The Curmudgeon

YOU'LL COME FOR THE CURSES. YOU'LL STAY FOR THE MUDGEONRY.

Monday, September 05, 2005

You Think You've Got Problems

Tony Blair, who is in China talking about underwear, has gently chastised those of his congregation who have returned to Britain with horror stories about conditions in New Orleans.

As so often, what the Americans do, the British do. The Americans are not much interested in helping British nationals, and so neither are we. Survivors have "criticised the lack of help from British embassy staff in the US and demanded to know why consular staff, who knew that scores of Britons were trapped in the stadium, did not find a way in to help them." Apparently it has dawned on Blair that this attitude may not be altogether beneficial from that public-relations standpoint which is his infallible moral compass.

Blair said comfortingly that "he expected the current total of around 130 missing Britons to fall", which speaks encouragingly of his confidence that the Bush administration is better at recovering and identifying corpses than it is at helping live human beings. He added that "the UK was helping to coordinate a European aid package, including ration packs and camp beds to be sent to the stricken areas" of the world's richest country.

The Guardian calls Blair's statement an "apology", apparently because he claimed to be "really sorry if there has been difficulties" (sic). It seems likely that Blair was expressing Christian sympathy with the victims' plight rather than actual penitence, since he went on to put those singular difficulties sternly in perspective: "It's been really tough for people, I know that, but it's been tough for our officials on the ground."

The situation, you see, was "more shocking and serious" than the merely trapped, frightened and bewildered victims contemplated. Diplomats have been working "round the clock", presumably since the hurricane struck; but were permitted to enter the city only last night. It certainly must have been a terrible experience for them. The risks of drowning and disease, the consciousness of abandonment, the intimidation and harassment, the possibility of rape and murder - all fall to nothing compared to the suffering of British officialdom when dealing with Blair's best buddy and Britain's greatest ally.

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