# Worldwide Dopers: How Accessible is your Head of State/Head of Government? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 16, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314 "2017-01-16T14:52:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/21 "2017-01-16T20:23:16Z")
And of course we can’t forget the time that Madame Chrétien protected the PM by bopping an intruder at 24 Sussex with an Inuit soapstone carving… ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/22 "2017-01-16T20:25:51Z")
> [@The\_Lurker\_Above](#): > > I was in Ottawa visiting relatives and saw Michaelle Jean (GovGen at the time) walking down the street like a normal person. She did have a couple of large gentlemen in suits nearby but I didn’t see any other security. And no one in the crowd was paying all that much attention to her. > > I’ve also delivered room service to Dalton McGuinty (then Premier of Ontario) and his wife. He did have a police detail staying on the same floor, but no one stopping anyone from just going up to his room and knocking. And ate a couple of tables over from Kathleen Wynne (current Premier) at an ordinary restaurant (not a special event, she was just going out to dinner). It’s not clear to me what good a police detail on the same floor would do if they don’t prevent people from approaching the Premier. Pick up the pieces after the attack? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/23 "2017-01-16T20:26:39Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > details, please? I’m not familiar - was it Harper or the Jaw Who Walked Like a Man who got punched?? (I could see either, for different reasons…) [Joe Who? 2007 while walking.](https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjKhKmbv8fRAhXG6YMKHWOkCN8QFgguMAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pressreader.com%2Fcanada%2Fnational-post-latest-edition%2F20071208%2F281642480831929&usg=AFQjCNFkC8VgQXIKMUaQTcZRko8KHwOn3Q&sig2=dmiGPsqBgvdrTYwIHNJQgA) And here Joe is a genuinely nice person, well respected by people of all political orientations. I mean, if you’re going to biff someone, at least pick on a someone who isn’t a nice guy. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/24 "2017-01-16T20:33:41Z")
French presidents aren’t particularly know for wandering randomly in pubs. Anecdotically, current president Hollande was caught going to visit his mistress (he isn’t married, but had an “official” girlfriend at the time) on a moped. I remember reading once an interview of the finances minister of Luxembourg. He mentioned that people who wanted to discuss an issue just showed up at his home. I also remember reading an article about… I think it was Vanuatu…in any case one of the Pacific micro states. There was a picture of a council of ministers. The guys were sat around a kind of picnic table, in shorts, drinking cans of beer. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/25 "2017-01-16T20:42:19Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > [Joe Who? 2007 while walking.](https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjKhKmbv8fRAhXG6YMKHWOkCN8QFgguMAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pressreader.com%2Fcanada%2Fnational-post-latest-edition%2F20071208%2F281642480831929&usg=AFQjCNFkC8VgQXIKMUaQTcZRko8KHwOn3Q&sig2=dmiGPsqBgvdrTYwIHNJQgA) And here Joe is a genuinely nice person, well respected by people of all political orientations. I mean, if you’re going to biff someone, at least pick on a someone who isn’t a nice guy. I’d forgotten about that. Of all the PM’s we’ve had, he seems rather innocuous. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/26 "2017-01-16T22:56:36Z")
As an American, meeting my representative is not hard. I haven’t met a senator yet. The only presidents I’ve met have been in crowded auditoriums and they weren’t the president at the time (either they were running or had retired). I would assume it is much easier in a small nation of less than 10 million, probably about as hard as meeting the governor in a state like NJ or MA. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/27 "2017-01-16T23:08:42Z")
I dunno why it is easier for one in 10 million to meet someone 500 miles away than one in 300 million. And if in Belarus, you decide to run up to kindly old President Lukashenko and embrace him, crying “_Papa !_”, I’m sure the results will be much the same as pointing a walking stick at Obama. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lurker\_Above](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Lurker\_Above](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lurker_Above)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/28 "2017-01-17T02:22:29Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > It’s not clear to me what good a police detail on the same floor would do if they don’t prevent people from approaching the Premier. Pick up the pieces after the attack? I imagine they were there to go around with him during the day. At night I guess they were depending on the front desk to not give out his room number (not that we ever would, for any of our guests). ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/29 "2017-01-17T03:03:22Z")
