"The four thousand holes of Blackburn, Lancashire"
curse by power
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 1, 2006; 1:00 PM
BLACKBURN, England, April 1 -- If nothing else, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice learned why the Beatles once sang about the 4,000
potholes here.
Rice on Saturday spent a second day touring the town made famous in a
Beatles song for its "4,000 holes," still dogged by protesters opposed
to the war in Iraq. As she met with a small group of Muslim leaders in
Blackburn's town hall, the raucous shouts of the 300 demonstrators
outside could be heard through the windows. The leaders said they gave
her an earful on U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Rice's tour guide was British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who
represents Blackburn in Parliament and who had visited Rice's home town
of Birmingham, Ala., last fall. The idea behind the gesture was simple
-- to get beyond the stale meetings of diplomats in foreign capitals
and learn more about each other's countries and common histories.
Birmingham had once been the heart of the Confederate south; Blackburn
was a one-time boom town in the 19th century as its textile mills
churned out garments made of imported cotton picked by Southern slaves.
But the visit appeared to have reopened old wounds about the Iraq war.
About a quarter of the population is Muslim, and many of the protesters
appeared to be of Muslim descent. They carried signs calling Rice a war
criminal and denouncing the "war on Muslims." A planned visit to the
town's Masjid-al-Hidayah mosque was canceled because of the protests.
Locals say there is little mingling between the Christian and Muslim
populations. Some have even given Straw the pejorative label of "Black
Jack" because they believe he tilts too much toward the Muslims.
Some of the protesters in the street denounced the Muslims who met with
Rice as sell-outs. And an impromptu rally -- smaller and mostly white
-- soon sprang up outside the town hall to express support for Rice.
Yusuf Jan-Virmani, the Muslim mayor of Blackburn who fled Uganda in
1972 when Asians were evicted, said he was against the war but was
honored that Rice had come to visit. He took the attitude that any
publicity is good publicity. Rice's trip "is very good for the
economy," he said.
During a tour of the town's gothic cathedral Saturday, Rice lit a
candle after the dean, the very Rev. Christopher Armstrong, offered a
short prayer. "We hold before God all those who have a responsibility
to make good and far-reaching decisions whilst listening to different
views of how peace and justice may best be promoted," he said.
The British press has had a field day with the controversy, dredging up
every possible Beatles cliche about Rice's "Magical Mystery Tour." The
Times of London ran an editorial cartoon of Rice and Straw holding up a
hole-ridden sign labeled "The Case for War." The caption said: "The
four thousand holes of Blackburn, Lancashire."
The expression comes from a lyric penned by John Lennon titled "A Day
in the Life," in which he sings "I heard the news today, oh boy, 4,000
holes in Blackburn, Lancashire."
After Rice appeared stumped when a reporter Friday asked her about the
lyrics, Straw explained that the roads were once rather poor in
Blackburn, and Lennon had seen a newspaper article about a man "with a
clipboard" who had counted every pothole in the town.
Rice smiled at every turn and seemed unperturbed by the fuss, prompting
one British journalist to dub her ability to quickly turn on the charm
"Insta-Rice." She argued that "the protesters make my point -- that
democracy is the only system that allows people to be heard and be
heard peacefully."
Straw, a supporter of the Iraq war who had been a liberal activist in
his youth, said he "was not embarrassed in the least" by the reception
Rice has received in his district. He noted the anti-Rice organizers
had promised to bring in "busloads and busloads" of protesters but
failed to do so.
"I didn't think they did very well," Straw said, adding "If they'd
asked me, I could have done better for them."
Letting her guard slip a little, Rice injected, "I'm glad they didn't
ask you."
© 2006 The Washington Post Company