Hayman was backed for his current job as head of counter-terrorism by Blair, taking over from Sir David Veness, a highly regarded figure who left the Met to become the UN's under-secretary general for safety and security.
At Chicago's Vic Theatre, where I saw Johnston sing last week, he was backed for two nights by a local five-piece that included Jeff Tweedy, of Wilco, on guitar, and Tweedy's son Spencer, on drums.
American officials say they have nothing but the highest regard for Mr. Fischer, who was backed for the No. 2 post at the I.M.F. by Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence H. Summers, a former student of Mr. Fischer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
On Friday night Beirut was backed for part of its set by the three dozen musicians of the Vassar Orkestar — on strings, reeds and horns, with arrangements by Beirut's trumpeter Kelly Pratt — who added elegant pizzicato parts and put more oomph in the oompah.
Paul Murray was backed for election to the board by 31.7%, with his fellow nominees receiving slightly less support.
The relationship has indeed been healthy, with its resource complementarities and surging two-way trade, and it was backed for a while by solid bipartisan political support in Canberra.
