YO! - 23 July There I was, sauntering in sweltering sun on a Vienna street having boycotted Portugal and Italy for my holiday…World Cup duplicity et al…when the headline of The Independent newspaper shouted out from a news stand: “YO, BLAIR!” For a moment I was thrown with the use of the 8cm exclamation mark…an expression of emotion in Vienna, or the whole of Austria for all I know…but then things began to get clearer.

Inside the paper were those sequential shots of the Littlebushboy with his mouth full, wide open (don’t you just hate that?). Could this method be employed by those mouth-stuffing-contestants in the cuisine-starved US? Could this method of consumption be the clue to the boy’s near-death-by-pretzel episode? Yet there he was, the illegal president of the United States, the first born son of that deceitfully devious political dynasty, able to stuff his mouth with food and at the same time to pose, to sneer, to emanate confidence, condescension, pomposity, superiority; quite the example of multi-tasking by the simple-minded. But perhaps a bit too scarily reminiscent of that famous/infamous chin-jutting shot of Mussolini on the balcony wouldn’t you say?

The boy beckoning his poodle. Not even a “Yo, bro!” or a “Yo, Tone…Yo, good bud…Yo, dude…pal…big guy…amigo…” (a decided queasiness is overtaking me at this moment). Am I mistaken here or doesn’t summoning Tony by his surname imply a certain lack of familiarity? Doesn’t all that direct communicating to their mutually shared god they do together when they are alone count for anything? The very same god who whispers in their little ears to bomb Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran? Maybe a “Yo, TP or LD!” now that TB has manoeuvred himself from poodle to toy poodle or even special lap dog. It really is sad, pathetically sad.

An acquiescing, grovelling Tony: “Great Chief! Old Georgie Boy! Good old boy! Alright, alright. Send Condi instead of me to negotiate. I don’t mind. I rather enjoy standing here like a complete muppet while you stuff your fat face with bread rolls and spit crumbs at me. Just being near you is all I require in life. Do you reckon Condi will take offence?”

From The London Evening Standard: “Yo ho ho. George Bush’s preferred greeting- “Yo, Blair! How you doin’?” – is the catchphrase du jour in Westminster, after TORY MPs greeted our PM’s arrival in the Commons with Ali G-style whoops. Behind the scenes, Labour ministers were at it too. “Over the black puddings, he shouted ‘Yo, Riddell!’, when the latecomer Peter Riddell appeared. History does not relate if these two political titans proceeded to perform a high five.” Only in the UK…only in the UK….

The line up from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, 189 countries, were all in support of Kofi Annan at the UN yesterday: “The collective punishment of the Lebanese people must stop…What is urgently needed is the immediate cessation of hostilities.” Israel, the US and the UK stand alone and allied in their desire for continuous bombing. The US is rushing a delivery of bombs to Israel; no public announcement has been made. Only in the US…only in the US.

TTFN

Maggie
 
 

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Past Letters

Smile, You're On Candid Camera - 7 November 2006

Too Good To Be True - 22 October 2006

Putting His Money Where His House Is - 4 October 2006

What? Me Worry? 19 September 2006

It's a Bird, It's a Plane...It's a Controled Demolition - 11 September 2006

I Smell, Therefore I Am - 25 August 2006

I Can't Breathe in This - 16 August 2006

Is it Hot or is it Hell? - 29 July 2006

YO! - 23 July 2006

Be Ashamed...Be Very Ashamed - 2 July 2006

Dave's Big Clear Out - 26 June

No Jewellery on the Pitch - 7 June

'Baby You're a Rich Man, Too' - 26 May

My Hair Made Me Do It - 10 May

Go 'Ho Yourself' - 15 March

Foot in Mouth Disease - 22 February

And the Award Goes To... - 16 February

Diana: DOA? - 12 February
 

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