Is Hillary Really A War Hawk? Is Rand Paul An Isolationist? And What's Tony Blair?

Tony Blair, Hilary Clinton, Steny Hoyer, Steve Israel-- most elderly "left" of center politicians come from a period when it was requisite to prove your manhood-- and whatever Hillary is trying to prove-- by being "tough" on… Communists, anti-colonialists, Muslims or whomever was playing the role of Eurasia or Eastasia that year. It's fascinating to read Rick Perlstein's account of the Ronald Reagan transition from superficially liberal Democrat to right-wing corporate shill in his new book, The Invisible Bridge. Tony Blair's transition is just plain ugly.

Tony Blair gave Kazakhstan’s autocratic president advice on how to manage his image after the slaughter of unarmed civilians protesting against his regime.

In a letter to Nursultan Nazarbayev, obtained by The Telegraph, Mr Blair told the Kazakh president that the deaths of 14 protesters “tragic though they were, should not obscure the enormous progress” his country had made.

Mr Blair, who is paid millions of pounds a year to give advice to Mr Nazarbayev, goes on to suggest key passages to insert into a speech the president was giving at the University of Cambridge, to defend the action.

Mr Blair is paid through his private consultancy, Tony Blair Associates (TBA), which he set up after leaving Downing Street in 2007. TBA is understood to deploy a number of consultants in key ministries in Kazakhstan.

Human rights activists accuse Mr Blair of acting “disgracefully” in bolstering Mr Nazarbayev’s credibility on the world stage in return for millions of pounds.

…The words written by Mr Blair but spoken by Mr Nazarbayev with some changes, were widely picked up at the time. They were used to portray Mr Nazarbayev as a visionary leader who had improved living standards in his homeland.

Mr Nazarbayev has been president of Kazakhstan, which is oil and gas rich and occupies an area larger than western Europe, since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. He won the last presidential election in 2011 with almost 96 per cent of the vote.

Mr Blair advised his client to insert into his speech one paragraph beginning: “I love my country. I have worked hard to help it overcome the bitter legacy of its recent history. I have been at the helm as it has dramatically made these strides in living standards, wealth and prosperity for the people... I rejoice in the essential religious tolerance of the nation that allows people of different faiths to practise those faiths freely.”

Mr Blair also wrote into the speech the role Kazakhstan played in helping Nato forces withdraw from Afghanistan and Mr Nazarbayev’s decision to give up nuclear weapons-- a relic of the Soviet era.

On the issue of Zhanaozen, Mr Blair suggested Mr Nazarbayev say in his speech: “There are issues of democracy and human rights which it is essential to address. I understand and hear what our critics say. However, I would simply say this to them: by all means make your points and I assure you we’re listening. But give us credit for the huge change of a positive nature we have brought about in our country over these past 20 years... We are going to have to go step by step.”

In the speech finally delivered by Mr Nazarbayev, he largely followed Mr Blair’s advice although he ignored one key aspect-- by failing to mention Zhanaozen by name.

In its latest analysis of the country’s record, Human Rights Watch (HRW) concluded that: “Kazakhstan’s poor human rights record continued to deteriorate in 2013, with authorities cracking down on free speech and dissent through misuse of overly broad laws.”

Hugh Williamson, the director of HRW’s Europe and Central Asia Division, said: “It is disgraceful that Tony Blair has taken millions of pounds from this autocrat to write speeches for him without really tackling head on the huge human rights problems in Kazakhstan,” he said.

Usually the rap against Hillary is that she's in the tank for Wall Street-- which is certainly true-- but Rand Paul's critique of her yesterday on Meet the Press, that she's a "war hawk" is equally salient. Even if "war hawk" wasn't the best word for Paul, or any other Republican, to use, she is certainly a willing cog in the MIlitary Industrial Complex machine. Team Hillary struck back at Paul in a very telling way:

Michael Czin, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, said on Sunday in a statement that Democrats are eager to debate Paul about “his fringe, isolationist vision” that Czin says would end all aid to foreign allies, including Israel.

Remember, Hillary can never take back her vote to give Bush the power to declare war on Iraq for no reason at all. It's why show lost the 2008 primary to Obama. And no matter how disappointed Cornel West is that Obama is not a progressive, his instincts are not from this old school, chest-thumping, war-making, machismo defensiveness. I wonder how long it will take for that kind of baiting it will take before Rand Paul turns into a John McCain, Joe Lieberman or Lindsay Graham.