#POTUSinOZ - Obama visit to Oz - #auspol

Don't you think that Mr Obama's visit to these fair shores mid last week was a resounding success?

I had a very, very minor footsoldier role when Bush The Younger paid his bossom buddy John "Deputy Dawg" Howard a visit in 2003. People came out of the woodwork to jeer, heckle and generally show their displeasure. He wasn't liked! At least that's the feeling I got at the time! If only someone had pelted a shoe or two! None of that this time though. Smiles, happiness, birds singing, kisses all round.

It doesn't hurt that Mr Obama presents well. Fit, tall, slim, not unattractive, youngish, obvsiously smart and with a certain cool flair. I'd be happy if he decided to emigrate, become an Australian citizen and take on the post of the first President of the Republic of Australia.

Kind of gets me thinking though. Why are Americans so unimpressed with him? I just don't get it. The policies he's trying to introduce in the States are conservative by our standards yet a lot of his countrymen/women think he's the thin edge of the commie wedge.

Isn't the world an odd place!

At Home With Julia - Let's Lighten Up #auspol

Watched the last of ABC TV's At Home With Julia on our funky TiVo. You know, the episode that caused a fuss in conservative circles such as the RSL, ex-service groups et al. There was a scene that apparently desecrated our national flag.

I don't understand why this show has been panned and ridiculed, I found myself convulsing on the couch whilst my beloved partner looked on worriedly.

The confusion over Tim's proposal of marriage to Julia and her announcement of his appointment to the public service as Captain Tim - Mr Headlice was priceless.

Different strokes for different folks I guess, although I feel we really should stop being so damned serious. Let's lighten up!

A Grateful Nation Salutes Problem Gamblers #auspol

I've been following the current hoopla surrounding Andrew Wilkie's proposed law regarding mandatory pre-commitment technology on poker machines.

As time passes I'm becoming more sickened by the arguments being pushed by the clubs, pubs and casinos.

If you listen to these worthy institutions, you'd be under the impression that the world as we know it will come crashing down. Grants to community organisations will cease, facilities in clubs will suffer, some clubs may well close.

Taking this argument to its logical conclusion, it's obvious that problem gamblers are all that lays between club viability and disaster.

Thank you problem gamblers! What a selfless bunch you are. Thanks to your wages, home, savings and/or family the rest of us can enjoy a nice cheap Surf'n'Turf in the club bistro and knock back icy cold cheap beer. We can kick back and watch a Neil Diamond look-alike perform in the club auditorium and our kids can play footy in the strip so kindly provided as a gesture toward community spirit.

I don't drink alcohol but I shall raise a nice dewy schooner of coke in your general direction!

What kind of madness has overcome us, petals? To actively promote the evils of gambling as some kind of indispensible benefit to the community is plain wrong on so many fronts. If our coummunity is so dependant on the money sourced from those poor souls with this dreadful affliction then it is a sick society.

I can't even guess the outcome of this particular issue, as we all know it could bring about the fall of the Gillard government. On second thoughts, that's probably not such a bad idea!

As always, my thoughts.

The Shape Of Things To Come #nswvotes #auspol

I was driving into Canberra this morning travelling along Canberra Avenue heading towards Fyshwick, just near the traffic lights at HMAS Harman.

On the side of the road was a trailer with big signs for Steve Whan, the ALP member for Monaro. Next to it was a sour old bloke reading the paper, he didn't seem particularly interested, nor did he look like he really gave a stuff.

Fifty metres down the road was a bigger trailer for the Nationals candidate,  John Barilaro.  In front of this colourful edifice was an excitable young woman jumping up and down holding a sign saying "Toot for change". Needless to say I tooted.

Makes you think doesn't it.  The Nationals aren't an organisation I normally associate with razzamataz. There really must be a sense of change in the air.

Looking forward to seeing how bad things will go for Labor.

Pedro's Middle East Peace Proposal

I've been giving this a lot of thought lately and have come up with a great way to bring peace to the middle east.

