back to article Tony Blair closes RSA 2012, denounces WikiLeaks

Former British Prime Minister Anthony Charles Lynton Blair was RSA's pick to close out their annual security conference in San Francisco, and he took the opportunity to bash WikiLeaks as "disgraceful." Blair took time out from his busy official role of bringing peace to the Middle East to pad his pockets speak for an …

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  1. Graham Marsden
    Big Brother

    What a fucking hypocrite!

    "Individuals need to have private communications, he said, but at the same time there are people who threaten our way of life that have to be stopped. Politicians, however, need privacy to function, "

    And there we have Blair, once again, in a nutshell: One rule for them, another for us.

    The man who tried to give us DNA databases, ID Cards, ANPR and CCTV on every corner with facial recognition to track us everywhere we go and watch everything we do thinks that he and his cronies "need privacy to function" but *NOBODY* else does!

    Hypocrite.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      AIR HEAD?

      Why do people give this pri*ck air time. He's done enough damage without giving his opinion on something he knows nothing about.

      Actually he does that all the time, he's supposed to ne the middle east peace envoy, a gallon of petrol in one hand, a lighter in the other.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        who's next on stage?

        Jordan?

    2. Scorchio!!
      Thumb Up

      Re: What a fucking hypocrite!

      What is more the fucking dork didn't know how to use PGP and thus his email was exposed to the outside world. Prick. I wish that his Muslim attacker in a Palestinian mosque had succeeded, and I'll even take religion if he and his ilk are assassinated. It would have been appropriate had he been bagged up and sent to bin Laden as a present for Ede (sp?). Big Brother? More like dirty greasball.

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

    4. PassiveSmoking

      Re: What a fucking hypocrite!

      You, sir, makes me wish I could upvote this 1000 times.

      That one quote is everything that's wrong with British politics in general and Blair's NuLabour in particular.

      War is peace!

      Freedom is slavery!

      Ignorance is strength!

    5. Jason Hindle Silver badge

      Re: What a fucking hypocrite!

      Allow me to be the 34th like to the What a fucking hypocrite post. The damage that awful, vain little man has done to the fabric of this country is immeasurable IMHO.

    6. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      ARE YOU SURE that's

      Not a wax work dummy with a tape recorder stuck up its ar*s?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: ARE YOU SURE that's

        George Bush had his hand up his ars* you mean.

    7. JDX Gold badge

      Re: What a fucking hypocrite!

      While I am no fan of Blair, and don't deny he's a hypocrite... I do agree that the idea of openness for politicians is not viable in many areas.

      It's akin to the parent-child relationship... you have secrets from your kids about some things, but feel you are quite entitled to know their secrets even if it involves a bit of snooping. Before you rush to down-vote "snooping on your kids" imagine you are a parent who thinks their kid is on drugs or is self-harming and talking to them doesn't help... are you SO sure you wouldn't snopp in their room when they were out?

      1. Alex Osmond
        FAIL

        Re: What a fucking hypocrite!

        Apples and Oranges?

        Your kids don't vote for you, you don't 'represent' them.

        A very very different relationship. I want to know what 'my' elected leaders are up to - and I should have that right.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: What a fucking hypocrite!

          Makes the WikiLeaks rant all the more ironic. If ratfuck weasel bastards like Blair actually did their jobs instead of feathering their nests with and mismanaging our money; we wouldn't need WikiLeaks in the first place. Not totally surprising he's against it...I have no doubt that there's a few places Blair doesn't want spotlighting. What made it through via the papers was disgusting enough.

      2. Graham Dawson Silver badge

        Re: What a fucking hypocrite!

        JDX, you've got it backwards. They are our servants, not our masters. We aren't their "children". That sort of paternalistic nonsense is the reason this planet is such a political mess.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Strictly speaking...

          ...they are the country's servants and have reponsibilities that go way beyond keeping the people who happen to be alive at the moment happy.

        2. JDX Gold badge

          Re: What a fucking hypocrite!

          They may be our servants but we task them with the job of looking after us and that means we give them the decision making power. It's like if I hire a bodyguard or even a personal trainer - they get to TELL me what do do as part of their job. If I don't like how they do their job, I fire them, but telling them how to do their job will lead to reducing their effectiveness. Same with sending your kids to school... you pick the school and then let them get on with it.

