The Special Relationship, on Dispatch from the Razor's Edge

"The British people are the sort of partners you want when serious work needs doing. The men and women of this kingdom are kind and steadfast and generous and brave, and America is fortunate to call this country our closest friend in the world."
- George W. Bush, yesterday's Whitehall address

How much more can I add to that? Aside from a tear or two, just an earnest recommendation that you read all of the speech from which it came. It's available from the New York Times, or from the White House site (for the registration reluctant). I found it really incredibly moving and stirring (oh, and darned funny in parts). Not just for the words of this President – and I for one am a big admirer and supporter, though I know many of you are not. And not just for the compelling articulation of the rationale for our struggle against terror – though I for one agree with Blair when he said today that people who are opposed should at least consider their central argument: that only the spread of the liberal values of freedom, equal justice, economic opportunity, secularism, the rights of women, and tolerance to all the peoples of the world can ever make us safe. But mainly for what it says about Britain, and about what Britain means to the U.S.

My deep affection for this place, and its people, started some time ago, grew slowly – and saw its apotheosis in the wake of 9/11. (I expressed my feeling then here.) But Bush nailed it, I think, and those sentiments are not incidental to why I'm here now. Nor to why I was spurred by the state visit – and, on a much more horrific note, by the mass murder at the British Consulate in Istanbul today – to start proudly wearing this.

Oh, yeah: Go, Pommies! (In the Rugby World Cup finals, v. Australia, today.)

the uk george w. bush 9/11 america freedom

Dispatch from the Razor's Edge is owned and operated by novelist, technologist, vegan, exercise junkie, classical liberal, rambler, and Londoner Michael Stephen Fuchs.

Fuchs is the author of the novels The Manuscript and Pandora's Sisters, both published worldwide by Macmillan in hardback, paperback and all e-book formats (and in translation); the D-Boys series of high-tech, high-concept, spec-ops military adventure novels – D-Boys, Counter-Assault, and Close Quarters Battle (coming in 2016); and is co-author, with Glynn James, of the bestselling Arisen series of special-operations military ZA novels. The second nicest thing anyone has ever said about his work was: "Fuchs seems to operate on the narrative principle of 'when in doubt put in a firefight'." (Kirkus Reviews, more here.)

Fuchs was born in New York; schooled in Virginia (UVa); and later emigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he lived through the dot-com boom. Subsequently he decamped for an extended period of tramping before finally rocking up in London, where he now makes his home. He does a lot of travel blogging, most recently of some very long walks around the British Isles. He's been writing and developing for the web since 1994 and shows no particularly hopeful signs of stopping.

You can reach him on .

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Dispatch from the Razor's Edge is owned and operated by novelist, technologist, vegan, exercise junkie, classical liberal, rambler, and Londoner Michael Stephen Fuchs.


2023 >> 2022 >> 2021 >> 2020 >> 2019 >> 2018 >> 2017 >> 2016 >> 2015 >> 2014 >> 2013 >> 2012 >> 2011 >> 2010 >> 2009 >> 2008 >> 2007 >> 2006 >> 2005 >> 2004 >> 2003-12-24 2003-12-23 2003-12-14 2003-12-09 2003-11-30 2003-11-22 2003-11-20 2003-11-18 2003-11-04 2003-11-02 2003-10-25 2003-09-14 2003-09-11 2003-09-03 2003-07-13 2003-07-10 2003-06-13 2003-05-25 2003-05-19 2003-05-05 2003-04-07 2002 >>	2003.11.20 : The Special Relationship "The British people are the sort of partners you want when serious work needs doing. The men and women of this kingdom are kind and steadfast and generous and brave, and America is fortunate to call this country our closest friend in the world." - George W. Bush, yesterday's Whitehall address How much more can I add to that? Aside from a tear or two, just an earnest recommendation that you read all of the speech from which it came. It's available from the New York Times, or from the White House site (for the registration reluctant). I found it really incredibly moving and stirring (oh, and darned funny in parts). Not just for the words of this President – and I for one am a big admirer and supporter, though I know many of you are not. And not just for the compelling articulation of the rationale for our struggle against terror – though I for one agree with Blair when he said today that people who are opposed should at least consider their central argument: that only the spread of the liberal values of freedom, equal justice, economic opportunity, secularism, the rights of women, and tolerance to all the peoples of the world can ever make us safe. But mainly for what it says about Britain, and about what Britain means to the U.S. My deep affection for this place, and its people, started some time ago, grew slowly – and saw its apotheosis in the wake of 9/11. (I expressed my feeling then here.) But Bush nailed it, I think, and those sentiments are not incidental to why I'm here now. Nor to why I was spurred by the state visit – and, on a much more horrific note, by the mass murder at the British Consulate in Istanbul today – to start proudly wearing this. Oh, yeah: Go, Pommies! (In the Rugby World Cup finals, v. Australia, today.) Tweet the uk george w. bush 9/11 america freedom ← before \| contribute comment ↓ \| after →