Where, oh where could she be?
A thought just occurred to me as I read a NY Post editorial thanking Tony Blair for his support of the War on Terrorism.
Since 9/11, he and George W. Bush have put aside their political differences and stood as twin towers of strength. Blair has backed up his words. Some 45,000 British military personnel have been deployed to the Gulf - about the same number as went in 1991. But Blair is risking significant political capital at home; the British public is skeptical about going to war. Blair has stood firm, courageously warning his countrymen that they must "hold firm to the course we have set out" because "what is at stake here . . . is whether the international community is prepared to back up the clear instruction it gave to Saddam Hussein with the necessary action." In the spirit of Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill, Blair is a leader willing to speak truth in the face of international evil, regardless of the cost.Is it wishing for too much to wonder where Her Majesty is amid all this? Churchill was a foundation on which the English people relied during World War II, but the rock that that foundation was built upon was George VI.
Many people - including the English - forget that Great Britain isn't a Republic, it's a constiutional monarchy. Many times, this is mere symbolism, and the monarch has no real power. But in times of crisis, like Elizabeth's father did during World War II, the King can show support or disfavor for a particular idea, proposal... and even occasionally, a Prime Minister.
Wherefore art thou, Elizabeth?
