A Blog Named Sue

Aside From That, How Was the Play, Mrs. Lincoln?

Interesting BBC obit on Tony Blair's political career here, featuring comments from Colin Powell and Hans Blix.

The tone of the article is a bit strange, though; the writer seems to wonder why the decision to invade Iraq will define Blair's legacy. Give me a little while to research if any of Blair's other decisions contributed to the deaths of tens of thousands of people and I'll get back to you on that, OK?

I'm surprised to see the BBC treating the War in Iraq as "just another issue." I though that kind of thinking was limited to US journalism, with pundits wondering if the screaming hellstorm of bloodshed we've created in the Middle East would elicpse issues like the estate tax come election time. (Just this past week I heard Anthony Kudlow on the radio wondering why Bush isn't more popular; after all, just look at what he's done for the stock market! Um, Tony...)

Best bit of unintentional hilarity in the article:

That unwavering support for George Bush lost him friends at home, even if now, as he leaves office, it ensures him affection and respect from many of the key figures in Washington.

Cheer up Tony! You've still got Dick Cheney in your corner!

Who Wants to Be a President or a King? (Me!)

One of the reasons progressive voters often give for their tepid support of Hillary Clinton's candidacy is "the United States doesn't do dynasties." That's a valid concern, and the thought of 32 years of absolute political power in the United States alternating between two families makes me more than a little uneasy. But, describing the Clintons as some dynastic line in American politics strikes me as a bit unfair.

Bush the first and Bush the lesser descend from Prescott Bush, a two-term US Senator who before public service held a string of high-profile manufacturing positions before becoming a powerful investment banker and serving on the board of CBS. (Much has been made of his ties to Nazi industrialists; less well-known is his early leadership of both the United Negro College Fund and Planned Parenthood. A study in contradictions, this one.) His father was a railroad and steel executive and also a federal government official in charge of coordination and assistance to major weapons contractors. In other words, this is a family that has always walked the corridors of power.

Bill Clinton, on the other hand, was the son of a traveling salesman and adopted son of a partner in a car dealership. Hillary Clinton's father was a small business owner and her mother was a stay at home mom. This is hardly the stuff of dynastic legacy; in fact, it looks a lot like the plain ol' salt of the earth middle America that we consider to be the barometer of virtue in this country.

I'm pretty much in the "I'll vote for Hillary if they nominate her" camp; but at this point I'll vote for a defrosted Stouffer's microwave lasagna before I vote for a Republican. However, I don't think fear of an American dynasty is a reason not to vote for her; the Clintons look less like a dynasty than a couple of people who busted their humps to make something happen.

Then again, who the hell knows what Chelsea has in mind...