Today, Prime Minister Tony Blair announced his intention to step down - full text of speech.  Much will be said by many about a great man, but for now this Blair fan believes obliged to link to a Guardian editorial that explained Blair-Ism:

The two political constituencies that have been most hostile to everything Mr Blair does are the unreconstructed left and the misanthropic right, one nostalgic for class war, the other pining for a fictitious idyll of little England.

The overwhelming majority, meanwhile, want neither revolution nor reaction. They like gradual change. And Britain has been discreetly transformed: the minimum wage; free nursery care; tens of thousands more teachers, doctors and nurses - with higher wages; the working families' tax credit; the right to six months' maternity leave and two weeks' paternity leave; a statutory right to flexible working hours; the disability rights commission; the Freedom of Information Act; civil partnerships and the repeal of Section 28; restoring self-government for London; devolution for Scotland and Wales; the Human Rights Act; peace in Northern Ireland. Mr Blair's government has given millions of people unprecedented freedom to live as they choose and given them the wealth and security to do it.

Britain is better off after a decade with Tony Blair in charge. Wealth has been created, and wealth has been redistributed. That is what Labour governments have always hoped to do. It has happened without a brake on global competitiveness. That is what New Labour hoped to do: build a vibrant market economy with a generous welfare state; economic freedom and social protection. That is Blairism.

I have to be blunt: A lot of those things we Americans and Washingtonians take for granted.  Imagine if we didn't have states nor powerful muincipal governments, nor a minimum wage nor transparent government regs at federal and state government levels.  Imagine if we had a low grade civil war needing a resolution (i.e. Northern Ireland) as well.  British Prime Minister Tony Blair brought all of those - dare I say American - things to Britain.  Good for us and great for him & Britain.  The British people still respect and to some extent admire this guy.

And get this… unlike in America with the Clinton child or the George W, Bush children, one of the Prime Minister's children (Nicky Blair) is going to become a teacher.  No running off, it's get down and dirty into the inner-city classroom for at least two years.  Looks like, from a faraway distance, the Prime Minister's a good dad too.

A lot of heady stuff to think about today.