Hail to the Chief
Last night they interrupted regular programming to cut to live footage of President Bush landing in Sydney. Believe it or not, Hans and I almost got into a heated discussion about it.
My issues: The press here take every opportunity to take potshots at him, and yet this warrants going to live coverage? And the reporter kept rattling off little tidbits that sounded, to me, like he was pointing out the excessiveness and possible needlessness of the advance preparations that were made. Going so far as to point out that Bush travels with a chef. (So what? Love him or hate him, I like to think that having an entourage is sort of one of the vocational perks of being the freaking president.)
Hans's claims: Australians, in general, love to hate people, and yet they are easily impressed with the celebrity of a person at the same time. And he's still the leader of the most powerful country (his words, not mine), so it is kind of a big deal.
I think my point is that world leaders travel to and from the U.S. with hardly a bat of an eye. His point is that this is the reason why people think Americans are arrogant. And it went on like this until we called truce.
(Though when the news came on later and they showed footage of the Chinese president landing in Canberra, I couldn't suppress a "why didn't he get live coverage?".)
The Heat is on in Saigon
I didn't mention that my wonderful husband bought tickets for Miss Saigon in Brisbane. I have never seen it and am really looking forward to seeing it next week. They won't have Australian accents, will they?
Last night they interrupted regular programming to cut to live footage of President Bush landing in Sydney. Believe it or not, Hans and I almost got into a heated discussion about it.
My issues: The press here take every opportunity to take potshots at him, and yet this warrants going to live coverage? And the reporter kept rattling off little tidbits that sounded, to me, like he was pointing out the excessiveness and possible needlessness of the advance preparations that were made. Going so far as to point out that Bush travels with a chef. (So what? Love him or hate him, I like to think that having an entourage is sort of one of the vocational perks of being the freaking president.)
Hans's claims: Australians, in general, love to hate people, and yet they are easily impressed with the celebrity of a person at the same time. And he's still the leader of the most powerful country (his words, not mine), so it is kind of a big deal.
I think my point is that world leaders travel to and from the U.S. with hardly a bat of an eye. His point is that this is the reason why people think Americans are arrogant. And it went on like this until we called truce.
(Though when the news came on later and they showed footage of the Chinese president landing in Canberra, I couldn't suppress a "why didn't he get live coverage?".)
The Heat is on in Saigon
I didn't mention that my wonderful husband bought tickets for Miss Saigon in Brisbane. I have never seen it and am really looking forward to seeing it next week. They won't have Australian accents, will they?
Labels: stranger in a strange land
Sep 05 2007, 07:02 am
I can understand the Australians being confused by their love/hate relationship with the U.S. right now. Heck, I'm an authentic patriotic American (a veteran at that) and am still trying to reconcile my love for my country with my utter loathing of our current president. All I want just over a year from now is a President-elect that inspires me (from whichever party).
3:14 PM
Sep 07 2007, 07:43 pm
I thought things got a bit excessive when Channel 7 followed Bush's entourage by helicopter to show him going mountain biking, with at least a minute of footage of this on the national news. What about showing the Canadian PM's time on the treadmill?
3:14 PM
Sep 09 2007, 11:27 am
It's a combination of the Tall Poppy and Trainwreck Syndromes. Aussies are famous for chopping down anyone deemed to be too successful, too rich, too on 'emselves (thus many actors/actresses don't find fame til they move overseas)...and hey, we hate it and whinge about it endlessly but we just can't look away, either.
3:14 PM
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