What garbage. What obfuscation. What an abuse of Marxist jargon.
What in Sam Hill does it mean to "help the agenda for global bourgeoisie democratic rights"? This mouthful is not only an assault on the English language, it is worse an attack on logic and history. The Blair government, like the Clinton presidency, is an extension of the right-wing governments that preceded it. The attack on the working class comes from liberal and conservative alike. The reason for this is grounded in Marxist economics, that Burford is always paying lip-service to. There has been deepening global competition since the 1970s. This gives ruling class governments less room for maneuver. All they can do is make promises that things will get better, but tighten the screws once they get into office. Buford's mistake is that he takes their speeches seriously. This means that it is difficult to take him seriously.
There is no difference between US and English imperialism on all major economic questions. Bill Clinton does not run the government of the US, Goldman-Sachs does. Clinton takes his marching orders from Robert Rubin, according to Robert Reich who was an eyewitness to Clinton's kowtowing. Blair has a symbiotic relationship to Clinton, just as Thatcher had to Reagan and Major had to Bush.
The historic affinity between these two ruling classes goes back to the mid-19th century. As the global economic crisis deepens, they will constitute the biggest threat to the social and economic transformation that is necessary. They are enemies of progress and could mutate into open supporters of fascism, when push comes to shove.
Burford's special pleading for Clinton and Bush is really quite remarkable in its irrationality and intensity. The last time I saw him so stubbornly devoted to ruling class politics was during the civil war in former Yugoslavia when he supported Nato bombing. I guess it is a sign of deepening class polarization that the liberal Buford is out campaigning for his ruling class once again.
Louis Proyect (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)