WHERE DO WE GET ONE OF THOSE?:

PM pales against a blunt Texan (BOB MacDONALD, 12/02/04, Toronto Sun)

The contrast was embarrassing at times during the two-day official visit Bush made to Ottawa and Halifax.

For instance, during those two days, Martin's media flacks complained that Bush was urging their boy to support the creation of an anti-nuclear missile defence shield to protect the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. is building it anyway -- and it won't cost Canada anything to support it -- but Martin is frightened of opposition by this country's vocal leftists.

So, he'd rather dither about making a decision -- hopefully until after the next election, if he can pull it off. Martin's aides were moaning that the topic wasn't supposed to be on the agenda this week and here was bad old Bush bringing it up.

And yesterday, the president went further. He included it in the major speech he chose to deliver in Halifax rather than before likely hecklers in Ottawa's Parliament. [...]

So, there it was, out in the open. Martin was beset by reporters after the speech. He went into his dithering act, saying he did not "specifically" rule out working with the U.S. on missile defence. But he wasn't in, either.

"We are a sovereign nation and we will make the decisions about our airspace," he finally muttered.

But that's the problem when politicians have to deal with Bush. He says what he plans to do and he does what he says. Ask John Kerry, or the UN Security Council, or Saddam Hussein, etc.

Jacques Chretien is still muttering about the summit the President hijacked back in '02.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 2, 2004 3:14 PM