The yearling in charge of the Tories yet again demonstrates characteristics that throw doubt on his fitness to run the country. Check out this reply to a Sunday Telegraph question about the US election:
Mr Howard, however, when asked if he was pleased that Mr Bush, a fellow leader of a Right-wing party, had prevailed, would only answer: “I made it clear that I could work perfectly well with both President Bush and President Kerry.”
Read between the lines with a knowledge of recent Republican-Tory relations and the subtext becomes clear. Howard’s gutted at the election result.
It’s no secret that the White House and the Tories haven’t been friendly since Howard decided to make Tory policy on Iraq an attempt to rub salt into Blair’s wounds rather than doing the right thing for embattled democrats in Baghdad – even so, you’d think he could come up with a more statesmanlike reply than that.
Isn’t it part of the job description for a politician to smile at people they don’t neccessarily agree with and put up with those who they may personally or politically dislike if it’s in the interest of the country they hope to lead ? Blair and Bush disagree on some pretty fundamental areas of policy but at least the Labour leader recognises that some things are too important to allow those differences to override.
The Conservative leader’s decision to seek short term political advantage at the expense of principle over the war in Iraq has been noted and he’ll have to pay the political price. Instead of recognising that fact and learning from it he’s chosen instead to throw his teddy out of the pram.
The Tories ability to go nowhere fast has now moved into top gear.
