Tony Blair, psychopath

[Cain]

I've been reading extracts of Blair's memoirs and, to be perfectly honest, that is the only conclusion a sensible person can come to about him.

A few extracts:

It is true that my head can sometimes think conservatively especially on economics and security but my heart always beats progressive, and my soul is and always will be that of a rebel

Hadn't we fought a great campaign? Hadn't we impaled our enemies on our bayonet, like ripe fruit?

Blair [p. 16] says that he was "irrationally disturbed" when the Cabinet Secretary told him that he had been studying the Labour manifesto.

I was middle class, & my politics were in many ways middle class...one-nation politics...a unifier

Blair, on 1st time visiting H of Commons: "I was thunderstruck. It just hit me. This was where I wanted to be...This was my destiny."

Blair, as Shadow Home Secretary [p. 58]: "I felt a growing sense of belief, almost of destiny."

On Brown ("to have defeated him would have been to have mastered him"), & then reminiscing about 1st girlfriend ("incredible outpouring of desire").

Politically, Pete [Thomson] was on the left, but religion came first. Therefore, so, in a sense, it did for me

The two "points of connection" he felt he had with Murdoch were that "he was an outsider, and he had balls".

Blair, p. 126, reports "a tug, not of regret but of nostalgia for the old British Empire" when attending Hong Kong's 1997 handover ceremony

I am not a great one for the Establishment. It's probably at heart why I'm in the Labour Party and always will be

Blair, p. 144, on Prince Charles: "At one level he was quite New Labour".

Blair thinks he found it difficult to deal w Putin, p.245, because VP thought his approach to foreign policy "at best odd and at worst dangerous"

Blair was angry at the media coverage of the fuel protesters, p.294, because "I felt that a Tory government would not be treated like this."

Pre-9/11 terrorism, Blair calls, p. 343, "the price that America paid for being America"

Blair was wrong to think in 2001, p. 347, that "this act was perpetrated by a small group of fanatics wholly unrepresentative of Islam".

Blair claims, p. 356, that the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was "a war to punish", as well as a war "to liberate".

Blair, p. 373, "can only hope to redeem something from the tragedy of death, in the actions of a life, my life, that continues still."

Blair, p.377: There were no WMDs, but "the true facts do provide the clearest possible basis to assess that he was indeed a threat".

Blair denies there was a "link to Al-Qaeda", then explains how al-Zarqawi had been meeting senior Iraqis in 2002 & "established a presence".

Blair, p. 408: Cheney "is the object of so much conspiracy theory that it's virtually impossible to have a rational discussion about him."

Blair, p. 410: "Brits would want to know that in Toulouse people would recognise me."

Blair, p. 410: Even people who didn't like me or agree with me "still admired the fact I counted, was a big player, was a world... leader."

Blair, p. 467: on the pics from Abu Ghraib, "no doubt they were exceptional incidents, and the offenders were prosecuted."

Blair, p, 488, on MPs' pay: "The truth is MPs are underpaid and the expenses were used to top up income; but you can't say that."

Blair, p. 493, says that the US "zero tolerance" approach to crime "fitted completely with my belief in cohesive communities".

Blair, p. 512, on how he "liked & admired George" & put him near the top of his list of leaders with integrity (which made people titter).

Blair, pp. 512-3: In 2008, the media said Obama was the visionary, McCain the "old political hack", but it was the other way around.

Blair, p.515: "Ariel Sharon was an extraordinary man... But at the same time as being utterly maddening, he was a real leader."

Blair, p. 516, regrets the passage of the Freedom of Information Act. "You naive, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop."

Blair, pp.523-4: lefties "equate concern about immigration w underlying racism. This was a mistake". My concern w immigration was "natural".

Blair, p.524: we tightened the asylum laws in order to avoid racism, not to 'concede' to it, as "well-intentioned progressives" charged

Blair, p. 524: Having effectively shut down the immigration issue, all the Tories & the media could do was bang on and on about Iraq

Blair, pp. 542-3: In the end, Brown was so annoying over the EU budget deal that "I'm afraid I just stopped taking his calls".

Blair, p.567: the killing of JC de Menezes was a "terrible error", but he also feels sorry for the officers, "who were acting in good faith"

Blair, p.568: "When Lord Hoffmann described the anti-terror laws as more of a threat to the UK than the terrorists, I just cdn't believe it"

Blair, p.569: "We had to paint the contrast in the boldest letters. Good politics & evil. Stark. Simple. Undeniable to all but the deranged"

Blair, p.570: After the G8, at the press conference, "there was the usual nonsense from some NGO bloke about how we had all let Africa down"

Blair, p. 570, had a "complete vision" of how we can "overcome the greatness of our history to discover the full potential of our future."

