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White House To Brown - 'Up Yours, Pal'

Posted October 4th, 2007 by Tom

Oh dear.  Via Think Progress, the Telegraph has an article attracting attention Stateside:

"There's concern about Brown," a senior White House foreign policy official told The Daily Telegraph. "But this is compensated by the fact that Paris and Berlin are much less of a headache. The need to hinge everything on London as the guarantor of European security has gone."

Toys out of pram time - there's currently a row in the US about Rush Limbaugh's accusations that military personnel opposed to the war are 'phony soldiers' so it's not surprising to find the administration is now blaming British soldiers.  They've blamed the Democrats, the Iraqis and the media for the failure in Iraq, next up its your own troops and your loyal allies.  Classy.  I'd like to see how the Sun sorts that one out, but their support for Our Boys was never more than skin-deep anyway.

The White House official added that Britain would always be "the cornerstone" of US policy towards Europe but there was "a lot of unhappiness" about how British forces had performed in Basra and an acceptance that Mr Brown would pull the remaining 4,500 troops out of Iraq next year.

The end of a beautiful friendship?  Can't imagine that one playing well.  Here's 'Keith' among the 230 comments:

I’m unclear—have we gone from “It’s all the Iraqis fault” to “It’s all the British fault”? There are two Latvian soldiers left—-we could blame it on them. I know. I know. It’s all Pelosi and Reid’s fault. Yeah that’s right!

It all goes back to the B-man, of course. Parting is such sweet sorrow:

A British diplomatic source said: "In the White House there's a sense of enormous change from Blair. They used to be on the phone to Blair all the time and that's no longer the case because Brown clearly wants to be the unBlair.

Well, quite, he's not a complete idiot and he wants to carry on as Prime Minister.  Blair has made neoconservative policies equal to electoral suicide, which brings us to the Conservative Party:

Owen Paterson, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, recently met several key White House officials, including Barry Jackson, who recently took over many of Karl Rove's duties as a policy adviser to Mr Bush.

Add in Michael Ancram's hosting of Bombs Away Bolton last week, Liam Fox's chumminess with appalling Republicans plus the known views of Cameron's chums Ed Vaizey, George Osbourne and Michael Gove, and it's clear that the neocon parasites are seeking a new host, but the Tories aren't going to win and the list of countries that have rejected the US mixture of imperialist hegemony and criminal incompetence is getting larger all the time.  Only Sarkozy is on-side in Europe and safe - the Polish nutters are in electoral trouble, Howard in Australia is facing a tough one, Blair's gone, Aznar's gone, Berlusconi's gone, Angela 'Mrs. Gordon Brown' Merkel is 'disappointing', apparently.  Cameron's idea of being the 'Heir to Blair' is looking as daft now as it did a few months back.

Note to Monsieur Le President - according to the last Pew survey the French are slightly behind Turkey in disapproving of practically everything about the modern US state and George Bush in particular.  Let's hope some public spirited citizens let him know in the traditional French manner, eh?

Ref the 'Phony Soldiers'

On October 5th, 2007 sabretache says:

Ref the 'Phony Soldiers' row; I've commented on some interesting stuff on a US military blog and linked to it from here

Sabretache Blog

The Telegraph is getting

On October 5th, 2007 johnf (not verified) says:

The Telegraph is getting more and more schizophrenic in its foreign policy reporting - obviously reflecting the split in Tory ranks between realists and lunatics.

Tony Harnden is posting from Washington a series of anti-neocon stories, including this one on David Wurmser:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/05/wiran205.xml

Bush approval ratings have

On October 5th, 2007 Captain Swing says:

Bush approval ratings have hit a new low - 31%!

I know, I know....that many??

BUSH'S WAR ON AMERICAN

On October 5th, 2007 George Dutton (not verified) says:

BUSH'S WAR ON AMERICAN CHILDREN...