          All discussion about Blair in particular, our current government/MPs, and so on aside... I think it is ridiculous to suggest the running of the country should be fully public. This is real life, not some weird utopia where everyone is lovely to each other.

      3. Richard 12 Silver badge
        WTF?

        @JDX

        Analogy fail - Politicians are not parents.

        MPs are supposed to be our representatives to the Crown - that was the point of the House of Commoners back when it was invented - a way for the 'common people' to exercise some control over the monarch.

        They are our delegates. Our underlings. Our servants.

        The ones to whom we, the public, have delegated the (boring) task of carrying out the functions of Government in line with our collective will.

        That is what a Parliamentary Democracy is, involves and requires.

        Thus is it self-evident that they must have all their actions exposed to the public eye - because otherwise how do you know that they are doing their jobs?

        (Although the definition of 'common people' wasn't quite what we'd recognise today.)

        The idea that MPs are some kind of 'parent' is dangerous and must be erased - that way lies dictatorship.

        1. JDX Gold badge

          Re: @JDX

          >>Thus is it self-evident that they must have all their actions exposed to the public eye

          So the police/special forces should tell us about all the undercover operations they're working on, potential threats, etc? I'd argue the answer to that is self-evident, and now suddenly we're on the slipperly slope where it's not black and white, and a line has to be drawn what should be divulged and what shouldn't.

          1. Richard 12 Silver badge

            Re: @JDX

            Yes, they must.

            In the case of 'sensitive' undercover operation then not during, but shortly after.

            Otherwise how can anybody possibly know whether they are appropriate?

            You're basically saying that the police/special forces should be permitted to wander around murdering anyone they like, because they think it was justified.

            So ALL must be divulged. The only grey area is when.

      4. Mezkal
        FAIL

        Re: What a fucking hypocrite!

        Politicians are meant to be our equals, not our betters. That's what representative democracy is all about. Obviously you're expressing some fetish and confusing that with opinion. Stay in nappies foras long as it pleases you, the rest of us will think and act as responsible adults.

      5. nexsphil

        Re: What a fucking hypocrite!

        What, so politicians are like parents? What?

        1. Graham Marsden
          Thumb Up

          Blimey! (Was: Re: What a fucking hypocrite!)

          When I first read that article and was pissed off enough to make that OP, I wasn't expecting over 100 upvotes! Thanks everyone.

          (And one downvote, it seems, from the Vicar of St Albions...!)

    8. N2

      Re: What a fucking hypocrite!

      Sir,

      As the 49th thumbs up to your post, I wish to congratulate you on such a concise response to the article.

      The very fact that blair can actually charge money for spouting such hypocritical bile, saddens me but re-assures me that my decision to leave the (dis) united kingdom was the right one.

    9. Hardcastle the ancient

      #52

      LIke the chap said, I wish I could upvote this 1000 times.

      Bugger it, Register, I'd pay a tenner to be able to upvote this 1000 times.

      He is a worthless shit, isn't he?

    10. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      #63

      In this particular case I'll be happy to be a number.

    11. h4rm0ny

      Re: What a fucking hypocrite!

      And if there were any single individual who best demonstrated why we *can't* sit back and trust our politicians, it's Blair. Someone who would lie in order to start a war, is pretty much as low as you can get.

      Making Blair the Middle East Peace Envoy remains the sickest joke most people in the Middle East have ever heard. He should be tried for war crimes and one day I hope to see that.

    12. Daegroth

      Re: What a fucking hypocrite!

      And also remember that this is the PM who's government rolled out Freedom of Information legislation which has been completely mis-appropriated by journalists (usually from the Daily Mail) to turn any non-story into a ripping.

  2. Arctic fox
    Trollface

    "Self-confessed tech know-nothing"

    It shows.

  3. ElReg!comments!Pierre

    Gain some credence with the know-nothings.

    ... lose all credibility with the target audience.

    Got to love the PR department.

  4. Graham Lockley

    >Blair asserted that you needed "the wisdom of the oldies" to put the technology itself in context

    I suppose that at 55 I'm still not old enough to realise that state censorship is a bad thing then. Can't wait to grow up.....

