I believe it was the son who fired Sununu his father's chief of staff. That was the reason that early election material called him the "terminator". How that is done now seems more of an issue of business style than content. I think Sadaam would call him a coward also and might have a better case given the overwhelming force, but I think he is instead more of the SWAT team police mentality, i.e. a bureaucrat that hates government but represents the worst of its instincts.
REH ----- Original Message ----- From: "Karen Watters Cole" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Ray Evans Harrell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Keith Hudson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, March 08, 2003 10:57 AM Subject: RE: [Futurework] Claire Short > Of the only two fired so far (as far as we know), Lindsay and O'Neill, the > POTUS did not give them their walking papers face to face. > > VP Cheney did the deed with O'Neill, I recall, because he was key to > bringing his friend O'Neill into the White House, and Lindsay received > notice by Card, that's Andrew, not Hallmark. > > Karen > Good story Keith, > > There is one point however that is incorrect. Bush is a mediocrity but he > is not afraid to sack people face to face. That was his father. Bush was > the one who was known to do that sort of thing for his father during his > father's administration. He doesn't suffer from a failure of will but of > intellect. IMO. > > REH > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > She is a dumpy lady and has a terrible dress sense -- of the sort that > > makes me cringe. She has a northern working class dialect and she speaks > in > > a curious way as though her jaws were permanently wired. She has what used > > to be considered the least important job in the British Cabinet -- > Minister > > for Overseas Aid and Development. You have probably never heard of Claire > > Short. She has kept very quiet during the past few weeks even though she > > probably feels more strongly than most about the possible plight of Iraqi > > women and children when America and poodle-Britain invade. > > > > Unprepossessing though she seems, she is intellectually of the first > water. > > She often comes to decisions which are controversial and occasionally > > contradicts official Labour Party policy. Because she has always thought > > through carefully what she says, she calmly sails through any squalls that > > may arise. I have seen her quell an antagonistic TV studio audience by > > talking quietly and to the point -- and they have burst into applause at > > the end. She is one of the only two government Ministers whom Blair cannot > > sack (the other being Gordon Brown, the Chancellor). She is highly > > respected by the media and by her own senior civil servants -- you can't > > have higher praise than that. She is occasionally spoken of as a future > > Prime Minister. > > > > I don't know her well but we worked together quite closely in 1979 and > 1980 > > when she and I set up the first two private initiatives in England for > > young people as a wave of unemployment hit the country. Mine was a > > city-based practical project, Jobs for Coventry Foundation, and > independent > > of party politics; Claire's was a national pressure group, YouthAid, which > > worked through the Labour Party. Four or five years later I left JforC to > > set up a computer business (and lost my shirt!), YouthAid gradually faded > > away while Claire went on to become a Labour Member of Parliament. > > > > In the last few days, I have frequently thought that I might revive our > > acquaintanceship of a quarter-of-a-century ago and write to Claire Short, > > asking her to please do something to bring Blair to his senses. According > > to one or two BBC journalists, more than half the Cabinet are against > > Blair's present policy and might come out publicly against him if they > > could be stimulated by someone who is brave enough to stick his head above > > the parapet. But I've decided not to contact her. Unless she's changed a > > very great deal, I know what she is thinking, and she knows better than I > > do whether she could achieve a reversal of government policy. I have > > complete confidence in her judgement. > > > > By common consent of all commentators, Blair is now running the greatest > > risk of his political life. If his and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's > > miserable UN compromise resolution doesn't come off, then the present > > Labour Government could collapse within days of an American invasion of > > Iraq. Blair might just rescue himself if he could persuade middle and > > right-wing people in the country at large. But many members of the Labour > > Party in the country are already resigning and, even if Blair saves > > himself, the Party itself might collapse as completely as the Liberals did > > a century ago -- the Lib-Dems taking over as the main anti-Tory Party. > > > > Realistically, the only two politicians who might be able to stop the > > present drain from the Labour Party -- and what will undoubtedly be an > > avalanche in the next few weeks -- are Claire Short and George Brown (a > > power freak and an acknowledged intellectual heavyweight in the field of > > economics). Either of these politicians could kill Tony Blair's political > > career stone dead, but only Claire Short could do so for reasons of > integrity. > > > > I've already intimated that Claire Short has the courage to do this if > this > > is what she decides. Many government Ministers have been quiet in the last > > few weeks, making themselves unavailable to journalists out of cowardice. > > Because she has been *so* silent, my judgement is that Claire Short is > > weighing up very carefully what she must do in the next few days. > > > > I will be very surprised -- and very disappointed -- if Clair Short does > > not come out with a public statement quite shortly with huge consequences > > for UK Government policy and Blair's position. The only reason I can think > > of why she may not do so is that she has come to the same conclusion as I > > have done and wrote about in my posting of yesterday -- that even though > > Bush might invade Iraq and occupy the oil fields he will not dare attack > > the cities for reasons of world opinion (and also that his own troops will > > be killed in large numbers as well as women and children). (Bush is, after > > all, a coward, and can't even sack his own staff face-to-face but only by > > memos.) > > > > Keith Hudson > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- > > ------------ > > > > Keith Hudson, General Editor, Handlo Music, http://www.handlo.com > > 6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England > > Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727; mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ________________________________________________________________________ > > _______________________________________________ > > Futurework mailing list > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
