UK Politics-as asinine as the US version at last

Noel Gallagher doesn't seem to care that people think both he and Tony Blair peaked back long ago; he's still supporting Labour. The UK's major parties are lining up their celeb endorsements, and at least in Noel's case, his reasons for affiliating with Blair and company are compelling, if not urgent.

Oasis frontman Gallagher was quoted on MTV recently as still backing Labour - albeit partly because if the Conservatives get in, "Phil Collins is threatening to come back and live here. And let's face it, none of us want that".

Irrelevant monsters of rock and their grudges against even more irrelevant monsters of easy listening aside, this campaign is a doozy, and it'll only get messier between now and May 5th. Blair screwed up big time on multiple fronts(Iraq, higher education, Iraq, development funding, Iraq), and a lot of people want to punish him for making their lives a little bit harder while not making anyone in the global community's demonstrably easier. The Conservatives are generally a bunch of wankers that no one likes, and their awfulness will probably lead a bunch of really angry internationlists to vote Labour when they'd rather back the Liberal Democrats or the Greens.

Instead of being a better-accented Bill Clinton entertaining insomniac political geeks by defending populism against pasty codgers on the Prime Minister's Questions, Blair now seems tragic while warding off well-deserved attacks by citizens and opponents alike. A friend of mine used to write haikus about Tony Blair back in the late 90's, so it hurts to see a figure who used to be so exciting turn out to be such a disappointment. That's why I never bought Standing on the Shoulders of Giants.

Politics-especially when the Murdoch is involved- really is a destructive thing-not even something as all-american as Anglophilia is safe from it.