Earl Drops

Tony Blair is not only emulating George Bush's poll numbers these days, recording a 36% approval rating from his fellow Brits, but he also appears to be mirroring Bush's practiced abuse of governmental office to reward his rich political patrons.

Blair is currently embroiled in his own self-made Abramoff-like scandal right now, though he has failed to recognise the importance of separation that Karl Rove knows is key to staying above, or below, the frey.

Blair's remarkably similar poll numbers to those of his American counterpart are following directly on the heels of the current peerage scandal that appears to be implicating Blair's Labour Party, and Blair himself, in a scam whereby Blair's cabinet has been awarding peerage to those who had "loaned" large sums of cash to the Labour Party. Oddly, Deputy PM, John Prescott claims he knew nothing of the scheme until he read about it in the papers, an embarrassing position in which I suspect Dick Cheney would never find himself. And another note Cheney would likely never sound, Prescott called for public financing of political parties.

I wonder if this scheme came with its own peerage title pricing list, ala Duke Cunningham. Which reminds me; just how did Cunnigham get to be called "Duke," anyhow?