Right off the bat, the new Australian Prime Minister
changes priorities. Will we see the same next year in the US?
Newly elected leader Kevin Rudd moved quickly Sunday to bring Australia into international talks on fighting global warming, and to head off potentially thorny relations with the United States and key Asian neighbors.
The emphatic victory for Rudd's Labor Party swings Australia toward the political left after almost 12 years of conservative rule, and puts it at odds with key security ally Washington on two crucial policy issues — Iraq and global warming.
The day after sweeping to power in general elections, Rudd went straight into work mode, holding meetings with government officials about the mechanics of signing the Kyoto Protocol on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
How many of our allies still stand with Bush on climate change? Hmmm, there's China and Russia who also prefer pretending it's an issue to ignore and there's some nutty guy in Eastern Europe (Czech Republic?) who calls it a hoax but Bush is even more isolated than ever these days.
Makes me more even more anxious for '08 already actually..
