Reply #25: I almost choked ...

[Apollo11]

... on my breakfast this morning when this was announced on BBC News 24.

But then I remembered that Tony Blair's own father was a lifelong Conservative voter - so right-wing leanings would seem to run in the family.

Cherie started out with leftish credentials, coming from a Labour family, but 25 years of being married to Tony (sleeping with the enemy) have obviously taken a toll.

I'm sure Tony doesn't see any problem with this, because he lives in a parallel universe where:
(a) Tony Blair remains extremely popular and well-loved by the British people, and has won massive victories in 3 successive elections (ignoring the fact that only 22% of the electorate voted Labour in the 2005 election - and a lot of them voted for candidates who don't support Blair's policy on Iraq).
(b) W won the Presidency fair and square, was re-elected with a strong mandate in 2004, and enjoys the support of most Americans (ignoring all the evidence that the results of the 2000 and 2004 elections were distorted by widespread abuse and possible fraud, as well as W's latest approval ratings).
(c) partisanship is "so yesterday" and there aren't any major differences between Republicans and Democrats anyway. So if you sacrifice your first born son to work for one side, then the other side won't hold that against you (ignoring the acrimony around issues like the Bolton nomination and judicial appointments).
(d) most people believe that it was necessary to invade Iraq and remove Saddam from power, because he posed a significant threat, and Blair and Bush would not have taken military action unless it was absolutely necessary, and certainly never lied or tried to mislead anyone about their true motives and intentions.

To be fair - Tony already warned us that he sees no differences between his political values and those of the Republican Party.

On July 17, 2003, Tony Blair told the US Congress (with a Republican majority in both houses): "Don't ever apologize for your values."

PS - Given that this is an unpaid internship, I don't think it's necessarily a problem that Blair Jr. is not a US citizen. I am aware of American college students doing unpaid internships in the British Parliament and in the European Parliament. If it's done right - it can contribute to international understanding ...

I think it's worse when the Blairs make money out of Tony's political position. Like Cherie getting paid thousands to talk about life inside 10 Downing Street. But an unpaid internship is just killing time until he figures out what to do with his life. It can't be easy being the son or daughter of a world-famous politician. But I would see it as less problematic if Euan was working for the Democrats.

It cannot be good for Tony's relationship with the membership of the Party of which he is still the leader, that his son is helping what most Labour Party members would regard as "the enemy". It's kind of like a young Jedi going to do an intership with a Sith Lord. It raises eyebrows - and questions!