Soccer Dad

Blair and chirac

Today Anne Applebaum addressed the riddle that is Tony Blair

Fundamentally, the man's character is a riddle. On the one hand, he frequently describes himself as a true conviction politician, a man who sticks to his guns whatever the opinion polls say. Certainly that's how he explains Iraq. "I decided we should stand shoulder to shoulder with our oldest ally," he stated in his resignation speech:
. . .
Yet, at the same time, Blair is perhaps the most outstanding contemporary example of the politician who wants to be loved and who tries at all times to be all things to all people. He speaks the language of the left when he is talking to his own party, dwells on free markets when he addresses business executives and, at least for the first few years of his term, appeared to believe that getting everyone to agree with him about everything was only a matter of time.

One of the lines Applebaum quoted earlier to describe Blair was "an inferior Bill Clinton." Or perhaps he was Bill Clinton with sincerity.

Applebaum's Farewell to Jacques Chirac last week was not so generous. She let Chirac himself make the case against himself

On Russia: "For his contribution to friendship between France and Russia," Chirac decorated Vladimir Putin last year with the highest order of the Legion d'Honneur, a medal reserved for the closest foreign friends of France (Churchill, Eisenhower) despite the deterioration of the Russian president's human rights record. A few weeks later, Chirac decided to hold his 74th birthday party in Riga, Latvia, after a NATO summit. He invited President Putin, disinvited President Bush and snubbed the Latvian president in the process. As the diplomatic scandal grew, the guests all begged off, and the birthday dinner never took place.

On Saddam Hussein: "You are my personal friend. Let me assure you of my esteem, consideration and bond." On Eastern Europe supporting the United States in the United Nations: "It is not really responsible behavior. It is not well brought-up behavior. They missed a good opportunity to shut up." On Iran's nuclear program: "Having one or perhaps a second bomb a little later, well, that's not very dangerous." Theoretically, Chirac was supposed to be negotiating with Iran to give up its nuclear program at the time.

The subtext to the pair of columns was a quote that all political careers end in failure. That might be. But Applebaum is apparently making the case that Jacques was a much bigger failure than Tony.

Jacque Chirac, Tony Blair.

Posted by SoccerDad at May 15, 2007 6:28 AM