If you are reading this, thank a Teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a Soldier
The treatment received by Australia is very different to that received by former PM John Howard, whom Mr Bush dubbed his “man of steel”. But Mr Rudd denied any diplomatic hitches. “Those other matters were not canvassed by anybody,” he said while in the US.Of course the matters were not canvassed by anybody – the G20 leaders, Bush included, have better manners. Rudd can not possibly believe that his comments went unnoticed and he now has to deal with the fact that world leaders will now be viewing him with a jaundiced eye. The ALP are trying to spin the “What’s G20” item as something-nothing and have actually had some success in turning the debate back to the Libs. Both Malcom Turnbull and Julie Bishop are being pressured by the Australian and Laurie Oaks over Howard saying al-Qa’ida would prefer Obama to win. Two points here. The first is al-Qa’da is on record as saying they would prefer Obama to win, and secondly, the fact that Howard said this has absolutely no bearing on what Rudd said. Howard’s comments were about a hitherto nondescript US Senator whose status at the time was Presidential Nominee. Rudd’s statement was about the current US President, our major ally and was clearly defamatory. Rudd further exacerbated the diplomatic gaffe by ignoring it long enough for the impression to be created that Rudd was erudite and clearly more intelligent and worldly than the US President who didn’t even know who G20 were. As Rudd simply ignores questions in the house on the matter his ignorance will fade as the media follow the next big story; President Bush will retire and go back to Texas and Rudd will dine out for years on how he got away with calling the President of the US an idiot. Not here though; the incident will go into the overflowing basket of Rudd stuff-ups and enough will remember for it to matter later.
Is anyone suprised to read the calls for unity, how we all need to get behind Obama, how we shouldn’t get ODS, how we should stop labeling Obama, don’t call him unpatriotic? Unless I’ve lost my memory aren’t these the some of the same people who have been calling conservatives stupid, evil, blah, blah, blah? Now all of a sudden we’re supposed to join hands around the campfire and sing songs? There is no reason to support Obama’s judgment any more today than there was yesterday. If he governs as the flaming liberal his past indicates he is – it will be a disaster for the country. If he governs from the center as the conservative talking heads who jumped ship hope he will – the angst & unhappiness of the uber-left will bring me great amusement. I intend to give President Obama and his administration the same respect and consideration many on the Left gave Pres Bush.Fair enough too, although I intend to try and keep irrational emotion out of my comments and stick to known facts. I doubt I’ll ever blame Obama for any future hurricane that hits New Orleans but I will be keeping a watch on just how far left the administration veers. It’s a long time since I’ve been moved by fanatical religious rallies as witnessed last night on TV so a healthy skepticism will be the order of the day.
“De-commissioned Leopard tanks will soon be available for gifting to veteran and historical organisations across Australia as part of the Howard Government’s acquisition of the new Abrams tanks,” then-defence minister Brendan Nelson said in a statement in September last year.Fitzgibbon spins faster;
“However, it must be done in a fiscally responsible fashion and the organisations involved must be fully aware of the facts that the now opposition deliberately failed to inform them of,” he said.The organizations were already fully aware of the facts – It is you who have changed them. Why don’t you just say that organizations that would want a tank outside their buildings are not the type of people you would choose to associate with and if they want the tanks they will bloody pay for them. It’s got nothing to do with the Howard government. If you change a promise made by Howard government, as is your right, then just say so.
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