Clinton & Blair: A Fine Bromance

...a BBC freedom of information request sees the declassification of transcripts of meetings and calls between Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, or “bud” and “mate” as they refer to each other.

Despite being heavily redacted, particularly on the Blair side, they illustrate the closeness of the relationship between the two premiers, and it may not shock you to learn that neither is held back by an excess of self-doubt. “The longer you hang around this business,” Clinton rues, “it becomes apparent that very few people make it this far by accident. They don’t just give these jobs away.” ...

Perhaps it’s glib to say in the age of Twitter, where any remotely friendly conversation between people prompts 357 comedians to honk “GET A ROOM”, but for all the speed with which they get down to business, there is often a slightly flirtatious quality to the small talk in the calls between Clinton and Blair. Partly it’s just camaraderie, but maybe in part, too, the famously aphrodisiacal properties of power are so immense that they spill over into even obviously platonic interactions. “You were brilliant,” Blair tells Clinton repeatedly, down the years. “You still have that choirboy look,” Clinton teases. As for how he lost it, that is very much To Be Continued.

Marina Hyde, The Guardian.

Marina rather states the obvious by saying George W Bush was clearly the great love of Blair's (political) life.

PS Nick Duffy at Pink News zooms in on a rather strange 'gay' exchange amongst the redactions.