Robin Cook, RIP

Less than two weeks ago I posted a blog titled "Where's Robin Cook? (Where's Noam Chomsky?)" (click on it here.) I complained that Cook, the former British foreign secretary and an erudute and level-headed anti-war spokesperson, was missing from any debate in America about the Iraq debacle, and that was a great loss. Well, now he'll be missing from all debate, tragically: Robin Cook collapsed and died earlier this afternoon, while on a hill-walking trip in the North-west of Scotland. As the BBC's obituary notes, "The Labour MP for Livingston was considered one of the Commons' most intelligent MPs and one of its most skilled debaters." Also, "His stance on the Iraq war - and his resignation speech - only enhanced his reputation as a man of principle and a great Parliamentarian."