Well, bollocks.

PM Tony Blair is really leaving. He bid the Labour Party goodbye this week with panache and class, something we Americans, some of us, ever crave in leadership. He owned his part of our friendship but acknowledged his own neighborhood by saying, "It's hard sometimes to be America's strongest ally. Europe can be a political headache." Detailing the myriad of challenges we face, he believes terrorism will take at least a generation to contain, Blair sums up by saying, "And the truth is that nothing we strive for...can be solved without America, without Europe." A brilliant man, graced with humility and strength but grounded in the here and now. He doesn't kid himself. That's why he's leaving.

The thing about Tony Blair is this: he speaks straight from the heart, speaks the truth as he knows it and let's the chips fall where they may. And I wouldn't be truthful if I didn't admit that one of Blair's most appealing qualities is that he's such a contrast to our own intellect-challenged and communicative disorder-proned President. The cerebral elegance this man easily employs is more than a tad seductive but as you examine his arguments, you realize he has a vision and a determination that looks different but feels much like Churchill: "The British people today are reluctant global citizens; I want them to be confident ones.". He makes a strong argument for the big picture of British change in the new millenium. These days sovereignty is textured and laced with collaboration and partnership, according to Blair. Hmmm.

And so it goes. Nuts.


JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA