Who said the following: “This broad agenda we will carry into the new term comes from a basic conviction: Government should never try to control or dominate the lives of our citizens. Yet government can and should help citizens gain the tools to make their own choices and to improve their own lives.” It was Bush last night. It’s the exact formulation Bill Clinton used to use. Bush, however, has provided no firm details for his proposals for healthcare and education. We’ll see, I guess.
TEN YEARS OF BLAIR: It’s a decade and a day since Tony Blair became leader of the Labour Party in Britain and Oxblog gives him a worthy tribute:
He has reinvigorated centrism in Britain, as the DLC and similar organisations did for the United States. Again like his transatlantic partner [Clinton], Blair’s mark was to make many of the economic reforms of Thatcherism palatable to the left. As a result, the British economy has in our lives never been stronger. Whereas a quarter-century ago it had fallen past the Federal Republic of Germany and France, and was about to fall past Italy as well, it is now closing in on Germany for the European crown, and its per capita GDP mark it as the second richest country in Europe past Luxembourg.
I’d add, however, that this achievement is essentially parasitic. Thatcher restored Britain’s economy, and John Major made that transformation permanent. Blair merely made it palatable. He has failed to reform the public services in any fundamental way, and has an unfortunate authoritarian streak when it comes to civil liberties. Nevertheless, he has made Britain safe for capitalism, helped liberate the Iraqi and Afghan people from vile despotisms, made the Bank of England independent, and the Tory party close to redundant. I often post stories predicting his demise. But I’m confident he’ll win the next election easily.
EMAIL OF THE DAY: “You have the highest quality reader letters (blog, newspaper, or magazine) I have ever seen. I have to admit, I am sometimes so mystified by your vehemence about minor phenomena (such as Michael Moore) that I start to wonder If you are kind of nutty. (I’m a middle-aged liberal woman from Massachusetts, maybe that’s why I don’t get it?) Then the reader responses you choose to display redeem you.” Indeed they do. Thanks to Reihan Salam for selcting the best ones – and to all of you for writing in. There’s more here.
BLOGS AND POLITICS: Dan Drezner has now co-produced a paper on the subject. He is an academic, after all.
The Dish 