US correspondent Guy Rundle writes:
Well there are two things we can thank John Howard for (three if you count destroying the Liberal party's membership base) - the E-3 visa which gives Australians special treatment in getting a US work permit, and the fact that Americans have a vague awareness of our leaders, thanks to the fact that ours was hitherto permanently attached to the back of theirs.
The attention remains, but for an entirely different reason. Kevvie's tour through these parts and his joint press conference with Dubya got heavy rotation on the 24 hour networks, not only because it was a break from rehashing Bama's pastor problems, but also because it was a delicious moment to watch Bush squirm, a past-time which about 70% of Americans would now seem to enjoy.
In the good old days, Dubya could lean on Howard, not merely figuratively, vaguely patronise him and make the alliance look like it was more than the US and a bunch of bribed East European nations. Blair would always upstage Dubya and takeover when he was patently lost and though the Rodent was more articulate than Bush – the podium is more articulate than Bush – he was also more boring, so it wasn't a complete humiliation.
But this weekend, as the much-vaunted surge fell apart into a firefight that couldn't be assimilated to the idea of heading off Al-Qaeda, Dubya had to stand beside that coprophagic grin as the press lined up to jam Bush sideways with Australia's withdrawal from the fight.
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