The Whitehouse sacks the UK foreign secretary.

I'm no lover of Blair, however there are one or two in the government who stand out as doing a fine job. Jack Straw was one of them.

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Mr Straw was indeed dismissed because of American anxieties, but that Dr Rice herself had become worried, on her visit to Blackburn, by Mr Straw’s dependence on Muslim votes. About 20 per cent of the voters in Blackburn are Islamic; Mr Straw was dismissed only four weeks after Dr Rice’s visit to his constituency. It may be that both explanations are correct. The first complaint may have been made by Mr Rumsfeld because of Iran; Dr Rice may have withdrawn her support after seeing the Islamic pressures in Blackburn. At any rate, Irwin Stelzer’s account confirms that Mr Straw was fired because of American pressure.

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Link

So the so called 'special relationship' is even more special than we Brits thought it was. Seemingly President Shrub now has the power to select and dismiss Her Majesties ministers. We are fast becoming a laughing stock on the world stage....

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Originally Posted by InsaneApache

So the so called 'special relationship' is even more special than we Brits thought it was. Seemingly President Shrub now has the power to select and dismiss Her Majesties ministers. We are fast becoming a laughing stock on the world stage....

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That's disturbing. Margaret Becket is struggling and apparently the FO staff have little to no confidence in her - it's a good job nothing important is happening in the world.

Still, if you're going to have a puppet government, it's no fun unless you can pull the strings.

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Originally Posted by InsaneApache

We are fast becoming a laughing stock on the world stage....

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More so then the French :laugh4:

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Originally Posted by Banquo's Ghost

That's disturbing. Margaret Becket is struggling and apparently the FO staff have little to no confidence in her - it's a good job nothing important is happening in the world.

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:laugh4:

touche Pape. :2thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Papewaio

More so then the French :laugh4:

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Not quite yet. :bow:

Come on, wimps. Vassalage is so unbecoming for a country that could play master of the universe only a few decades ago.

The UK is still a permanent member of the security council, the worlds fifth largest economy, one of the 'big three' in the EU, the most dynamic economy in Europe, the heart of the Commonwealth, the cultural centre of the worlds' most widely-used language. It can project its military power all over the world. Its queen is head of state in a larger territory than anybody else.

You'd think there is some reason in all that to have the ambition to be masters of your own destiny.

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Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat

Come on, wimps. Vassalage is so unbecoming for a country that could play master of the universe only a few decades ago.

The UK is still a permanent member of the security council, the worlds fifth largest economy, one of the 'big three' in the EU, the most dynamic economy in Europe, the heart of the Commonwealth, the cultural centre of the worlds' most widely-used language. It can project its military power all over the world. Its queen is head of state in a larger territory than anybody else.

You'd think there is some reason in all that to have the ambition to be masters of your own destiny.

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Then what is France?

It's worth noting that the link is not a news article, but a commentary- one which is very scant on supporting evidence. It smacks of a conspiracy theory imo....

Those pesky Brits shouldn't be appointing people to their government in the first place without asking our permission. Forty lashes for our poodle, Blair!

Just to echo Xiahou, does anybody have anything other than Mr. Reese-Mogg's speculation that it was Washington that actually had Jack Straw sacked? How do we know that old Jack didn't cheat at golf, get caught shtupping an intern or some other offense that Downing Street is trying to keep quiet. I'm not saying that the US didn't get ole Jack shown to the door. I'm simply asking for something more than gossip and innuendo to prove it.

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I made inquiries in Washington and was told that Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, had taken exception to Mr Straw’s statement that it would be “nuts” to bomb Iran. The United States, it was said, had put pressure on Tony Blair to change his Foreign Secretary. Mr Straw had been fired at the request of the Bush Administration, particularly at the Pentagon.

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Made inquiries of whom, a wino in L'Enfant plaza? The coat-check girl at the National Air & Space Museum?

Was told by whom? Mulder's cigarette smoking father? Lee Harvey Oswald's partners in crime? Chandra Levy?

Honestly... the NSA offered more proof and evidence in defending itself on the whole wiretapping business (and we agree that's been pretty scant).

I was told, by discrete sources within the Beltway, that in reality, Ted Kennedy is an orangutan being dressed in a man suit (hence the inexplicable behavior). In reality, there have been three orangutans over the decades. When one begins to show signs of age, my sources tell me, our Vulcan overlords load him into a waiting capsule and whisk him off to an intergalatic zoo on a small moon just the other side of Neptune. My sources also inform me that it was actually TK-2 (the code name for the 2nd ape in the series) that fathered Courtney Love and that it was the discovery of this truth that forced the Vulcans to bring out their #1 assasin, Fred Rogers, from retirement to do away with Kurt yet make it look like a suicide.

Good grief folks, a few facts first?:idea2:

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Originally Posted by Don Corleone

The coat-check girl at the National Air & Space Museum?

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I don't recall a coat-check at the NA&SM...curious...:inquisitive:

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Originally Posted by Don Corleone

Chandra Levy?

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Hmmm....I don't get the jogging link -- or is it something about Rock Creek Parkway...hey, isn't the Brit embassy located along there? :idea2:

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Originally Posted by Don Corleone

I was told, by discrete sources within the Beltway, that in reality, Ted Kennedy is an orangutan being dressed in a man suit (hence the inexplicable behavior). In reality, there have been three orangutans over the decades. When one begins to show signs of age, my sources tell me, our Vulcan overlords load him into a waiting capsule and whisk him off to an intergalatic zoo on a small moon just the other side of Neptune. My sources also inform me that it was actually TK-2 (the code name for the 2nd ape in the series) that fathered Courtney Love and that it was the discovery of this truth that forced the Vulcans to bring out their #1 assasin, Fred Rogers, from retirement to do away with Kurt yet make it look like a suicide.

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THAT clears things up for true....and I was always just a LITTLE nervous about Freddie boy's almost eerie sense of calm....:scared:

Whatever the case, it's a shame Blair sacked one of his most competent ministers and replaced him with a non-entity.

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Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat

Come on, wimps. Vassalage is so unbecoming for a country that could play master of the universe only a few decades ago.

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Yeah, but the new He-Man series sucks worse than the original did.

Hey....we didn't fight a war to liberate us from the poison grip (IE won't pay taxes:laugh4:) of teh colonies just for you unpatriotic buggers to turn around and tell us what to do!

I say this, no representation, with no taxation.....

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Originally Posted by InsaneApache

Hey....we didn't fight a war to liberate us from the poison grip (IE won't pay taxes:laugh4:) of teh colonies just for you unpatriotic buggers to turn around and tell us what to do!

I say this, no representation, with no taxation.....

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So would it help out to start paying some taxes to the Washington?~;)

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Originally Posted by Kagemusha

So would it help out to start paying some taxes to the Washington?~;)

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You mean we don't?

...can anyone say 'Irony' ? :laugh4: :inquisitive:

How things have changed in 220 short years.

Who's the colonies now bitch?:laugh4: