Freedom Line Blog

This is no joke. It looks like Newsweek has allowed its collective editorial id to design the cover of the magazine’s newest issue.

Remember, there was a time when this was one of America’s newsmagazines of record. Not coincidentally, that was a time before Andrew Sullivan’s feature-length slanders were considered cover material. It’s becoming clearer every day why Newsweek only managed to fetch $1 when it went up for sale in 2010. Also becoming clearer? It was overpriced.

Although the official title would be “President of the European Union”, Tony Blair’s private campaign to become the face of the European bureaucracy recalls the mid-level horsetrading and indeterminate power structure of the Holy Roman Empire. According to Newsweek, no less than 27 heads of state will meet to confer the prestige of speaking on behalf of Europe to the world. As with the Habsburgs, Blair’s Catholicism, fluency in French, and ability to please several ethnic and geographical interests at once are smoothing the path towards becoming the next in a long line of Continental potentates.

As for the actual job description, it’s still unclear what Blair would be expected to do with the post. Who knows; perhaps he could find work for that other politician of the Baby Boom Generation that refuses to go away…