The Continuing Hagiography Of Saint Kevin

By AR - Time Magazine has published its list of the world's 100 most influential people. Ranked somewhere among the influential "Leaders and Revolutionaries," is Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. The accompanying spiel was written by the Australia's Head of State, Her Majesty, Queen Cate Blanchett.

The Queen doesn't hesitate to trash her country:
For years, Australia's government refused to apologize to Aborigines for past wrongs done to them — most notably, the systematic removal of children from their parents, an official policy that continued until the 1970s.
But it's all fixed now, as when Saint Kevin apologised:
...wrongs were put right. ...our government had provided us the space to begin again
Queen Cate enthuses about the apology and signing Kyoto, as Rudd's two "great achievement(s) since taking office". But she gets her chronology screwed up:
When Rudd, 50, was elected Prime Minister last November, his first substantive act was to issue a formal apology to Aborigines...
No, he signed Kyoto first. But anyway, what's a fact or two when you've got the opportunity to have a dig at the previous government?
Rudd's other great achievement since taking office also required overturning years of government obstinacy: he ratified the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
How exactly Rudd is influential, the Queen does not explain. "His" signing of Kyoto hasn't persuaded the other major hold-out, the United States, into signing. "His" apology to Aborigines hasn't influenced, say China, to stop or even acknowledge its own human rights abuses. Signing Kyoto and saying sorry were not even his ideas. So why is he among the 100 most influential?

Update:

Saint Kevin just can't stop apologising. "Kevin Rudd has apologised to voters for budget pain of proposed tax hikes to alcopop".

He's apologised to voters? I thought the whole point was to curb underage drinking. If you're too young to drink, you're too young to vote.

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