51st state
George Bush is a really bad speaker. And boring — this speech is nothing but waffle.
The fact that he was allowed to deliver it is an affront to our Westminster traditions, and Bob Hawke should be ashamed of himself for taking us down that path. Nobody but members of parliament — the elected representatives of the Australian people — should have the right to speak in the chamber. Now that the precedent has been set, every head of state, no matter how repugnant, will have the right to impose themselves on our parliament. First the US president, then China’s… Who’s next, Robert Mugabe?
The whole ruckus about applause was also shameful. You don’t clap in parliament; a simple “hear, hear” is the appropriate response to a worthy speaker.
And the decision to expel Bob Brown and Kerry Nettle for interjecting just once was disgraceful. It was nothing more than a political stunt undertaken by the Liberals. Even Dubya apparently found it strange:
“I love free speech,” Mr Bush remarked as Ms Nettle was ejected from the chamber.
Of course, that love of free speech doesn’t extend to answering questions from the press. He wants the right to invade our parliament, give a lame speech, have any dissenters removed from his presence, and walk away unchallenged by tricky questions.
UPDATE: To use the requisite lingo, the Greens’ protest turned violent. Apparently the Coalition just couldn’t resist the opportunity to manhandle the Greens.
Robert most but not all of what you have written is inherently conservative thus I support it however have I missed the irony buttton?
George Bush … uses a rhetorical style … which is … compulsory for US Presidents. Clinton … did it too. No more than three … or four … words … should run together.
“For where two or three words are gathered in sequence, there I am in the midst of them” (George W. 18:20.)
No one I know believes Bush is the fastest gun in the west, intellectually. Very few of his critics, however, seem to have even the faintest notion of how much they have in common with him, intellectually. Especially those, and their numbers are legion, who couldn’t even understand how bright Bush senior was.
Too many people have always thought bright meant those who agreed with them. Post modern ‘thinking’, however, has exacerbated this problem.
PING:
TITLE: Bush capital appearance
BLOG NAME: The Road to Surfdom
Sounds like a good time was had by all. The President got to make his address to the Australian Parliament,…