{"id":445286,"date":"2010-03-19T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-19T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/?p=32830"},"modified":"2010-03-19T00:01:00","modified_gmt":"2010-03-19T04:01:00","slug":"not-worth-obama%e2%80%99s-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/445286","title":{"rendered":"Not Worth Obama\u2019s Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/papundits.files.wordpress.com\/2008\/09\/photo_56.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-4206\" style=\"margin:5px;\" title=\"Andrew Bolt\" src=\"http:\/\/papundits.files.wordpress.com\/2008\/09\/photo_56.jpg?w=100&#038;h=75\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"75\" \/><\/a>By <strong>Andrew Bolt<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Barack Obama has now scrapped his trip to Australia completely, after  already slashing it to one day of ceremonial chit chat.<\/p>\n<p>A bit embarrassing for Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who would have loved a visit in this  election year, but &#8211; like him &#8211; Obama is battling to get through his  health reforms, and needs to stay to twist arms.<\/p>\n<p><strong>UPDATE 1<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>Mr <a title=\"Obama will now make the trip in June\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theaustralian.com.au\/business\/news\/barack-obama-postpones-trip-to-indonesia-australia\/story-e6frg90f-1225842622464\" >Obama will now make the  trip in June<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThe president greatly regrets the delay,\u201d Mr Gibbs said. \u201cOur  international alliances are critical to America\u2019s security and economic  progress, but passage of health-insurance reform is of paramount  importance, and the president is determined to see this battle through.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>UPDATE 2<span id=\"more-32830\"><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>According to some media reports, Mr <a title=\"Obama has told wavering Democrats that his Presidency is on the  lines over the healthcare debate\" href=\"http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/world\/obama-delays-australian-visit-over-healthcare-battle-20100319-qirg.html\" >Obama has told wavering Democrats that  his Presidency is on the lines over the healthcare debate<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>UPDATE 3<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Obama\u2019s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, makes the announcement of just  where Rudd stands:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em> As a result, <a title=\"the President telephoned the leader of Indonesia and will call  the leader of Australia later this afternoon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/the-press-office\/briefing-white-house-press-secretary-robert-gibbs-3182010\" >the President telephoned  the leader of Indonesia and will call the leader of Australia later this  afternoon<\/a>, and told them that he must postpone his planned visits  for a later date so that he can remain in Washington for this critical  vote.\u00a0 The President now expects to visit Indonesia in June.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>So Obama warned the Indonesian president beforehand, but left it to the  media to first tell Rudd. And the public commitment to come in June is  made to Indonesia, not necessarily to Australia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>UPDATE 4<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Has Australia just joined the list of American allies Obama takes for  granted?<\/p>\n<p>As Abe Greenwald describes the phenomenon:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><a title=\"If you're an enemy we're sorry; if you're a friend you're sorry\" href=\"http:\/\/www.commentarymagazine.com\/blogs\/index.php\/greenwald\/74162\" >If  you\u2019re an enemy we\u2019re sorry; if you\u2019re a friend you\u2019re sorry<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Or as Paul Mirengoff explains it:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>Perhaps there is a side of him that harbors <a title=\"contempt for nations that find large amounts of common ground  with the U.S\" href=\"http:\/\/www.powerlineblog.com\/archives\/2010\/03\/025860.php\" >contempt for nations that find large amounts of common  ground with the U.S<\/a>., a country for which Obama himself feels the  need constantly to apologize. Or perhaps, Obama sees himself as a  philosopher king, a \u201cneutral\u201d who stands above the usual politics of  favoring particular nations. From this lofty, ahistorical perch, it may  be possible to view Britain as \u201cthe same as the other 190 countries in  the world.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color:#000080;\">TonyfromOz adds &#8230;..<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#000080;\">UPDATE 3 says a lot. The President personally telephoned the Indonesian President prior to the announcement, but then made the announcement before informing the Australian Prime Minister, thus allowing Australia to find out via a curt media release. Nice!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.news.com.au\/heraldsun\/andrewbolt\/\" ><em>Andrew Bolt<\/em><\/a><em> is a journalist and      columnist writing for <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.heraldsun.com.au\/\" ><em>The Herald Sun<\/em><\/a><em> in Melbourne Victoria      Australia.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><\/em>Read more excellent articles from <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.news.com.au\/heraldsun\/andrewbolt\/\" >Andrew      Bolt\u2019s Blog<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Filed under: <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/category\/countries\/americas\/america-usa\/'>America (USA)<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/category\/countries\/asia\/'>Asia<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/category\/countries\/australia\/'>Australia<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/category\/politics\/democrats\/barry-soetoro-aka-barack-hussein-obama\/'>Barry Soetoro (aka Barack Hussein Obama)<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/category\/politics\/blundering-bureaucrats\/'>Blundering Bureaucrats<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/category\/politics\/democrats\/'>Democrats<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/category\/politics\/liberals\/'>Liberals<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/category\/politics\/'>Politics<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/category\/public-opinion\/'>Public Opinion<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/category\/politics\/spine-donor-politicians\/'>Spine Donor Politicians<\/a> Tagged: <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/tag\/andrew-bolt\/'>Andrew Bolt<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/tag\/australian-prime-minister-kevin-rudd\/'>Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/tag\/indonesia\/'>Indonesia<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/tag\/obama-sorry-tour\/'>Obama Sorry Tour<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/tag\/obama-world-tour\/'>Obama World Tour<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/tag\/president-obama\/'>President Obama<\/a>, <a href='http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/tag\/tony\/'>Tony<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/gocomments\/papundits.wordpress.com\/32830\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/comments\/papundits.wordpress.com\/32830\/\" \/><\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/godelicious\/papundits.wordpress.com\/32830\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/delicious\/papundits.wordpress.com\/32830\/\" \/><\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/gostumble\/papundits.wordpress.com\/32830\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/stumble\/papundits.wordpress.com\/32830\/\" \/><\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/godigg\/papundits.wordpress.com\/32830\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/digg\/papundits.wordpress.com\/32830\/\" \/><\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/goreddit\/papundits.wordpress.com\/32830\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.wordpress.com\/1.0\/reddit\/papundits.wordpress.com\/32830\/\" \/><\/a> <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/stats.wordpress.com\/b.gif?host=papundits.wordpress.com&#038;blog=174708&#038;post=32830&#038;subd=papundits&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Andrew Bolt Barack Obama has now scrapped his trip to Australia completely, after already slashing it to one day of ceremonial chit chat. A bit embarrassing for Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who would have loved a visit in this election year, but &#8211; like him &#8211; Obama is battling to get through his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4200,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-445286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}