Many of us have experienced those awkward moments when a very close and powerful mate does something wrong that sends a shudder through the internal moral compass.

You know, those incidents in the school yard, the pub, the workplace, the sporting field, everyday life, that grate against the soul and leave you feeling disappointed and troubled.

In highly valuing the friendship, you might feel a need to reach out, to somehow intervene to steer your mate in the right direction. 

If this fails, the friendship can become frayed. In worst-case scenarios you might feel a need to reconsider the friendship altogether. Some of us are starting to have, if we haven’t already, that awkward feeling when following news involving President Donald Trump’s America.

The United States is a great friend of Australia. We’ve fought and struggled together too often to be anything else. It is also a friendship we dearly want to keep. 

Our powerful friend not only offers us trade, entertainment and a sense of global solidarity, but also critical security. We’re mates from way back and we’ll stick together if we can.

But what we constantly see in reports beaming from the free world’s benchmark nation on our television screens does little to make many of us feel comfortable. Our close mate seems to enjoy, more than ever, sparring – physically, economically, politically, spiritually, internationally – often coupled with a holier-than-thou, damn-the-consequences attitude.

While acknowledging we can’t take too much moral high ground considering our own chequered history,  this type of sensibility, with all its belligerence, arrogance, muck, money and guns, falls short of making a lot of sense to many progressive Americans, let alone Australians.

There is a sense that while Australia and the United States have similarities, we’re far from the same.

Is the uncomfortable perception simply reflective of President Trump at the head of the animal, how the international media reports what’s happening, or is it something more? Should we follow the American lead or reach out with a quiet suggestion in the ear of the ‘big fellah’. Would that do any good anyway?

Again, we’re talking about a lifelong and critically important mate here and like it or not we’re getting carried along on whatever ride they are taking. Are we too close? Or is the relationship right?

We might seem a world away from all this in the Wimmera, but what happens at international tables and the tables of our friends has a direct impact on us all and it is something to consider.

Much of the turmoil involving governance, human rights and international relationships often comes back to mutual respect and a willingness for diplomacy. A good mate understands this.

Shaking hands might be a no-no during the pandemic, but we could certainly do with a couple of big meaningful ones at the moment.

The entire September 2, 2020 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!