Blair snubs US Medal to avoid 'poodle' jibes

[depakid]

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has not accepted a US Congressional Gold Medal he was awarded four years ago in part because it would reinforce perceptions that he is US President George W Bush's "poodle", the British ambassador to Washington said on Thursday.

In an interview published in The Times, David Manning said that Blair has "always had inhibitions" about accepting a medal awarded for his address to both houses of Congress soon after the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

"For those who are convinced that the prime minister is ... some sort of poodle, it does not matter what he does," Manning told the daily. "You reach the point where, if he had collected the medal, people would say that proves their point. But it's a much better - a much more complicated relationship - it's a two-way street."

Manning predicted Blair will collect the medal "when he is a private citizen".

More: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/blair-snubs-us-medal-to-avoid-poodle-jibes/2007/04/26/1177459833898.html

[melody]

1. So he insults the US people because he sucked up to the Shrub?

Yeah, that makes sense.

[petronius]

5. I wouldn't say he's insulting the US people

It seems like more of an insult for our government to offer a medal to a serving foreign head of state. The administration treated him like a poodle, and a medal is just a scritch behind the ear...

[melody]

7. That gold medal is specifically awarded "by the people"

It's not a governmental award sanctioned by the office of the President. That's a slap in our faces, not in George's.

[petronius]

8. Awarded by Congress - that sounds like government to me

And I'd be willing to bet that some R congressperson proposed this at the instigation of the WH. However, even if it is a medal from the people, I still think it's an insult to offer this sort of award to a serving head of state. Blair is right to say no, and we (whoever 'we' are) shouldn't have offered...

[melody]

9. The Congress = the people ... they're our elected voices

The concept is it's the "people's medal" ... at least it once was. It seems a fairly cowardly medal award about which
to finally grow a spine. All it does is formally insult the US population.

Blair has every right to say no. And I have the right (as an American of British heritage) to feel insulted. :shrug:

[Erika]

2. But his cute little poodle bark would be so cute

I hope the day comes he also is tried for war crimes.

[Catshrink]

3. Wow, he actually said "Poodle."

I thought that was just a DU nickname for ole Tony.

[opihimoimoi]

4. I thinks its for them Lapdoggies Dept....But Poodle is so French...so I guess its more like MUTT

or some small Brit Dog

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. He was called that before the invasion

George Michael lampoons 'poodle' Blair
Monday July 1, 2002

It should have been a tabloid editor's dream story - a video showing pop star George Michael in a leopard skin thong getting "intimate" in bed with Tony Blair's wife, Cherie.

In fact, it's a cartoon pop video for the artist's new single, where the former Wham star berates the prime minister for being George Bush's "poodle" and backing bombing Iraq.

Today's Mirror shows stills from the new video, which lampoons Mr Blair for being tickled like a dog by the US president, before showing Mr Michael arriving in Mr and Mrs Blair's bed on a nuclear warhead.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/redbox/story/0,,747402,00.html

Monday, 3 February, 2003, 16:54 GMT
Blair battles "poodle" jibes

Mr Kennedy, who likes to think he is speaking for the majority of the electorate on this issue, was touching on the jibe which falls readily to so many lips.

"Tony Blair is no more than George Bush's poodle."

It is a jibe that stings the prime minister and which he is desperate to nail. But he is fighting an uphill battle.

Each time he is asked whether the president is as committed as he is to seeking a second UN resolution before bombing Baghdad, he always says "yes" before quickly explaining the reasons why it may be necessary to go ahead without one.

The trouble with this line is, quite simply, a large number of people do not believe it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2721513.stm

Doh! Blair Hounds Simpsons to Drop Dog
Wednesday, December 31, 2003

Simpsons producer Al Jean said yesterday: "There were a couple of references that had to be changed.

"In the original script, there was a scene where Mr Blair presents the Simpsons with a corgi dog as they get off the plane.

"This had to be cut because Downing Street felt there was a risk that he would be seen as America's poodle."

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1231-05.htm

[depakid]

11. Nope, I've heard this from some British friends, too

Admittedly, they're both liberal dems....

[jgraz]

6. I object to these poodle comparisons

My poodle isn't nearly as submissive as Tony Blair.

And she's a helluva lot cuter.



Plus, as far as I know, she's never helped kill over 600,000 people in an illegal war of choice. Of course, I don't watch her every second of the day...

[RedStateShame]

12. Well, putting the medal at the end of a choke collar won't help matters any.