Tonight on the BBC debating programme, Question Time, each of the leaders of the three main parties took part. Instead of sitting around a table together, as is the established format, they appear serially in front of an audience chosen from viewers based on questions they have submited. Basically they are people that give a shit. the MC, david dimbleby introduced the leader, invites a chosen audience member to ask his/her question. the questions selected were pithy and to the point. dimbleby always acting as advocate for the questioner. it made for an incredible peice of television.
the bbc is an amazing institution.
kennedy was fine, howard a fool, and blair extraordinary. just yesterday the attorney general’s advice on the legality of the iraq war war leaked. just this morning the government were forced to release it. it is the second time he’s been caught badly. first there were the intelligence exaggerations, “extensive and authoritative”. Now the “unequivocal” is revelealed to be pages of reservations and concerns. and here he is in front of a baying audience. and he was magnificent.
he sweated and gave everything he had. it was, he said, about his convictions. yes he did have to press the case, fight for what he believed was right. it was hard but worth it. and he knows there are people out there who disagree.
the audience feedback was all about information. you could have released this document here, that document there. publish your advice. the logical extension of which would presumably be that the public decide. i don’t know what the public think they’re asking for. we’ve already gone from a prime minister to a ceo, now we’re moving on to electing a chair for a public debate. he was reminded that he once promoted himself on “transparency”. one audience member even referred to thinking of him as a “white knight” back in 97 and 2001.
blair performed maginificently. i don’t know what his heart rate would have been, but fuck. i’m not sure how anyone could have done better given the facts. but on reason alone he was buried. the killer was dimbleby asking his own question right at the end. why wouldn’t you agree to appearing togther with kennedy and howard? he was all at sea. he’ll be having words with the backroom staff for not preparing him properly.
but maybe charisma is more important, he has tons of that. right now he should be groping for a large scotch and smoking something that’s been rolled between the thighs of a cuban goddess, but he’s probably placing palms together and thanking the lord that no one watches political programmes on tv.
imagine george bush in this format.
