CLEVER MONKEY OF THE WEEK

Tony Blair
For having an independent thought just in time to save face

There was Tony Blair, responding to George Bush’s down-home greeting, “Yo, Blair!” and engaging in what appeared to be a transparently deferential conversation about doings in the Middle East.

As all the world knows by now, the mike, unbeknownst to them, was still on. The London papers had a field day mocking what they were a bit overly eager to portray as Mr. Blair’s second-banana role.

But they were flying in the face of clever Tony’s much more independent bent.

He stated and stood for, as opposed to George, the idea that a peacekeeping force should be sent to the Israeli-Lebanese border immediately, and he stood firmly by his belief with Kofi Annan.

Imagine if the revealing conversation with Bush had gone out and he hadn’t managed to slip in a Bush-defying position. The papers would have had even more jollity at the great guy’s expense.

We salute his timely dash to a face-saving stance.

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