tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post1913909066743381181..comments2024-01-01T16:01:35.711+00:00Comments on Dick Puddlecote: Today's Chilcot Winners - Johnson & HarmanDick Puddlecotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01481866882188932892noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-80925321525380744982010-01-30T01:16:08.248+00:002010-01-30T01:16:08.248+00:00What we saw from Blair today was, I think, not act...What we saw from Blair today was, I think, not acting but advocacy. He was arguing a case just as a good QC will argue a case in court. <br /><br />He might not have practised at the Bar for long but an indication of his likely capabilities is that his brother was a top QC and is now (entirely on merit) a High Court Judge. <br /><br />Of course there is an element of acting involved but the difference is that the actor only reads the lines, the advocate writes them as well. <br /><br />One of the most important skills for an advocate is to be able to put forward a case you believe to be balderdash with not just a straight face but a sense of conviction. Like every sensible person in the country, Blair knows the dodgy dossier was full of unsupportable overstatements and that the 45 minute thing was nothing less than a lie. He was not there today to tell the truth but to support a case. He did it jolly well. <br /><br />How he would have fared before a well-prepared and strong cross-examiner is a different thing entirely. He got the same soft ride he got before the Hutton commission. Neither tribunal issued a single serious challenge to anything he said and the limited challenges were not followed-up as they would be by a strong cross-examiner. <br /><br />Brown, of course, can bluster and hunt for notes when asked "Are you the Prime Minister?" Whether he could stand up better than Blair to real cross-examination will never be known because neither of them will be subjected to it.TheFatBigothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17255526385076528633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-49289975425753043492010-01-29T21:17:12.840+00:002010-01-29T21:17:12.840+00:00A lie a minute. Just like old times. I'm sure ...A lie a minute. Just like old times. I'm sure he's on the short list for an Oscar after today's perfromance.<br /><br />But you're right about what the rest of GB's cabinet will have been thinking all day - the clunking great waste of space looks even more out of his depth in comparison to Master of Slime. Another abortive coup in a couple of weeks time would be nice, or even just more rumblings of discontent.JohnRShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07021101596935644363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-66586047000960933172010-01-29T20:49:37.147+00:002010-01-29T20:49:37.147+00:00"TB was one of the most ineffective and meani...<em>"TB was one of the most ineffective and meaningless Prime Ministers of all time"</em><br /><br />Hey, I wasn't defending him. It's the stark difference in delivery which will strike a chord in a celebrity-obsessed public, not policies.<br /><br />Today they will have been given a reminder of how it's done properly and how Brown is not a patch.<br /><br />And if they forget, Brown will remind them again when it's his turn in front of Chilcot. ;-)Dick Puddlecotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01481866882188932892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-64513445576782242382010-01-29T20:42:31.788+00:002010-01-29T20:42:31.788+00:00TB was one of the most ineffective and meaningles...TB was one of the most ineffective and meaningless Prime Ministers of all time. <br /><br />At least GB can lay claim to having really f***ed things up (while Chancellor or as PM), rather than having ridden some happy wave of NICEness and done some fairly pointless and minor things like invade a country which none of us care about or could locate on a map.<br /><br />When people study history in future, GB is the interesting one, not TB. Further, GB appears to have undergone a personality transplant recently (some say he has had a stroke) and he is a force to be reckoned with.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-78470096326957687632010-01-29T20:10:04.683+00:002010-01-29T20:10:04.683+00:00Quite right, the difference between them is a chas...Quite right, the difference between them is a chasm. One that stretches between one scary place and another. Neither have any redeeming feratures in my opinion.<br /><br />My own view of watching the whole thing was that Blair was indeed rehearsed. He had themes he came back to time and time again, often off topic of the question asked of him.<br /><br />I found him not very persuasive, not becasue I believe in conspiracy or hold strong views about some of the issues, like many do. WHat I found so disappointing, but expected, from the start was the appalling presidential nature of this man. We are supposed to have cabinet government in this country, but not once did Blair say "the consensus view", or even "we", or the "governement felt". From the off it was "I thought", "my judgment" "I believed" and the whole performance laid bare the ethos of Blair's time as PM. Add to this the clear fact now that the cabinet had little input and scant documentation supplied to it and what you have is Blair laid bare.<br /><br />He really doe think he is a demi-god and it is just appalling to hear him talk about the Iraq disaster including such huge loss of life and suffering in the context of his decision making. A less collegiate man would be hard to find and leadership like that is dangerous, as it has proved to be with him, and now with Broon.RBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-50602609267757278882010-01-29T19:06:04.114+00:002010-01-29T19:06:04.114+00:00I watched almost all of it. (I missed the kick off...I watched almost all of it. (I missed the kick off).<br /><br />This was a polished performance. It was done by a master. I looked and listened but I couldn't see or hear any sign of rehearsed answers.<br /><br />He was very good, and I find that galling. (Having to praise the bastard, I mean).<br /><br />You are spot on though-Gordon looks and sounds like complete dipshit in comparison.<br /><br />CR.Captain Rantyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07839241144954596066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3141759542968821728.post-40309595968138723342010-01-29T18:55:54.228+00:002010-01-29T18:55:54.228+00:00The BOTOX was weird.The BOTOX was weird.Oldrightiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03192587284458430556noreply@blogger.com