An accurate piece in the New York Times today about how Tony Blair’s government has become synonymous in many Brits’ eyes with sleaze. And Hoge is right to point out that it’s the way in which the Blairites spin everything that really ticks people off. Boning up on Blair when I was in London (I’m writing from D.C. this morning), I found the following passage in Andrew Rawnsley’s book on New Labour, “Servants of the People.” It concerns Charlie Whelan, one of the government’s spin-meisters and, for translation purposes, the word “bollocks” refers to a part of the male anatomy:
Over a drink in his hostelry of choice, the Red Lion pub opposite the Treasury, Whelan decoded his denials for one political correspondent: “Telling a journalist a story was ‘bollocks’ meant it was true. ‘Total bollocks’ meant something similar. ‘Speculation’ meant get on and write it.”
Eventually, of course, the bollocks can come back to haunt you.
The Dish 