One of Blair’s outrageous parting shots has been to call for increased regulation of the press; seeking to further control what, in fact, has largely been a compliant rather than “feral beast”.
His full speech is truely perverse.
The Independent, one of the very few publications to adopt a critical position on Blair’s foreign policy, today hits back on their front page. Other reactions are summaried here by the Guardian.
Meanwhile, The Times has raised the attractive, if unlikely, possibility of an extradition bid which might serve to bring our soon to be ex-Prime Minister to justice in another European state.
What an an appalling speech. The manifest half-truths and evasions in virtually every line. The virtual denial of direct responsibility for this state of affairs. And the naked desire to, at all costs, stifle comment and free speech.
This man is profoundly dangerous. He and his cohorts have absolutely no understanding of what a free society is or should be. They have spent more than ten years bringing about this state of affairs and either cannot or will not recognise that it is entirely of their own making. Now, rather than face up to their own vicissitudes, they seek to blame countless others who, digusted by them and their machinations have found other ways to express their anger and frustration. As always, shoot the messenger.
Ten years of lies and half-truths. Ten years of deceit and spin. Ten years of cynical and evil manipulation. And now Blair blames others. He has set the example, he can not complain if others follow – to the letter. Are we not a compliant society?
"The result is a media that increasingly and to a dangerous degree is driven by "impact"."
Does that include the "impact" of the 45 minutes claim that made it onto the front pages, or is that considered to be ok?
The government made great use of powerful news headlines during the run up to the Iraq war. In fact we had something called "Operation Mass Appeal" which involved MI6 passing dubious intelligence on Iraq to the media.
A careful examination of Blair's speech leads one to the conclusion that, he is, indeed, a sociopathic personality. Even at this late stage in his political career, he seems intent on spinning, spinning, spinning. As if by something close to magic he can miraculously change peoples' perceptions of his character and actions. He really appears exhibit many of the classic symptoms of the sociopath. Sociopaths are, very basically, confidence tricksters who have tricked themselves as much as they've tricked the rest of us, this is why they are often so blindingly successful in their careers up to a point. That point is when we learn to read or decode their utterences and actions in the correct context. Once we see the underlying pattern emerging, the reality behind the smiling mask, then usually the game is up and we almost at a stroke see the person for what they really are. This is what has happened to Blair and the british people, finally they've twigged him. Yet instead of just shutting up and getting lost, Blair simply has to draw even more attention to himself, laying himself bare to even more scrutiny when the game is so clearly up. But his huge, super-inflated ego, cannot accept that he's lost our love and trust. This cannot be happening to one who is so deserving, where did it all go wrong? So he flounders around in pathetic desparation searching vainly for scapegoats to blame for his fall from grace. Everyone is to blame. The fault is outside of himself, not on the inside. Yet paradoxically, the more he says publically, the worse he makes it for himself, by revealing more and more about how his very confused mind works.