A MODEST PROPOSAL. The new issue of Blueprint, the bimonthly journal of the Democratic Leadership Council, which went up online today, features an article by Tony Blair entitled �Fighting for Values,� which is part of the magazine�s cover package on �Defeating Jihadism.� The piece is a resounding defense of civilization and globalization, a scathing attack on obscurantism and protectionism. Blair makes the case for the Iraqi invasion and occupation, of course, but, by past standards, somewhat briefly.
Since every day that Blair continues to serve as Prime Minister depresses the Labor Party�s polling by another couple of points, and twists the party into ideological knots defending a foreign policy that its members don�t believe in and that the British public rejects, here�s a suggestion that can make everybody happy: With the number of Labor MPs prepared to vote for Blair�s ouster clearly growing, the PM needs a graceful exit. Why doesn�t the DLC hire the guy -- give him an Al From Life Fellowship, say -- and take him out of the UK altogether? For that matter, why doesn�t some UK-based Third Way-ish foundation hire Joe Lieberman, and get him the hell out of Connecticut and the Senate? Call it the Great Transatlantic Insufferable Moralist With Blood On Their Hands Swap Meet. Our debt to the DLC would be incalculable.
--Harold Meyerson
