h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Roadblocks started appearing this morning on the road by the lake and in other parts of the Parliamentary zone. The Hyatt was cordoned off. There were burly blokes in uniforms and dark glasses loitering about the place and failing to be inconspicuous. Then the jets started patrolling over the city; they've been at it all day so I'm almost used to the occasional low rumble from the sky.

On the way home there was an air of expectation. Commonwealth Avenue was lined with people, giving me the feeling that they'd all come out to see my (crowded) bus go by. But of course they hadn't. Just after we got the hell out of there, Barack Obama and a few hundred of his closest friends turned up.

Bringing 500 people and a fleet of vehicles all this way for an overnight stay seems a little excessive.

The general mood here is that he's welcome, that he's a much less offensive presence than his predecessor, and that a degree of security is necessary. But in a city where Parliament House was specifically designed to allow the people to wander in and out of the building - indeed, over the roof of the building - at will, we're finding the level of security to be confronting, even offensive. The security individuals themselves, with their glasses and suits and improbably teeth and jawlines, are generally held in amused disdain.

But it's only for one night. It'll soon be over and we'll be able to get back to our more casual, more realistic and human, approach to leadership figures.

Ivan.

The irony of all that security that travels with the President of the USA is that, as far as I'm aware,(I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong) no president has ever been attacked/assasinated outside of the USA. Its always been carried out in the States by americans.

there are so many many
many
things i could say in response to these posts

but i think i will just ask you all if i am correct in assuming that
now that h2g2 is away from the bbc
we can now portray the queen in a more unfavorable light than we could in the past?

and you were all doing so well there for a while...

Ivan, you ought to see what it's like around here when he comes back to visit his hometown. Takes *hours* to get home from work. Last time a helicopter flew him overhead (around home, not work).

This morning we had the jets overhead again, swarms of police everywhere, the water police very visible on the lake and hordes of suits pouring out of the Hyatt just after 7am. There was a speech to Parliament, a visit to the War Memorial and a visit to a school - precisely which school wasn't revealed in advance so it was a fun guessing game to play in the office.

Then the circus moved on to Darwin. Peace has returned...

Pc, I knew you'd relate to all of this. I can't help thinking it's sad for Obama that he'll never be free of a security presence again, even when he's no longer in politics.

Ivan: "
Pc, I knew you'd relate to all of this. I can't help thinking it's sad for Obama that he'll never be free of a security presence again, even when he's no longer in politics."

why is that sad?
all former usa presidents, their vice presidents and their families get a 'security presence' for the rest of their lives.
what's sad is that john lennon or gabby gifford didnt have one.

I imagine he'll resume living in his Hyde Park home full time, Ivan. Hopefully that won't be for a few years yet, though. While I'm frustrated at times at his pandering to the religious whackos and corporate behemoths... at the point where he took over, there wasn't much else he can do. How do you deal with people who want to do away with every single social safety net and completely strip women of their rights? We're talking about people who think that environmental protection and overhauling private insurance is "socialism".

What's sad isn't who does and doesn't have private security details. What's sad is that anyone would need one, period.

for pc