Sunday Posts

Tony Blair says a Corbyn win would annihilate Labour. Failing to elect him as the leader would do so too. Blair misses the point that the sanitized, undifferentiated party that he helped create in 1990s is now irrelevant. This is one of the problems with change - that it does not stop. Today, after 9/11 and its wars, recession and Greece, the world is a difference place than it was in 1990. The politics must be different, too. The triumph of centrism, as witnessed in the decades since 1970s, was not the end of History. An opportunity was provided and missed, as the lack of working class activism was used by the powerful to advance their agenda of marginalisation, inequality and power-grab. The moment may be now, or in the future, but the push-backs have now started.  It comes just after the Tory win in the UK, but it should not surprise anyone. We should be able to see beyond Tory win and Labour loss. The Labour lost for two reasons. One, because the Lib-Dems got anni...

After Ireland ratified the Treaty of Lisbon, and with only Poland and Czech Republic left to go before the treaty is fully ratified, the speculations are hotting up for the new President of European Council, or the 'President of Europe' in the popular imagination. And, one would not be surprised if Tony Blair, whose name is making the rounds for a while, ends up getting the job. If that happens, no one will be surprised: Mr. Blair has always been very Presidential, and is suitably high profile for the job. However, it is likely to leave a lot of people disappointed. But, before we get to that stage, a lot of things can go wrong. First, indeed, if any of those two remaining countries fail to ratify the treaty, all these talk will be meaningless. Poland and Czech Republic are both Europe friendly countries, and both countries know that the EU represents a lifeline in the middle of this deep economic crisis. So, it is fairly unlikely that they would want to scupper any deal. But, ...