  5. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Democracy at work

    "there are people who threaten our way of life that have to be stopped"

    Yes, and you were stopped. Sadly a clone of you got your job.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    @ Mahatma Coat

    Brown, a clone of Blair? Really?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: @ Mahatma Coat

      Brown wasn't elected. I was referring to Cameron.

      1. Random Handle

        Re: @ Mahatma Coat

        Cameron is PM by virtue only of Lib Dem votes which were, in the main, votes against him....so you can't really claim him as an elected PM either.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: @ Mahatma Coat

          I'm not saying it's right or wrong, I'm saying it is what it is.

          I wouldn't want to get into a discussion about the pros and cons of various electoral systems but Cameron became PM because that's the way the system currently works. Don't like it? Contact your MP and lobby him to change it. That's how the democratic process in the UK is supposed to work.

          1. Richard 12 Silver badge

            Re: @ Mahatma Coat

            I did.

            Unfortunately the Sheeple voted against AV.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: @ Mahatma Coat

              "Unfortunately the Sheeple voted against AV."

              Yes, shame no one made a convincing case to convince the sheeple.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: AV

                Ironic that its only the Liberals who are still bleating, dispite 79% of the populous (or at least those who gave a damn) being agaist AV.

            2. L.B.
              Thumb Down

              Re: @ Mahatma Coat

              "Unfortunately the Sheeple voted against AV."

              Or perhaps those who voted against AV are the smart ones, that can see how corrupt all the governments are in the rest of Europe. YES, EVEN MORE THAN OURS!

              A perfect/worst case example: Silvio Berlusconi, kept in power by a corrupt "AV" voting system where you have absolutely no say in who actually gets elected at all, you just get to choose the proportion of MP's taken from each party.

              Only the brain dead hypocrites of the liberals could think a system where; those who vote for iffy/unpopular candidates should get second, third,... vote when their first choice get eliminated, yet those who vote for the most popular candidate only ever get one!

              1. Richard 12 Silver badge
                WTF?

                Re: @ Mahatma Coat

                "A perfect/worst case example: Silvio Berlusconi, kept in power by a corrupt "AV" voting system where you have absolutely no say in who actually gets elected at all, you just get to choose the proportion of MP's taken from each party."

                Italy uses a kind of PR, it's not even vaguely related to AV. (And Party-list representation is generally considered a rather poor form of PR.)

                AV is "I want candidate A. If I can't have A, then I want B.".

                This is trivial to understand by anyone who's ever asked someone to pop to the local shop to get some biscuits.

                "I'd like chocolate hobnobs, if they don't have any then ginger nuts are fine."

                AV allows you to vote for the one you want, and to say which alternative you can live with.

                FPTP forces you to vote 'tactically' - you cannot vote for the one you want, you have to vote against the one you hate.

                Unfortunately both Labour and the Conservatives knew damn well that AV would damage their future prospects so launched a massive FUD campaign against AV.

                Did you notice that the entire against argument was "AV costs too much", "You're too thick to understand AV", "It might cause hung Parliaments"?

                No reasoning. In fact nobody ever gave a single indication as to why AV would be a worse way to choose your MP than FPTP.

                - Incidentally, the reason FPTP reduces the chance of Hung Parliaments is because it results in a two-party system for each candidacy.

                Look at your local polls - there will only be two parties that stand a chance in your constituency. Mine happens to be Labour/Conservative, like most. Sheffield Hallam (Clegg's) is Liberal Democrat/Conservative.

                1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
                  FAIL

                  Re: Re: @ Mahatma Coat

                  And more of the usual nonsense from the pro-AV crowd.

                  "....No reasoning. In fact nobody ever gave a single indication as to why AV would be a worse way to choose your MP than FPTP....." You all keep on going on about how the anti-AV arguments were so weak or non-existant, yet you lost so badly. Gee, I wonder if it was because the pro-AV arguments just didn't resonate with all those voters that turned out to vote "no thanks".

          2. Random Handle

            Re: @ Mahatma Coat

            >Cameron became PM because that's the way the system currently works. Don't like it?

