Cincinattus
Sep. 13th, 2004 09:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloTony Blair misled parliament and the nation and took the country to war on a false prospectus. How is this not a resigning issue?
There's a nightmare quality about it. The evidence against him is overwhelming, no-one trusts him, no-one likes him, but there he is, day after day, smiling that patronizing smile and doing his "I'm just a regular bloke" act. He's as unkillable as the monster in a Hollywood horror franchise.
Living under a dictatorship must feel like this.
Power is a drug. No-one who has it resigns it willingly. But its deleterious effect on character is plain to see. Men and women in positions of power get progressively madder and stupider. The last two prime ministers, Thatcher and Major, seriously damaged their reputations by clinging onto office long after they'd ceased to be effective. And now there's Blair. His reputation is in tatters. But one of the delusions of power is that if you hang on long enough everything will eventually, magically, turn to your advantage.
Cincinattus: He did the job he was appointed to do (defeating the enemies of Rome) then resigned the dictatorship and returned to his farm. That's the way to do it. That's the way to win the gratitude of your people.
There's a nightmare quality about it. The evidence against him is overwhelming, no-one trusts him, no-one likes him, but there he is, day after day, smiling that patronizing smile and doing his "I'm just a regular bloke" act. He's as unkillable as the monster in a Hollywood horror franchise.
Living under a dictatorship must feel like this.
Power is a drug. No-one who has it resigns it willingly. But its deleterious effect on character is plain to see. Men and women in positions of power get progressively madder and stupider. The last two prime ministers, Thatcher and Major, seriously damaged their reputations by clinging onto office long after they'd ceased to be effective. And now there's Blair. His reputation is in tatters. But one of the delusions of power is that if you hang on long enough everything will eventually, magically, turn to your advantage.
Cincinattus: He did the job he was appointed to do (defeating the enemies of Rome) then resigned the dictatorship and returned to his farm. That's the way to do it. That's the way to win the gratitude of your people.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 02:59 am (UTC)The Americans have the right idea I think- limiting their Presidents to two terms.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 04:30 am (UTC)If only it were one.
Bush is gaining in the polls. I have less hope for Kerry these days.
The Bush campaign is attempting to convince Americans that, without Bush and his militaristic stance, we'll be overrun by terrorists scaling our walls with knives in their teeth.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 04:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 04:47 am (UTC)Americans are still traumatized by our first outside invasion on 9/11/01, and so we're still looking for strong parents to protect us. Fundamentalist churches are on the rise, and I think it's partly due to their rigidity and tendency to have authoritarian leadership and black-and-white doctrines. And we've got Bush, who shakes his fist at the skies and says we'll not back away from war, no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, no matter how many people are killed.
And Americans, for the most part, are saying: Just take care of us, somehow. We don't want to think about the details. Just make sure we're safe.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 05:32 am (UTC)All too true. For a nation that likes to insist on butting our noses into everyone else's business, we are all too willing to stick our heads into the sand when it comes to our own.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 06:40 am (UTC)These things are a matter of public record. How do people manage to avoid coming into contact with them?
no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 06:52 am (UTC)There's such a barrage of conflicting information, and by denigrating the accuser rather than denying the charges, the Bush campaign adds to the confusion. Their smoke and mirrors are working, mostly because we don't want to think and reflect deeply or study political issues. And we are rather gullible and naive and trusting as a result.