Letter: Maybe a dour Brown is what the Brits need

Thursday, May 17, 2007 | 7:08 a.m.

By highlighting the uncoolness of "Grumpy Gordon" waiting in the wings, Maureen Dowd's May 15 column has underlined the very substance with which Gordon Brown may very well conquer his naysayers, and on the outset, how refreshing it is to encounter a dour and doughty bloke who is more concerned with fiber than facade, about pith rather than panache.

It is highly unfortunate, for Tony Blair especially, that his legacy will be overshadowed by the well-intentioned episode of Iraq and the gang of W. However, as Kierkegaard ridiculed Hegel for "reconstructing" history in retrospect, "but history has to be lived forwards, not backwards." And Mr. Gordon's tabula rasa is yet quite rosy.

Nevertheless, it seems to this reader that Dowd's exposure of uncoolness was not to ridicule, but to subtly reveal, the inner workings of a man who would be king - nay, prime minister - in the manner of another of his predecessors not known for style as much as for stamina.

"Stout fellow" describes Winston Churchill to a T, but we would hardly have insisted that he lose a hundred pounds - or sport a toupee, or pastel ties, to appear cool. The man who came back from bitter obscurity to lead a nation through the blitz, and through the conferences at Yalta and Potsdam, had the kind of policy that Brown appears to believe in. For the sake of Cool Britannia and the world, we hope so.

Christella Urago, Las Vegas