The mothers of all the dickheads running the place should box their ears and tell them to be nice and share their sandpit with the other kids.

Sometimes simple things work best!

If it doesn't work, I guess we'll revert to Plan B.

From New Matilda

Saw this great cartoon via the New Matilda website.

Ken Wyatt - A Great Bloke!

I've never been much of an apologist for anything to do with aboriginal affairs, but I really do take my hat off to Ken Wyatt, our first indigenous member of the House of Representatives.

With quiet dignity, he's done more for black/white relations in a single afternoon than a decade of the likes of Michael Mansell et al. Morover, Ken belongs to the Liberal Party, an organisation viewed as a bunch of rascist hard-arsed bastards by the urban, leftie chattering classes.

Well done Ken, awesome work!

PS. I think the boohka is a nice touch!

What is it with Russian politics?

Hands up those who are confused by Russian politics?

For the life of me I can't nut it out! The bloke that's now the PM used to be the President? Who the hell is the President now? Is it some kind of musical chairs? Who is the bigger swinging dick, president or prime minister?

One thing that strikes me as really weird is that the current PM, Mr Putin, was some big knob in the KGB. How does that translate to suddenly being a kind and caring democratic chappie?

My head spins!

Deputy Dawg Dips Out

Heard via the Twittisphere and then the TV news that President Obama will be visiting Indonesia later this year but not gracing the Kingdom of Oz with his presence. I'm not really sure how to take it.

On one hand, there is the embuggerance factor of an event such as this. If you have ever seen a US Presidential Visit you will understand what a circus it is.

I was a very minor cog in the huge machine involved in George W Bush's 2003 visit to say a big thank you to his best buddy, John "Deputy Dawg of the Pacific" Howard. It was at Parliament House in Canberra, my job was to stand on a platform, ostensibly guarding a TV cameraman, looking down on George Dubya as he alighted from his limo to shake hands with Deputy Dawg. I was armed with a trusty H&K 9mm, I kept my hands well clear of the holster at all times. Guys in dark suits and darker sunnies would not have been impressed! They were everywhere, thicker than ticks on a coast cat's coat. Later in the day I had the pleasure of lining Adelaide Avenue outside The Lodge staring at lots of unkempt people waving signs whilst George & John had a barbie on the other side of the brick wall.

There were in excess of 30 vehicles in that presidential convoy. Ambulances, armoured black vans with machine guns inside, armoured black vans with weird aerials sticking out of the roof, stacks of other cars and to cap it off the behemoth of a presidential limo. This thing had the biggest wheels I have ever seen on a car. The doors, when they opened, appeared to be a couple of feet thick. I shudder to think what would happen if George had jammed his fingers, as happens to us all occasionally. It was a truly amazing beast of a machine; it romped all over Mr Howard's Holden Statesman "C1".

Add the noise of FA-18's patrolling Canberra's airspace, the fuss caused by Air Force One parked out at Fairbairn air base and you have some serious competition for Ashton Bros or Cirque Du Soleil.

On the other hand, does it show that the Americans don't really think very much of us? Are we so insignificant that Mr Obama only has time to jet into Indonesia, a third world country which, coincidentally, is the world's largest Muslim nation? Does Indonesia go around helping fight America's wars? Have they stood by Uncle Sam in WW2, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf Wars 1 & 2 and the ongoing War on Terror? Do they host “Joint Defence Facilities”? Do they participate in the UKUSA agreement? Do they have a bond such as the ANZUS alliance? No, they don’t. How do they rate so highly? What's in it for the Americans may be more the question.

Consider how often US presidents actually make it out here, 4 different presidents in 50 years. LBJ twice in the 60s (once to go to Harold Holt's funeral), George H Bush in 1992, Bill Clinton in 1996 and Dubya in 2003 and 2007, the later being for APEC. Take away LBJ’s funeral visit and Bush’s APEC, which he would have attended no matter where it was held, and you really have only 4 official visits. Pretty poor effort for a loyal and stalwart ally.

If anyone is a foreign policy guru please let me know what it all means!