Worth the Cost? Forking over OSU Cash for Bush's Poodle

Tony Blair, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, is speaking tomorrow in Tulsa, an event sponsored by the OSU Spears School of Business.

We like the idea of bringing in Big Name Speakers to enlighten us nobodies out here in Flyover Country.

But for those of us with long memories, Mr. Blair is an odd choice. After all, he's the principal U.S. ally who fell for the Bush administration's bogus weapons of mass destruction nonsense.

Blair, who is well-educated and apparently thoughtful in many ways, should have known better. Indeed, his own citizens did know better. Most of them opposed the war and took to the streets in a number of massive anti-war demonstrations.

Which brings to mind the charge that Mr. Blair was, for the purposes of the Iraq war, Bush's poodle. This is not a compliment, but it is a stain on Mr. Blair's judgment and leadership.

Saddam Hussein and Iraq had nothing to do with the September 11 attacks, a fact that Mr. Blair should have given the UK leader pause when he signed on to Bush's dangerous foreign policy misadventure.

So now OSU has seen fit to pay good money to bring Mr. Blair to town. We have no idea what Mr. Blair will say, but we expect that it will be less than earth-shattering.

But hey, maybe some of us Okies can visit the UK next summer, where we can visit some of our precious Yankee Greenbacks.