October 23, 2003

Australia greets Bush

G.W. is here, albeit for 21 hours. Looking at the front page of The Age this morning, it was hardly surprising to see a photo of G.W. and Laura waving from the steps of Air Force One but what was surprising was seeing John and Janette standing up there with them. Couldn't they wait for them to come down the stops before slobbering them with affection? It immediately reminded me of the ABC's satire program CNNNN who beautifully sent up the visit a few weeks ago, describing the visit as the "slumber down under" where John would be desperate to get a quick 5 minute photo opportunity before G.W. flew out again. It appears John couldn't wait for his photo opportunity and I have this image in my head of him knocking over the Governor General in his haste to get up the stairs to get his picture taken.

The visit troubles me in all sorts of ways, from the faintly ridiculous (removing golfers from the greens near Parliament House) to the troubling (protesters must stay a long way away and must not direct their PA systems towards the House just in case Bush might hear). There have been other little things that have struck me, from the description of the roads to Parliament lined with US flags to the description of his arrival at Parliament being greeted by "cheers and protests" as if there's some sort of even balance about it (the cheers came from the invited throng inside while the protests came from the general public being kept at a distance outside). The whole thing feels farcical, especially in a country where we've never gone for pomp and ceremony in a big way. Posted by david at October 23, 2003 11:35 AM