Condoleeza Christ
I think columnist Greg Sheridan's obsession with Condoleeza Rice has surpassed my own obsession with Meryl Streep. Yes, it is possible.
A friend of mine, working at the Commonwealth Games, came within metres of the US Secretary of State. Having met The Queen, I can understand that seeing a famous person up close often leads to an inability to say anything negative about them. It certainly seems to have had that effect on Greg Sheridan. So, to my friend, I have absolutely no intention to offend here.
Sheridan's article in The Weekend Australian was nauseating, and, in parts, comical in its praise for this politician. According to Sheridan, Rice "brought her own persona [to Australia], her undeniable grace and charm and substance. You would have to be a very curmudgeonly individual indeed not to warm to Condi Rice."
Sorry, Greg? If I don't swoon to the US Secretary of State's apparently irresistable charm, I'm - to use the definition of curmudgeon - an ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborness? Oh, let's just forget who she is and what she's done and who she works for. Let's just forget what we ourselves actually think. After all, style is more important than substance, of course.
Sheridan reported on Rice's Q & A session at Sydney's Conservatorium of Music, writing "a few dozen violent protestors and a few screaming hecklers seemed almost part of the script, to allow Rice to display a characteristic graciousness. Greeting the hecklers with the observation that she was glad democracy was alive and well in Sydney was one thing. But Rice went on to say: 'I'm also especially glad to note that democracy will now also be alive and well at the University of Kabul and the University of Baghdad'."
Clever, Condi, clever. That masterful quip carried about as much wit and intelligence as George W. Bush's "I love free speech", in response to the bad-mannered Bob Brown and Kerry Nettle in Parliament House.
Please let me know if you came across any newspaper article or any television report during her visit that did not sound as though the Second Coming had occurred.
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Gulf War II has begun its fourth year.
A friend of mine, working at the Commonwealth Games, came within metres of the US Secretary of State. Having met The Queen, I can understand that seeing a famous person up close often leads to an inability to say anything negative about them. It certainly seems to have had that effect on Greg Sheridan. So, to my friend, I have absolutely no intention to offend here.
Sheridan's article in The Weekend Australian was nauseating, and, in parts, comical in its praise for this politician. According to Sheridan, Rice "brought her own persona [to Australia], her undeniable grace and charm and substance. You would have to be a very curmudgeonly individual indeed not to warm to Condi Rice."
Sorry, Greg? If I don't swoon to the US Secretary of State's apparently irresistable charm, I'm - to use the definition of curmudgeon - an ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborness? Oh, let's just forget who she is and what she's done and who she works for. Let's just forget what we ourselves actually think. After all, style is more important than substance, of course.
Sheridan reported on Rice's Q & A session at Sydney's Conservatorium of Music, writing "a few dozen violent protestors and a few screaming hecklers seemed almost part of the script, to allow Rice to display a characteristic graciousness. Greeting the hecklers with the observation that she was glad democracy was alive and well in Sydney was one thing. But Rice went on to say: 'I'm also especially glad to note that democracy will now also be alive and well at the University of Kabul and the University of Baghdad'."
Clever, Condi, clever. That masterful quip carried about as much wit and intelligence as George W. Bush's "I love free speech", in response to the bad-mannered Bob Brown and Kerry Nettle in Parliament House.
Please let me know if you came across any newspaper article or any television report during her visit that did not sound as though the Second Coming had occurred.
____________________________________________
Gulf War II has begun its fourth year.
posted by Anthony Stoddart @ 2:41 PM
3 Comments:
At Mon Mar 20, 08:49:00 PM,
Anthony Stoddart said…
P.S. What the heck was the American Secretary of State doing presenting medals at the Commonwealth Games?
At Tue Mar 21, 09:28:00 AM,
Anthony Stoddart said…
I just realised that I actually do sound like a curmudgeon in that post. Oops.
At Tue Mar 21, 01:46:00 PM,
Sarah said…
Heh, she bears responsibility as part of the Bush administration for some truly horrendous events. She went shoe-shopping at Ferragamo in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She, along with the rest of them, deserve whatever is thrown at them.
We heard the same sort of sycophancy when Dubya addressed Federal Parliament. Nauseating.
I hear Saddam could really turn on the charm, too. Does that make anyone who criticises him 'curmudgeonly'? Not any more, I guess.
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