Good point about Blair/Minutes

[FreedomAngel82]

I'm listening to Malloy and a guy called in about the minutes documents that were released right before the British elections. Malloy told how Murdoch hates Tony Blair and this guy brought up the point that the neoconservatives are trying to branch out all over the world and since Britian is such a close ally it would be a good place to start. Because of these minutes the party that Blair is apart of (Labour) lost a lot of seats and their version of the conservatives gained a lot of seats. So it was a perfect way to get back at Blair for Murdoch's hatered of him.
Plus I think it was also probably a sign to Blair that he better corporate with their plans or he could be in trouble with them. Also Blair has enough seats from those who are with Bush to save Blair's ass from getting in trouble with the law and he will have to owe them.

[waynew706]

1. That works for me and as a Canadian...

with the same kind of political system.. (at least 3 parties) it builds in the checks and balances to some degree. If a party wants to get even, and has documented info. then look out.

[whalerider55]

2. just hard to believe...

that murdoch, whose fortunes have increased as a result of Federal decisions re:corporate media monopolies would take the risk of blowback on bush.

and anyway, i believe blair is a dead man walking; the labes are ready to replace him...

whalerider

[FreedomAngel82]

3. I think so too

Isn't he supposed to step down in a year or two? Who's going to replace him? I wish they could grill him and he would squeal about Bush.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. It's hard to find any evidence that Murdoch hates Blair

For instance, the UK tabloid paper that Murdoch owns, The Sun, (with a lot larger circulation than The Times), which Murdoch takes a closer interest in (he tells it about what happens at aprties he goes to, and is thought to suggest the editorial line), supported Blair at the last election. Murdoch has done OK out of Blair - he gets occasional (pro-government) leaks from Labour, and Labour revised the TV ownership rules so that Murdoch would be allowed to bid for 'Five', the fifth national TV station in Britain. The Times did support the Conservatives, so you might make a case that Murdoch wanted Blair to know that his support wasn't automatic; but 'hatred' seems far too strong a term.

I'm not sure how you bring the neoconservatives into this - they have a hell of a lot of influence on Blair already, through the American government. Murdoch himself is a businessman, not a political ideologue.

Also, remember that the reporter who broke this story also published the first 6 'Downing Street Memos' in September 2004, when he worked for the Daily Telegraph, which is note owned by Murdoch. I think it's more accurate to say that the story was published because it sells newspapers.

"Blair has enough seats from those who are with Bush"? I'm not sure what you mean by this. There is no politician in the UK who is more pro-Bush than Tony Blair. The others who might be described like that only support Bush out of their loyalty to Blair.