The last minute CW was wrong: Tony Blair has barely survived a brutal vote of no confidence by the British public. Yes, the war was a major reason. But it’s important to understand that hostility to Blair was not simply about the decision to go to war, but how he did it, how he appeared to have been less than forthright, and how this characterological duplicity reflected broader discontent with his management style on domestic issues as well. But this was not a victory for the Tories either. They’re back as a real opposition party and now have a real chance of forming the next government. But they failed to articulate a real, national theme or an argument about the future of Britain; and they barely increased their share of the vote over 2001. They gained by default; and witnessed real gains from the fiercely leftist anti-war Liberal Democrats. Blair’s mandate is risible: as I write, he will form a government with a mere 36 percent of the vote. That’s a lower level of popular support than any parliamentary majority in history. The pressure on him to move aside will now grow. I doubt he will survive the next few months of internecine Labour warfare. And that may be to the good. A more left-wing Brown government will give the British public a real choice in the next few years – providing the Tories regain their small government philosophy. (More commentary below – I was live-blogging the results as they came in last night.)
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Mr Blair, this defeat is for Iraq and the other defeats that New Labour has received this evening are for Iraq. All the people you have killed and all the loss of life have come back to haunt you and the best thing that the Labour Party can do is sack you tomorrow morning.” – George Galloway, creep extraordinaire, basking in an amazing victory over the official Labour candidate. No result was more depressing than this one. And no result more humiliating for Blair. He must feel shattered. And the knives are out. Remember: Blair remains prime minister only at the behest of his own party. Gordon Brown could be prime minister as soon as a critical mass of chastened and ornery Labour MPs decide he should be. I’d say the chances of Blair surviving more than a few more months are low.
CPAP UPDATE: It’s been a while since I spoke about my sleep apnea and the use of a CPAP machine to help me sleep. I’ve now clocked 1,158 hours of sleep with CPAP (the machine measures the hours). Have things changed? Short answer: yes. I used to feel exhausted in the late afternoons and would take a regular nap. I have napped once in the four months I have been on CPAP. My energy level has increased – dramatically at first and then more slowly. I’ve added three days of cardio to my weight-training gym routine. My boyfriend is much happier at night. Are there drawbacks? Yes. I have a full face-mask and in the morning my face is deeply creased with its marks (not too pretty). It wears off after a shower and an hour or so, but there’s a dent in the middle of my forehead which seems to be semi-permanent. The velcro on the mask is also subject to wear and tear and it has come off in the night a couple of times. I don’t find the humidifying tank very useful and have stopped using it altogether. Occasionally, the mask leaks air and it takes a while to fix the misaligned rubber. My boyfriend has sometimes found himself being blasted with cold air over the pillow. Bedtime intimacy are not so easy when you look like you’re on life-support. But these are quibbles compared with the broader quality-of-life improvement. You may have noticed I have been a recidivist on my bid to cut down on blogging. Well, I don’t blog at night any more (I sleep and hang with the BF); but my energy level is high enough to allow me to blog, write my usual columns and work on my book, which is progressing slowly but roughly on target. I’ll get some bloodwork soon to check on my HIV viral levels. But I can’t help but feel that my immune system is stronger as well. Here’s an email I got yesterday that tells a similar story:
I’ve been a long time reader of your blog, in fact I’m also a contributor. You take a lot of slings and arrows for us homos (my partner and I live in Minneapolis). Anyway, I wanted to send you a note and thank you for a life-changing thing for me and my partner. Thanks to your blog I went and had myself checked out for sleep apnea. I snored a lot and my partner Justin and I rarely ever slept in the same bed. After reading about your experience the difference the CPAP made for you I went and had an overnight sleep study and was fitted with a CPAP.
I describe the experience to people as living life in a haze, only you don’t know there’s a haze you just think that’s how things are supposed to be. Then someone comes along and clears up the haze and you get to see the world like its supposed to be. It’s been absolutely amazing. Justin and I are much, much better and life seems great. I have the renewed energy to do things I didn’t have the energy to before (like make my documentary on gay hockey players).
Ah, gay hockey players. If you are constantly tired, fall asleep often, and have a bed-partner who complains about snoring or cessation of breathing, see your doc. Here endeth the health advisory.
The Dish 