Johnny Goes Abroad

Finally it is time for the rest of the world to kiss Johnny Howard's sorry little ass:

- visiting Chicago, Ottawa in Canada and Dublin before returning to Australia on May 25, missing a full week of parliament (Hint: Costello, here's your chance),
- lunch with US Vice-President Dick Cheney in Washington on Saturday,
- formal meetings on Monday with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman,
- Tuesday meetings with Bush, senior members of the US cabinet and Congressional leaders,
- Tuesday evening he will be presented with the international Jewish organisation B'nai B'rith's presidential gold medal for steadfast friendship to the people of Israel,
- Tuesday night black-tie dinner at the White House.
- Chicago meeting with the chairman of Boeing, then an address the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations,
- two days in Ottawa, chatting with Iraq veterans,
- In Dublin, he will lay a wreath in the garden of remembrance, answer questions from students at the Global Irish Institute, meet Irish PM Bertie Ahern and President Mary McAleese, address the Irish parliament, and hold talks with media magnate Tony O'Reilly, whose Independent News and Media owns a share in a radio network and a string of regional newspapers in Australia.

What can go wrong?