Rudd attacks Howard

Yesterday David Schuster, on his show 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, mentioned that one reason why the Obamas were not given Blair House to live was that John Howard, the former PM of Australia was staying there while visiting W. Bush (who in turn will give the former PM a Medal of Freedom).

Now that the Obamas have been ensconced at the Hay-Adams Hotel in time for their daughters to start school, the White House has revealed why Blair House was not available early.

It turns out that John Howard, former prime minister of Australia and a longtime ally of President Bush, is spending the night there on Jan. 12, according to Sally McDonough, a spokeswoman for Laura Bush.

The next day, Mr. Howard is receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Several receptions are also scheduled at Blair House over the next week.

Shuster remarked that Howard had attacked Obama in 2006 as the favoured candidate of Al Qaeda, a remark that his opponent, the leader of the Australian Labour Party, Kevin Rudd lambasted. "YouTube it," Shuster said (using the noun as a verb, as has become popular). I did. It makes for good watching.


For politicians, that is powerful. Well done.

Australians may find some irony in the news that their former prime minister bumped Mr. Obama from the coveted Blair House locale. Bruce Wolpe, an American publishing executive in Sydney who is about to join the staff of Representative Henry Waxman, the California Democrat, said in an e-mail message that the news is “rocking Australia this morning.’’

That’s because Mr. Obama and Mr. Howard have a history; when Mr. Obama announced his bid for the presidency in February 2007, Mr. Howard – a staunch ally of President Bush’s on the war in Iraq – attacked Mr. Obama’s plan to withdraw troops by March 2008.

“If I were running Al Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory not only for Obama but also for the Democrats,’’ Mr. Howard said then. Mr. Obama fired back, saying Mr. Howard was engaging in “empty rhetoric.”

Bhutto’s Daughter Raps Her Grief

Bakhtawar Bhutto, at her mother’s grave in Pakistan on the first anniversary of her death, December 28, 2008. (Photo: Nadeem Soomro/Reuters)

As Reuters reported yesterday, Bakhtawar Bhutto, the 18-year-old daughter of the assassinated former prime minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, “has written a rap song expressing her anguish” over the murder of her mother just over a year ago.

The song, entitled “I Would Take the Pain Away,” and a five-minute video of clips and photographs of Benazir Bhutto has been broadcast on the state-run Pakistani television and posted on the video-sharing website YouTube.

Information Minister Sherry Rehman, for years an aide to Bhutto, said Bakhtawar, a student at Britain’s Edinburgh University, wrote the lyrics and music.

“It’s a tribute of a grieving daughter to her iconic and loving mother,” Rehman told Reuters on Monday.

The lyrics for the rap song, delivered by Ms. Bhutto in an overlapping, multi-layered style, and scrolling across the video, describe the song as dedicated to “my mother, shot in the back of your ear — legendary leader — murdered — legendary mother — She got crazy courage — Dear Mom — crazy intelligence — if you can hear me, I’ve got a few things — no one can replace you — I never got the chance to say, but if I could have — Yo, yo….”




The Guardian’s Saeed Shah in Islamabad notes that

The Pakistan People’s party, which was led by Benazir Bhutto, made clear that Bakhtawar did not plan a career in music.

She has not, however, ruled out following her mother into the country’s politics.

(Thanks to VF Daily for the link to YouTube.)