," used to mean the workers' party. Workers, the poor, the lower middle class, minorities, small business people and advanced thinkers (academics, artists, writers, teachers, librarians--the many progressive professionals) used to have representation in government, in the U.S. and England. Now they have people with property portfolios worth £15 million (and worse here) claiming to represent them, but not representing them at all. Not even a little bit. NOBODY represents the interests of the vast majority of people in either country.

Calling yourself a "Labour" leader and accumulating a £15 million property portfolio may not quite qualify as "anti-social behavior" but it is most certainly HYPOCRITICAL, not to mention appalling. We've gotten used to it, here--that you can't even think of running for Congress unless you have a million dollars in hand, to start with, and that tenure in public office will mean a greatly fattened 'portfolio' by the time you are finished serving your corporate masters. But you'd think this would be a bit of a scandal in England, where people are not so suffocated by the corpo-fascist press.

Anyhow, while all those African babies were dying of starvation, and Gordon Brown was throwing conniption fits about it to Condi Rice, Tony Blair was seeing to his own family's long term interests quite nicely. It makes you want to throw up...

:puke:

...and my wonder has not gone away that, according to Blair (apparently), the issue of all those blown up babies in Iraq, and tortured prisoners, and whatall, never came up.
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polly7 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Aug-29-10 10:19 AM
Response to Original message
3. Amazing how much power Bush thought he had (and did with certain poodles)
in other sovereign countries in the world. Hopefully other nations will eventually get him to The Hague.
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depakid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-30-10 03:02 AM
Response to Original message
5. Bush put pressure on Blair to keep Brown out of office
Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Tony Blair sees himself as a visionary who first recognised the terrorist threat from Islamic fundamentalists - and prolonged his time as British prime minister because the Bush administration had ''grave doubts'' about Gordon Brown, his autobiography is expected to reveal.

Mr Blair's long-awaited memoirs have yet to hit the shelves, but leaked snippets have already torn open old wounds as Britain's beleaguered Labour Party prepares to elect a new leader. Tony Blair: A Journey will be published with huge fanfare in London on Wednesday, but its author will be in Washington, holding talks in his role as Middle East envoy and attending a dinner at the White House.

At the centre of feverish public interest in the Blair memoirs is his account of his turbulent relationship with Gordon Brown, his long-time chancellor and, finally, successor.

British newspapers have been working overtime to dig up leaks from the book that provide a glimpse into the now-legendary battle for the Labour leadership between the two Scottish politicians.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/bush-put-pressure-on-blair-to-keep-brown-out-of-office-20100829-13xkw.html
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Ikonoklast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-30-10 03:02 AM
Response to Reply #5
6. Such fine fellows!
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ck4829 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-30-10 03:02 AM
Response to Reply #5
7. Hard to believe that Bush had someone he could outsmart
"Yo, Blair. We need you in the fight against the terrorists. You're special, you're unique, so just keep your guys in Iraq... Hehehehe."

"Bush said I'm special. Ohhh." *swoon*
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Crowman1979 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-30-10 03:02 AM
Response to Reply #5
8. That's New Labour for you!
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Frank Booth Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-30-10 03:02 AM
Response to Reply #5
9. Oh well. I guess when I'm feeling disillusioned about what a wimp Obama is, I can
at least remind myself that he's not quite as spineless as Tony Blair.
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depakid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-30-10 03:02 AM
Response to Reply #9
10. How would it feel if you knew your legacy would always be as Bush's poodle?
He should have listened to his wife Cherie who told him not to trust or get involved with BushCo. from the outset.
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