Just like GrodsCorp has been taking the piss out of Brendan Nelson’s Magical Listening Tour, Andrew Bolt has been taking the piss out of Kevin Rudd’s world tour. Bolta’s main argument has been that Rudd is doing nothing more than chasing photo opportunities with world leaders despite the fact that Rudd’s out there doing very diligently what national leaders are supposed to do. The latest target for Bolta’s derision is Rudd’s meeting with French pres Nicolas Sarkozy.

The great autograph hunt continues:

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has held a 15-minute meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the NATO summit in Bucharest.

Hello. Pose for camera. Goodbye.

But here’s a real journalist’s take on the meeting.

FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy has told Prime Minister Kevin Rudd that France will back Australia’s bid to get a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

France’s backing gets Australia’s campaign off to a good start because it is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

Mr Rudd, who launched the bid when he met UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the weekend, raised the matter during a 25-minute meeting with Mr Sarkozy before the start of the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania.

“The President indicated France would be happy to support that bid,” a spokesman for Mr Rudd said.

Mr Sarkozy also indicated he may be travelling to the French territories in the Pacific later this year and if possible he would also like to visit Australia.

The two leaders discussed areas such as Afghanistan, climate change, and stronger economic ties between Australia and Europe.

Security council. Afghanistan war. Possible visit by French president to Australia. How utterly trivial!

I actually find it rather disgusting that Andrew Bolt can dismiss the Prime Minister of this country networking with prominent world leaders at a NATO forum as autograph hunting. Can you imagine John Howard receiving the same treatment from Bolta’s poison pen?