BARACK Obama’s implicit attack on the Abbott government over climate change will do more long-term damage to the US-Australia alliance than is commonly thought. There is no need to rehearse the gratuitous nature of the speech, Obama’s failure to tell his Australian hosts what he was going to say in advance — as the most elementary courtesy, much less alliance solidarity, would require — the bad manners of not acknowledging the Governor-General, and the determined effort to embarrass his hosts by referring so crudely to the Australian debate and using, and misusing, iconic elements in that debate.As Sheridan seems to have the equivalent of a Batphone to the PM's office, I can only assume that they are still fuming. Which seems a bit of a waste of effort as government credibility collapses on all fronts, not just that one.
* On the matter of butthurt: it is not a term I normally use, as I have never been sure whether it derives from a reference to homosexual activity. I see from Gawker that this remains a matter of much contention - butts can be hurt in many ways, after all. In any event, I don't particularly want to be associated with Catallaxy reader style hysteria about why homosexuality is repulsive, so I would happily substitute another term, if I could think of one. Suggestions are welcome...
Obama apparently read GOVERNMENT reports on the coral reef the Government patently did not. Bishop came out of this looking quite bad and ill advised.
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