Blair Quizzed on MTV
The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP, PC, Her Majesty's Prime Minister, appeared on MTV last week. (There, a sentence one never thought would see daylight, and another follows.) He gave a serious and thoughtful performance to a serious and thoughtful studio audience of the world's youth. However, he was upstaged by one particular member of the crowd.
Mr. Blair, of course, is only following in Mr. William Jefferson Clinton's footsteps by appearing on MTV. Slick Willy answered the infamous boxer-or-briefs question there. Mr. Blair stuck to a matter of greater gravity, the imminent war against Saddam Hussein.
The PM was his usual eloquent self, patient, and often, right. However, it is unlikely that he changed any minds. That cannot be said of a young Iraqi gentleman, living in exile in London, who begged the PM to use force to get rid of Saddam.
He told the dreadful story of the abuse and murder his family suffered under the Iraqi regime, and it was clear that many of the pacifists from Western Europe were shocked, surprised and down-right taken aback to learn that Saddam Hussein isn't a politician like in their countries. Their unwillingness to risk anything against the plea for help forced genuine thought upon them.
Future appearances by politicos on MTV will be of dubious value to anyone. "Young people" watch videos, MTV Cribs and The Real World to get away from the mundane world of voting, fighting and tax-paying. But just this once, a genuine service may have been rendered. Not because war or peace was decided, but because someone learned something.