One would think that given the collapse of the Jayson Blair times, http://blacktygrrrr.wordpress.com/2007/06/23/the-collapse-of-the-jayson-blair-times-palestinian-style/, their ugly kid sister the Washington Post would learn to develop intellectual honesty. Then again, the fact that one would think at all is reason enough not to use this rag for anything other than that…a rag. Once again, the editorial pages devalued themselves from an integrity standpoint with their glowing review of Tony Blair.
Make no mistake about it. A place for Tony Blair in the halls of world greatness along with Reagan, Thatcher, and Churchill is well deserved. He deserves every bit of adulation that comes his way. Yet the Washington Post still manages to distort the big picture, even while acknowledging that Tony Blair clearly sees it.
“it’s a little perverse that Americans would be faulting Mr. Blair for his support for U.S. leadership, for his wholehearted commitment to war against Islamic extremism after Sept. 11, 2001, and for his refusal to abandon the coalition in Iraq when the going got tough.”
Most Americans, as judged by the 2004 elections, chose the candidate who Mr. Blair supported, George W. Bush. Yes, many Americans are frustrated, but apparently the Washington Post does not consider conservatives to be Americans. Liberals want out of Iraq. Conservatives want to stay until the job is done. Conservatives are praising Tony Blair left and right. Make that right and right.
“He has been regularly taunted as ‘Bush’s poodle.’ Anyone who cares to examine the record of the longest-serving Labor Party prime minister knows this is not the case. Mr. Blair committed himself to an internationalism that does not shrink from confronting the world’s most evil regimes — and to addressing the menace of Saddam Hussein in particular — long before President Bush took office.”
Ok, this is fine. He was, and is, right. So does the paper remain consistent across ideology? Of course not.
“Mr. Blair’s support for the Iraq invasion rose from his own convictions, which were clearer and more principled than those of Mr. Bush.”
Are you kidding me? They were the same convictions! Mr. Blair agreed wholeheartedly with Mr. Bush to the point where he was accused of being Bush’s poodle. Yet those who praise Tony Blair for having the courage to go against popular opinion and support Mr. Bush because it is the right thing to do cannot seem to understand that Mr. Bush was the leader of this noble cause to begin with. It is called the Bush Doctrine for a reason!
If the Washington Post were to ever write a quality article, and I were to cut and paste it, can people give me praise while still saying the Washington Post is a dreadful paper? Sure, if you use their ethics model, which perhaps I would use if they ever wrote anything of value. Their claim to fame seems to be “slightly less biased and badly written as the Jayson Blair Times.”
Praising Tony Blair some more, they say “He argued that in the aftermath of Sept. 11 the world could no longer afford to allow aggressive tyrants such as Saddam Hussein to openly defy the United Nations. ‘We had to confront the states with WMD. We had to take a stand. We had to force conformity with international obligations that for years had been breached with the world turning a blind eye,’”
How can anybody with more than half of Pinch Sulzberger’s brain tied behind their backs allow this pretzel twisted logic to go unchallenged? Tony Blair did the right thing. He and George W. Bush were on the exact same wavelength. Yet George W. Bush somehow did the wrong thing. Even some liberals can grasp why this borders on verbal insanity.
“the notion that he fabricated a case for invasion or swallowed one handed to him by Mr. Bush is insupportable. That his determination to commit British troops was driven in part by a belief that Britain should stand with the United States in time of war only adds to the debt this country owes him.”
Yes, the same debt the world owes George W. Bush, who also is accused of fabricating a reason for invasion, a deeply offensive notion that only hard core leftists can stomach.
“Mr. Blair doesn’t shrink from acting on his political convictions — even if it means taking a pounding that he doesn’t deserve.”
Neither does George W. Bush. So I say to the Jayson Blair Times, their wretchedly hideous kid sister the Washington Post, and every broadcast network having a pleasurable sensation in their leftist stained underclothing every time Mr. Blair speaks, to look and report facts for once.
The facts are George W. Bush led a coalition, and Tony Blair properly joined the coalition, playing a vital role. They were both right and principled. The history books should treat them both as giants among men.
Tony Blair is rightly being given his due. It is time for the media to treat them the same. Castigate them both if you must. You will be wrong, but at least consistent. Or better yet, give President George W. Bush his due.
Tony Blair is a hero for supporting the Bush Doctrine. President Bush is a hero for creating the doctrine to begin with, and taking down Saddam hard.
Thank you Mr. Blair. Thank you as well President Bush.
eric
Tony deserves even more credit for also enduring the heat his own country gave him.
Agreed he deserves credit for his principled foreign policy. I’m not convinced he deserves a place alongside Reagan, Thatcher and Churchill, however. He remains a Labour Party leader, however, and economically, he did his country few favours. He increased bureaucracy, expanded the state, played cosy with unions, environmentalists and other anti-market lobbies, and sidled closer to Europe. The only reason the UK has outperformed the more socialist welfare states on the continent is because he failed to undo many of the Thatcherite policies that rescued Britain from its 1970s malaise. Perhaps we should thank the fact that he was spending most of his political capital on being “Bush’s poodle” for that too, come to think of it.
Hey, Kiddo…
I’ll get to linking you at http://BrainSurgeryWithSpoons.blogspot.com later, but you’re already blogrolled at: http://www.ICallBS.net , a place for NewsJunkies and Rottweiler Rejects who want more of a say in their analysis of current events!
Also you can get the latest Keith Oldermann parodies there, as well as Walter Konkrite and Dan Wraither… all downloadable at no cost.
So, we won today (defeated the Unfairness Doctrine AND the Shamnesty Travesty) and won BIG with the SCOTUS ruling on Race-Based ‘Affirmative Action’…
I deeply admire Tony Blair for what he stood and stands for. A serious and reliable man. As well as Mr. Bush. Being popular is much easier. Doing the right thing and fight the enemy – very difficult. Few people have such courage but Mr. Blair.
Tom Hauser, Ulm, Germany.
Amen !!! Another fabulous blog that reeks with the truth !!!!
On an unrelated note, I just “tagged” you in my blog!
:-)
BHG
When I was growing up my parents referred to the NYTs and the WP as the Uptown Daily Worker and the Downtown Daily Worker.
Still works for me.
Excellent post.