Tony Blair has the nerve to stand up and deliver a speech at Reuters Coroprate Headquarters in London to scream about cynicism in real (uncontrolled) media. He is aware of Reuters, BAE Systems, and the Saudi Royals incestous relations and has the cheek to utter the word cynicism in his criticism of the messengers. On top of that, he calls for controls on free media.
Tony Blair slipped Labour from its traditional placement on the left of the political spectrum to the new spread-eagle position of 'new labour'. One foot planted firmly to the right of centre and the other, very near the centre; the place where social democrats the world over have always rested easily. This appears to be an appropriate pose for the political whore he has proven to be.
Labour's days of resting easy have gone - thanks to the infamous Bush Poodle.
In his early days, he smiled and uttered the phrase "new labour" and managed to recover the UK from much of the horrible damage done to it my Maggie Thatcher. And as he did, he squirmed and slithered himself, Labour, and the UK well to the right. To Blair's credit, the social circumstances for Britain's poor are not bad, especially when contrasted with the cruel and stark situation for poor people in the USA or Canada. Canada has never recovered from the global slashing and burning that occurred during the Mulroney/Thatcher/ Reagan years. For Canadians it got worse under the watch of the Liberals in the 1990s.
But still, for Britians and the rest of the world, Blair's departure from 10 Downing Street can't come quick enough. Rather than merely saying good-bye, we are screaming it.
The reasons are obvious. Perhaps the most obvious is his sickening relationship with George W. Bush. Blair's expression is that of submissive patsy. Perhaps when all the evidence is in, we will see that he is not the innocent stooge, but a slippery piece of work in his own right. Perhaps before you finish reading this article you will come to that conclusion.
Blair's speeches promoting and furthering war suggest panic to save the noble Western way of life from backward Islamic hordes. Listening to Blair, the West hold the moral and enlightened upper hand. And if we don't wage war there, they will age war here. It isn't much wonder he is dubbed Bush's sock puppet. And no doubt he is. Blair is far too intelligent to actually believe what he says.
Nurturing Cynicism
As he exits stage right from the world scene, he has exposed the true nature of the Bushite New World Order. Blair has exposed the festering rot that sleeps beneath the slick veneer of global capitalism. A facade provided to you by the global capitalist media. Blair has shown us in spades that the real ideological struggle is not between Islam and The Occident or communism and capitalism. The salient and poignant struggle now is the struggle between capitalism and democracy. Capitalism is in the process of delivering fatal wounds to naive notions of democracy.
If we satisfied ourselves with the most minimal criteria for what it is that constitutes democracy, we'd still have a hard time arguing that there is life left in it. Every four or five years voters get to pick who they want to represent them. They can either pick Chevron or Exxon, Loughheed Martin or BAE Systems. Wal Mart or K Mart. This is not democracy.
Tony Blair, in recent weeks, has openly shown that there are laws for the super-rich and laws for the rest of us. He has shown clearly that the capitalist state is run by and for the wealthy classes and it doesn't matter what citizenship they hold.
He has defended the criminals and attacked those who talk about it.
First, there is his recent attack on the Independent, BBC, the Guardian. He also took aim at the likes of MWC News, Democracy Now, and Counterpunch or - 'alternative media'. Blair has called for controls to put in place as he delivered a speech from, appropriately enough, a corporate news venue, namely, Reuters in London.
He accused the media of "sensationalizing facts, breeding cynicism and attacking public figures". His opinion about the media may be most concisely summed up in his description of them (us) as "feral beasts". These feral beasts exposed his multitude of lies and contradictions and his hypocricy over his years as Prime Minister. We are still doing so. Britian, unlike the USA, has a critical and sophisticated media. For sure, the Indpendent, the Guardian, BBC, as well as the 'alternative media' that Blair derides can stand proud. If ever there was badge of honour, this attack by Bush's political lap dog is just that. We, at MWC, only wish we had been named directly. We will strive to do better in future.
If we report the facts on the likes of Tony Blair and Bush, it certainly breeds cynicism.
Something to be Cynical About
Reuters has Dick Olver on its board of directors. Olver is also Chairman of BAE Systems, the worlds 4th largest aerospace and defence company. BAE benefits directly from the powerful Israeli lobby in Washington that, in the 1980s, pressured prohibition of the sale of American people killers to the Saudis. Britain's BAE was next in line.
BAE systems is alleged, by British media, to have secretly paid Saudi Prince Bandar more than £1bn in connection with Britain's biggest ever weapons contract.
There have been demands for an investigation. In response to this, Tony Blair decided to stop the Serious Fraud Office from investigating alleged bribery relating to the BAE contract with Saudi Arabia. It involves a £43 billion arms deal. To put that in perspective in some way - there are 14 billion inches to the moon.
Blair said that such an investigation would damage the UKs relationship with the Saudi dictators (Blair has never referred to them as dictators, but that is what they are). Blair and Bush have 'special' realtions with the multi billionaire Saudi royals. Bandar's father is next in line for the Saudi throne.
Bandar's answer to the charges is that he has done nothing wrong. That marketing fees are a legitimate part of business. Bandar may be onto something. He is cynical enough to admit that capitalism is rife with kickbacks and corruption. It seems, Tony the Poodle agrees with him.
The people of the Middle East are used to this. They don't eat the pap delivered to American doorsteps each morning. They know that these America and democracy friendly regimes are as corrupt as the mafia - on a far grander scale.
Tony Blair, for all his blather about making the world safe from terrorism and for democracy has, in these recent weeks, shown the the world that the Western 'democracies' are far more corrupt than Saddam could have dreamed of being. And he has the unmitigated gall to defend it.
And he call us cynical.
Don't slam the door on the way out Mr. Blair.