Blair, p. 589: In 2006, we planned major changes to NHS, schools, crime, etc. The public didn't know, so cdn't participate in any debate.

Blair, p. 596: "Israel is a government with a well-armed & well-trained army & air force. They do not target civilians."

Blair, p. 597: "It was a ghastly method of deterrence & horrible for Lebanon. But I cd see it from his [Olmert's] & Israel's position."

Blair, p.597: "The occupation of Palestinian land may be an injustice, depending on yr viewpt, but this is a region w plenty of injustices."

Blair, p. 634: Twice I thanked God for the independence of the British judiciary, over 'cash for honours' and the Hutton inquiry

Blair, p.644: in these speeches I gave lessons to my successors, eg that to deal with the "criminal underclass" you need "draconian powers".

Blair, p. 647: And there was a speech about multiculturalism. "With citizenship shd come certain clear duties as well as rights."

Blair, pp. 657-8: Lots of people stopped listening to me, bc they disagreed with my policies, & the media told them I was a liar & a crook

Blair, p. 665: "Our way of life, our values" are not just "a testament to us as nations" but are "harbingers of human progress".

Blair, pp. 666-7: But 'the market' did not fail, just one bit of it. And govt., regulations, politicians & monetary policy also all failed.

Blair, p. 668: Govt. shd stabilise & then get out of the way, so business can lead the recovery. This is also true of the financial sector.

Blair, p. 674: Israel shd "do more to push fwd the necessary changes on the ground", but Palestinians shd "give up violence" emphatically.

Blair, p. 686: On expenses, "the savaging of MPs as basically a bunch of wasters & fraudsters was unjust & deeply damaging."

[bds]

Woah. And I always sorta liked him.   

[Cain]

Really?  Why?  Genuinely curious here, I've loathed Tony Blair consistently since about 2001 and so I find it very difficult to concieve of a reason to like him, barring the fact he offsets his worst Thatcherite/crusading Messiah/authoritarian nut instincts with some very minor tidbits of niceness for those at the bottom of society, sometimes, when he wasn't urging for more draconian punishments to be meted out on the untermenschen.

[Adios]

No matter what the entire context of a lot of those quotes...well, I agree, he is off his rocker.

[bds]

I dunno. I guess I just liked his ridiculous hand movements and the way he talked and such. I wasn't really terribly interested in politics when he was around, I only started paying much attention towards the end of his stint as PM so I don't really know a whole lot about his policies and stuff, I was too young to really realise what he was talking about.

He always seemed... genuine? To me. But like I said that's probably just because he was the guy on the news when I was growing up.

[Cain]

I guess I can kinda understand that.

But I started to pay attention during the 2001 election, probably because my dad was one of those tasked with dealing with the foot and mouth outbreak at the time.  And well...the quotes speak for themselves.  He was obsessed with spin control, punishment, his "place in history" and Thatcherite economics.  His authoritarianism was very obvious too, from CCTV to antiterrorism laws to ASBOs.

[Faust]

He will be remembered by these quotes, and not fondly. As you said he was obsessed with spin but ultimately failed to hold up the nice guy facade, which many brutes often managed to do, Come a few years and it will be very hard to find anyone who would remember him as a good prime minister.

[Prince Glittersnatch III]

Holy shit hes worse than Dubya.

[BabylonHoruv]

Really?  Why?  Genuinely curious here, I've loathed Tony Blair consistently since about 2001 and so I find it very difficult to concieve of a reason to like him, barring the fact he offsets his worst Thatcherite/crusading Messiah/authoritarian nut instincts with some very minor tidbits of niceness for those at the bottom of society, sometimes, when he wasn't urging for more draconian punishments to be meted out on the untermenschen.

He's a skilled speaker, and, in comparison to Bush II he comes off as a model of sanity.

[Adios]

Holy shit hes worse than Dubya.

My first thought was, "No wonder they got along so well!"

[MMIX]

Holy shit hes worse than Dubya.

Nah, don't fucking kid yourself. Dubya was The Most Important Man In the World, being as how he was US President and all. The Boy Tony, [shit, now it is a long time since the press called him that] was just this spoiled middle-class English guy.

[Thurnez Isa]

Blair, p.377: There were no WMDs, but "the true facts do provide the clearest possible basis to assess that he was indeed a threat".

[Adios]

Blair, p.377: There were no WMDs, but "the true facts do provide the clearest possible basis to assess that he was indeed a threat".

Yeah, that one was a WTF? moment.

[The Johnny]

He always seemed... genuine? To me. But like I said that's probably just because he was the guy on the news when I was growing up.

genuine =/= good person 

Hitler was genuine too!

[bds]

He always seemed... genuine? To me. But like I said that's probably just because he was the guy on the news when I was growing up.

genuine =/= good person 

Hitler was genuine too!

Mhm.