            In practice it makes little difference to me. I was simply pointing out that the current Government was formed, not elected. Describing Cameron as an elected PM implies he has a mandate.

      2. Ben Rose

        Re: @ Mahatma Coat

        Blair wasn't elected either, except in his own constituency. The Labour Party was elected and, as leader of the Labour Party, Brown became PM as did Blair.

        We vote for our local MP, nothing more. The party with the most seats can form a government. Of course Labour under Brown actually got more seats in the last General Election than the Tories did so if anybody wasn't elected, it's Cameron.

  7. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    Anthony Charles Lynton Blair

    Can anyone read that without hearing it in the voice form the begining of Porridge ?

    You are a habitual criminal .....

    1. LarsG

      Re: Anthony Charles Lynton Blair

      Class

    2. night troll
      Devil

      Re: Anthony Charles Lynton Blair

      If only we could hear those words, in court, in real life.

      I have a dream.........

      ( spawn of satan 'cuse that's what he is)

    3. N2

      Re: Anthony Charles Lynton Blair

      <quote>Can anyone read that without hearing it in the voice form the begining of Porridge ?

      You are a habitual criminal .....</quote>

      should read:

      You are a habitual war criminal

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How come he's still free? I thought that people who lied to start wars would be war criminals and that there would be some repercussions? Or do you get some sort of fucking absolution for a terrorist creation program? I'm not quite sayin' that him & Bush should have been next to Hussein on YouTube...but in terms of human misery they aren't far behind.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re-Wording plus a closer suggestion to the RSA CONF "2013"

    Politicians may say and believe they need to have private communications, but at the same time there are psychopathic oath breakers who threaten our way of life that have to be stopped.

    You can't have a situation where you're claiming issues of extraordinary sensitivity and say there has to be complete secrecy just so you can hide treason, murder, theft and domestic or international terrorism.

    It will never again be up to the mainstream media to provide clear facts, they have burned their bridges and continue to burn even more to this very moment. You don't stab people in the back 9 inches, then pull the knife out 3 inches, and expect things to be well. Even if the knife was completely removed, and I remind you it ain't, there must be healing of the wound before any further dialog. In the US this is a failure of POTUS appointing the FCC who the big 5 tow the establishment line with. Until the PEOPLE control the public spectrum and not corporations and the president, this won't change here, I don't know about the UK though I'd assume some psychopathic crap along the same lines is playing out.

    Dear RSA CONFERENCE,

    Give us 16/32 and 64 KB AES Keys!! AES 512 is not enough, do the math.

    Second, next time invite George Noory, or Art Bell, or Alex Jones, or Jesse Ventura, or Ron Paul, or Wayne Green.

    Any one of them would have been much better.

    Outside the US conference closers?

    how about that Saudi King guy (sorry I forget the name) who taught his country to do ham radio

    how about the cops who have been dismantling the stealth 2nd communications network in Mexico.

    how about the people who cut communications in those countries like Egypt, etc.

    anyone who repaired the broken undersea cables.

  10. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Mushroom

    An innovative leader!

    http://original.antiwar.com/pilger/2012/02/16/time-to-recognize-the-blair-governments-criminality/

    'In the kabuki theater of British parliamentary politics, great crimes do not happen and criminals go free. It is theater after all; the pirouettes matter, not actions taken at remove in distance and culture from their consequences. It is a secure arrangement guarded by cast and critics alike. The farewell speech of one of the most artful, Tony Blair, had "a sense of moral conviction running through it," effused the television presenter Jon Snow, as if Blair’s appeal to kabuki devotees was mystical. That he was a war criminal was irrelevant.

    ....Deploying sinecures of "peace-making" and "development" that allow him to replenish the fortune accumulated since leaving Downing Street, Blair’s jackdaw travels are concentrated on the Gulf sheikhdoms, the US, Israel and safe havens like the small African nation of Rwanda. Since 2007, Blair has made seven visits to Rwanda, where he has access to a private jet supplied by President Paul Kagame. Kagame’s regime, whose opponents have been silenced brutally on trumped-up charges, is "innovative" and a "leader" in Africa, says Blair.'

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The best Former Prime Minster...

    that money can buy.

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