Children marched to the White House Oct. 2 pulling red wagons filled with petitions demanding that President Bush drop his plan to veto legislation passed by the Senate and House that would extend the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and expand it to cover an additional 4 million children.

http://desertpeace.blogspot.com/

 

 

Bush chooses war and tobacco

On October 5th, 2007 George Dutton (not verified) says:

Bush chooses war and tobacco company profits over childrens health care...

http://tinyurl.com/2uuglu

 

Is that the same

On October 6th, 2007 Stringer Bell (not verified) says:

Is that the same chicken-hawk coward Rush Limbaugh who chickened out of Vietnam because of an ingrowing arse hair?

Worth listening to then.

Is this the same chickenhawk

On October 6th, 2007 Stringer Bell (not verified) says:

Is this the same chickenhawk coward Rush Limbaugh who sat out the Vietnam War on a rubber doughnut because of an alleged ingrowing arse hair?

How long must we listen to cowardly armchair warriors sending other people to fight their wars when they're too spineless to do it themselves eg: John Bolton, Monkey Bush, Darth Cheney, Rush Arse-Absyss, Perle, Wolfovitz, Joe Lieberman, Bill Clinton, Blair and Brown?

George Bush and Gordon Brown

On October 6th, 2007 DeeplyMiffed (not verified) says:

George Bush and Gordon Brown win strictly come dancing! Meanwhile the politics and practicalities of corruption & greed twirl on. Baffling.

It's  all BOUNCE then is

On October 6th, 2007 Doubleplusungood says:

It's  all BOUNCE then is it? This appears to the word of the moment. The Brown BOUNCE at the Labour Party Conference, closely followed by the  Cameron BOUNCE at the Tory Conference.

Does this relate possibly to the BOUNCE in a cheque, as in being dishonestly issued, and basically worth sod all?

 At least the postponing of the election allows the peasants a bit more time to find a coin to flip, to help them decide who to vote for, the Devil or his Advocate. 

I suppose we could ask the fairer sex to help us decide who is the best looking out the two ugly mugs, the mind boggles.

I think its good that

On October 6th, 2007 johnf (not verified) says:

I think its good that Brown's been bounced out of an election. It means we have a government that's scared of the electorate. The last one was John Major where Kenneth Clarke was forced to abandon the Tories twelve year genuflection to the City of London and help the provinces and manufacturing industry.

Let's hope this pattern continues with the next parliament hung. And this present bounce means not only that Brown is going to have to avoid any adventures in Iran but also be serious about withdrawal from Iraq before he faces the electorate.

Murdoch and the City of London and the American neo-conservatives can go fuck themselves for the rest of this parliament.

Lt. Ehren K. Watada To White

On October 7th, 2007 tio (not verified) says:

Lt. Ehren K. Watada To White House - 'you're stark bollock naked son'.

came across this little treasure, apologies if its a repost.
Testimony of Professor of International Law Francis A. Boyle in the case of United States vs. Lt. Ehren K. Watada.

Let's hope this pattern

On October 7th, 2007 Doubleplusungood says:

Let's hope this pattern continues with the next parliament hung.

Why the next parliament? Can't we do it to this one?

I bags being the hangman.

Re: The BOUNCE in politics. What if Brown, Cameron and a few others were thrown off the Blackpool Tower, or some other high building, then we could measure the BOUNCE after they hit the concrete below? 

 At least that BOUNCE would have a significant impact on the political world and for the better. 

 I thought the following was a good joke about elections and voting:

This rings so true!
  
While on his morning walk, British Prime Minister Tony Blair falls over, has a heart attack and dies because the accident and emergency ward at his nearest hospital is too understaffed to treat him in time.
 
So his soul arrives in Heaven and he is met by Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates.   "Welcome to Heaven," says Saint Peter, "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a Socialist around these parts, so we're not sure what to do with you."
 
"No problem, just let me in; I'm a good Christian; I'm a believer," says the PM.
 
"I'd like to just let you in, but I have orders from G-d Himself. He says that since the implementation of his new HEAVEN CHOICES policy, you have to spend one day in Hell and one day in Heaven. Then you must choose where you'll live for eternity."
 
