15 May 2007
I’m worried he may not be. There is evidence he’s a control freak, paranoid and greedy for power. He can be a frightening man, at least he appears that way from what I’ve seen of him. Oh, I grant you that he’s smart, but so is Dick Cheney. When I watch Gordon, I think I see someone who isn’t really concerned about the ‘people’; instead, I see someone who is focused on an objective that I don’t see at all. Gordon is heading for a goal that is his alone. If it benefits people, that will be a bonus.
Are Dick Cheney and Gordon Brown going to form a new duopoly, a new Atlantic partnership? I’m being a bit facetious but the two do appear to share a number of similar characteristics. They are incredibly smart, probably not as smart as they think they are but certainly very, very smart. They appear to share a sense of entitlement, particularly with respect to power – they are entitled to rule, to power, because of some set of characteristics that they regard as unique. I’m afraid I don’t see what that set of characteristics is; in fact, I can’t actually define what they are. I’d have to ask Dick or Gordon to tell me but both are so apparently paranoiac that I’m positive neither would give us a straight answer.
Gordon’s saving grace in my eyes is that he obviously and sincerely loves his child and his wife. Dick Cheney’s is that he clearly loves his gay daughter; paternal love has overcome any acquired prejudice against homosexuality.
In Gordon’s case I’m open enough to change my mind. He can prove to me that he’s a decent man who cares for the under-served and the under-privileged. He can prove that climate change really is a concern that over-rides his over-weaning ambition. He can prove that starvation and disease are more important than his control of the Labour Party. If he does these things, I suspect – no, I predict! – that he will not only stay Prime Minister longer than if he acts otherwise, he will be elected as Prime Minister in his own right. Go Go Gordon!
