The Shed has always been a bit curmudgeonly about the tendency to see politics as just another marketing challenge and notes with dry eyes that Tony Blair has given up trying to organise peace in the Middle East. Can’t blame him, we suppose.
The Shed sees the news as significant, though, in possibly marking a sort of end to the era of Blairism, if you define it as a belief in the power of words – which you might. Blair was thrust into power in the first place by people who believed that if only somebody really nice could express all their nice thoughts nicely enough, the rest of the world would see reason.
Barack Obama, doing the same thing even better, represented the same optimism. But, of course, his main impact on the course of history so far has been getting the head blown off Osama bin Laden.
Mr Blair might well wish he had saved his breath and organised a strategic assassination or two.
endsfornow