"But I've already made up my mind. I want to be in Heaven," replies Blair.
 
"I'm sorry ... But we have our rules," Peter interjects. And, with that,  St. Peter escorts him to an elevator and he goes down, down, down ...all The way to Hell.
 
The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a lush golf course.  The sun is shining in a cloudless sky. The temperature is a perfect 22°C.  In the distance is a beautiful club-house. Standing in front of it is Harold Wilson and thousands of other Socialist luminaries who had helped him out over the years --- John Smith, Michael Foot, Jim Callaghan, etc. The whole of the Labour Party leaders were there ... everyone laughing, happy, and casually but expensively dressed. They run to greet him, to hug him and to reminisce about the good times they had getting rich at the expense of 'suckers and peasants.'    They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster and caviar.
 
The Devil himself comes up to Blair with a frosty drink, "Have a tequila and relax, Tony!"
 
"Uh, I can't drink anymore, I took a pledge," says Blair, dejectedly.   "This is Hell, son. You can drink and eat all you want and not worry and it just gets better from there!"
 
Blair takes the drink and finds himself liking the Devil, who he thinks is a really very friendly bloke who tells funny jokes like himself and pulls hilarious nasty pranks, kind of like the ones the Labour Party pulled with the European Constitution and the Education, Immigration, Tough on Crime promises. They are having such a great time that, before he realises it, it's time to go. Everyone gives him a big hug and waves as Blair steps on the elevator and heads upward.
 
When the elevator door reopens, he is in Heaven again and Saint Peter is waiting for him. "Now it's time to visit Heaven," the old man says, opening the gate.
 
So for 24 hours Blair is made to hang out with a bunch of honest,  good-natured people who enjoy each other's company, talk about things other than money and treat each other decently. Not a nasty prank or smart-arse joke among them. No fancy country clubs here and, while the food tastes great, it's not caviar or lobster. And these people are all poor. He doesn't see anybody he knows and he isn't even treated like someone special!
 
"Whoa," he says uncomfortably to himself. "Harold Wilson never prepared me for this!"
 
The day done, Saint Peter returns and says, "Well, you've spent a day in Hell and a day in Heaven. Now choose where you want to live for Eternity."
 
With the 'Deal or No Deal' theme playing softly in the background, Blair reflects for a minute ... then answers: "Well, I would never have thought I'd say this -- I mean, Heaven has been delightful and all --  but I really think I belong in Hell with my friends."
 
So Saint Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down, all the way to Hell. The doors of the elevator open and he is in the middle of a barren scorched earth covered with garbage and toxic industrial wasteland, kind of like the eroded, rabbit and fox affected Australian outback. He is horrified to see all of his friends, dressed in rags and chained together, picking up the roadside rubbish and putting it into black plastic bags.    They are groaning and moaning in pain, faces and hands black with grime.
 
The Devil comes over to Blair and puts an arm around his shoulder. "I don't understand," stammers a shocked Tony, "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a club-house and we ate lobster and caviar and drank tequila. We lazed around and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and everybody looks miserable!"
 
The Devil looks at him, smiles slyly and purrs, "Yesterday we were campaigning;   today you voted for us!"
 

Whose lying about whom. The

On October 8th, 2007 johnf (not verified) says:

Whose lying about whom.

The Telegraph's "other" Washington correspondent, Tim Shipman, presumably the neo-con one, posts this:

"Britain 'on board' for US strikes on Iran

By Tim Shipman in Washington

British defence officials have held talks with their Pentagon counterparts about how they could help out if America chose to bomb Iran.

The Sunday Telegraph has learned that President Bush's White House national security council is discussing instead a plan to launch pinpoint attacks on bases operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds force, blamed for training Iraqi militants.

Pentagon officials have revealed that President Bush won an understanding with Gordon Brown in July that Britain would support air strikes if they could be justified as a counter-terrorist operation..."

This to me sounds like a dig at Brown from the Washington neo-cons to remind him who he should be loyal to. But I think Gordon's too worried by the British electorate to risk that sort of thing.