Quote of the Day...

‘Being at Bush’s press conference today would be a bit like having tickets for Tim Henman, knowing that Andy Murray is coming on next…’

Rory Bremner, interviewed on Channel Four News, commenting on President George W. Bush’s final White House press conference.

The impressionist went on to say that if you lived in Gaza, or were clinging to a log in New Orleans (after Hurricane Katrina), you probably wouldn't appreciate the funny side of President Bush.

George Dubya makes his dad look less bad...

Quote of the Day:

...George W. Bush has done his father a great service by making him look like a greater President than he probably was.

Jon Snow, Channel 4 News, commenting on today's historic power lunch at the White House, the first such gathering of all living Presidents of the United States for a generation. It was the idea of President-Elect Barack Obama, hosted by Dubya and also attended by President George Bush senior, President Bill Clinton and President Jimmy Carter.

Four white men. One black man. No women.

If Hillary is third in Iowa, can her campaign survive...?

In the early hours of Friday morning, we may have a better idea of who will be the next President of the most powerful nation in the world...

For months, the 'smart' money has been on Senator Hillary Clinton of New York returning to the White House in a Democratic landslide to become the real First Lady.

Just a few weeks ago, Hillary seemed unstoppable in her quest to become first female President of the United States.

My heart was with the younger Barack Obama to become the first Black President, though my head said it had to be Hillary.

But now the final poll before voters in the small state of Iowa make their choice of candidates, Hillary's campaign seems to have nose-dived, with Barack Obama now tipped as firm favourite.

Former Presidential running-mate John Edwards has also made a late surge in Iowa and the poll puts Hillary in third place in the Iowa caucus.

Hillary is way ahead in the polls for the next caucus-stop in New Hampshire in a few days, but if she's pushed into third place tonight, as this poll predicts, her campaign may not recover.

Republican supporters in Iowa also choose their favoured candidate tonight, but the Grand Old Party of George Dubya Bush appears to be in free-fall.

Little-known Mike Huckabee - former Arkansas governor - is the surprise Republican front-runner among a bunch of no-hopers. If he wins in Iowa, he'll come under intense pressure and may face his own nose-dive back into insignificance.

The most telling figures in the Republican caucus may well be the turn-out. Large numbers of die-hards refusing to engage with the arcane process will indicate how hacked off right-wingers are with the current state of the GOP and George Dubya's leadership.

I don't pretend to understand why a few thousand voters in Iowa seem to have the ability to make history...personally I think we Brits should have as much say as the good people of Iowa in who occupies the most powerful office in the world!

UPDATE: BBC calls the Republican race for Huckabee, with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in second place.

UPDATE 2: Democrat race called for Obama but no news yet on whether Hillary managed to hold second place.

More hot air from the US on climate change...

Sadly, but oh so predictably, as the world grapples to tackle climate change, George 'Dubya' Bush seems intent on derailing any positive plan for global action.

BBC Newsnight reported from the crucial climate change talks in Bali tonight (Friday) with news that the Americans have forced the European Union nations to give up on hard targets for nations to reduce CO2 emissions in coming decades.

As Environment Ministers - including our own very capable Hillary Benn - work through the night to try to prevent total collapse of the talks, the most optimistic outcome likely to emerge from the summit is a watered-down communique with nations agreeing to do 'not a lot' and certainly not enough.

Here's one view of what's going on (or not...)

It seems the Americans, who refused to sign Kyoto, are insistent that the porrer developing nations must cut emissions before the richest nation in the world takes action themselves.

As someone said on Newsnight, it's like Bush happily enjoying the comforts of the first class cabin on an airliner convinced that a catasrophe in tourist class won't affect him...

With the clock ticking, failure at Bali means another two years before there's another chance to replace the Kyoto Agreement.

And the longer the Americans refuse to show real leadership, the more urgent and more drastic the eventual action will have to be.

Let's hope that Al Gore is right and the next US President is more positive than the current one who's now entering his final year in office.

Al's truth will be more convenient under next US President...

The man who used to be the next President of the United States collected his Nobel Peace Prize today - and said humanity was now waging war on the earth itself...

And what a different place the world would be today if only the occupant of the White House had been decided at the ballot box rather than in the Florida courts.

Of course, the US would have signed up to Kyoto if the real winner became President rather than Dubya - and I've no doubt that Al Gore would have handled the war on terror rather differently.

Accepting his well deserved Nobel Peace Prize for work on climate change today, Al Gore predicted that whoever becomes next President, the US is likely to adopt a 'more constructive' approach to climate change...

Let's hope so.