What confused me,and still does to some extent is the cultural background he is coming from . Married to a lefty lawyer, liberal education, he's even a guitarist for godsake....yea I know Heydrich played the violin quite well.

Do you know that bit in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, where they ask the culprit why he did it - betray England. He said, well after Suez, it was impossible to think of England as anything except America's streetwalker.

perhaps that's it. Written on the desk as they walk into the PM's job is something to the effect - whatever happens you go along with American foreign policy, to the extent that you can. Wilson, despite howls of protest from Heath at the time, kept us out of Vietnam but he offered tacit support to America in that war. Perhaps Blair simply wasn't that savvy.

If someone like Blair is the scoundrel that you say he is, what bloody hope is there? Any more left wing and anti establishment won't be elected in the marginals.

I don't understand. I don't pretend that I do. I hope you're wrong Ake. I suppose what I'm saying is that I hope he is really stupid, rather than evil. Perhaps though there is third alternative we can't see.

Look at all the people who said, why didn't Bush Senior finish off Saddam after the famous 'Turkey Shoot' as Iraqui troops left Kuwait? Well we can see now what a dumb idea that would have been.

Sometimes the truth is not pure, simple, or self evident. And I'm not dumb, but I am puzzled by this situation.