“In 1939, when Britain declared war on the Nazi tyranny, that same day your Prime Minister announced you were at war too—no ifs, no buts, just solidly with the world. How magnificent and how typical of Australia.”
- Tony Blair getting the facts right but their historical perspective woefully wrong, Canberra, 27.3.06

In 1939, as in 2003, Australia heeded the call and joined in a war on the other side of the world. In 1939, Australia was following the lead of its imperial fatherland, though it is fair to say that it was to oppose a major international threat. In 2003, there was no empire and, indeed, no international threat from the chosen adversary. (Let’s not even go near 1915, Winston Churchill, the Anzacs and the Dardanelles.)

Tony Blair, one of the slickest snake oil salesmen in contemporary world politics, was doing a stand-up routine for the pollies in Australia’s federal parliament on Monday. The permalink to his speech on the ParlInfo website is here.

The Australian’s Paul Kelly described Blair’s speech as “the best in the national parliament since Bill Clinton” (who also addressed the joint houses in 1996). All that means really is (a) John Howard and the gang are crap, and (b) Paul Keating was already retired by then.

Kelly’s stablemate Greg Sheridan called Blair “the most articulate neo-conservative in the world” - and clearly meant that as a compliment. And if you want yet another right-wing take but in a competing newspaper, you can’t go past Gerard Henderson at the SMH.

Blair and Howard really should have either been booted long ago for lying about Iraq, or be covered with masses of egg on their faces for believing faulty intelligence. Both may yet get the comeuppance, Blair over “loans for peerages“, Howard over AWB, but you have to hand it to Blair for having the gall to say the following with a straight face:

But for almost three years now we have been in Iraq with full United Nations support.