I’ve met a couple of Australian Prime Ministers, including one time when I ran into Kevin Rudd at a Brisbane shopping centre and another time when Julia Gillard was at a local event for something. The only security were one or two guys in suits at a discreet distance; there was no hassle at all with me walking up to the PM and saying “Hi!” and shaking their hand. The interesting thing with the G20 Summit I mentioned in the other thread was the major security demands came from the US, from what I remember - IIRC they wanted roundabouts removed from a particular stretch of road for the presidential limo to drive along, so it wouldn’t be slowed down and thus vulnerable to attack. I believe someone pointed out they were in Australia, a generally pro-American country where no-one has access to military grade weaponry, and the costs involved in removing the roundabouts and then putting them back in would be astronomical. In the end, the roundabouts weren’t torn out and the G20 was uneventful, besides the usual protestors one expects and such a function. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/30 "2017-01-17T03:38:08Z")
The whole point of a roundabout is that you can zip through the intersection without slowing down for a traffic light! :smack: Wankers. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/31 "2017-01-17T10:03:59Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Quite a lot of British politicians bike to work — beats diving into the Underworld —a few years ago one idiot minister got into an altercation with the cops outside parliament \*, calling them ‘ **plebs** ’, and one old ass of a Lord Chancellor, Lord Hailsham, used to bike to parliament and the various courts back in the '80s when we still had a proper legal system and none of this ‘Supreme Court’ crap. > > - An old English truism is: ‘_Never argue with a cop_.’ Plebgate. The Government Chief Whip. And, as revealed later by the security video, “calling them plebs” was something _made up by the police_ to justify their false testimony\* - An old English truism is: ‘_Never argue with a cop_.’ ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/32 "2017-01-17T10:20:46Z")
In Aus in the 90’s the PM used to jog around the lake every morning. The press used to pretty much leave him alone there, because they didn’t have anyone that could keep up. The current PM still takes public transport sometimes, that’s something of a political statement, but I don’t think that Trump will be joining him. My brother was walking down a street in Vienna when the President of Israel (not the Prime Minister) walked by. He was surrounded by a small moving swarm of civilian dazzle camouflage which made it difficult to register his size, direction and shape. Also, after he passed by, most of the un-associated civilians who just happened to be in the street at that time found other things to do and other places to be, leaving the street very quite and much emptier. for another take on Aus security, see this utube video: (Chasers at APEC) [Chasers APEC Motorcade Stunt FULL - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdnAaQ0n5-8) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/33 "2017-01-17T12:09:12Z")
I’ve just remembered, about 30 years ago, I was in the King’s Road in London when I noticed the seemingly incongruous spectacle of an immaculately-dressed (for high society) woman, not a hair out of place, with a pudding-faced teenage boy and a couple of burly blokes in attendance, turning into Vivienne Westwood’s punk-y boutique. It was Queen Beatrix with Willem Alexander. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/34 "2017-01-17T15:50:26Z")
Talking of the Kings Road I used to live a few doors down from Manolo Blahnik’s shop and Diana would quite often park around there, pop in and then wander off to do whatever other plans she had in the area. This was way into the paparazzi period so somehow she gave them the slip, usually after leaving the gym at Fulham Harbour. No security at all, literally no one in sight. The thing I remember the most about Diana was her rocking up at speed in the BMW, coming to a halt quickly and then executing a perfect parallel parking maneuver - she was by far the best female I’ve ever seen do that. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/35 "2017-01-17T16:28:45Z")
Well, I have seen Bernie Sanders walking downtown alone in our little town of 3000. Our sitting Governor’s have been known to stand by the side of the road waving at passing cars to try and get them to honk their horns. [cite](http://blog.uvm.edu/crvt-officialblog/2014/11/04/hello-world/) ---
**Author:** ![drewc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@drewc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewc)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/36 "2017-01-18T23:20:35Z")
New Zealand, June or July 1989. I was an exchange student at the time, 17 years old. My host father took me into a workingman’s club for lunch in Dunedin, on the South Island and 4th biggest city in NZ. We walk in, and my host father immediately points out a tall guy in the corner, beer in hand, surrounded by a massive party of two. Thus, I had a nice chat with the standing Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer about NZ, the US, and Chicago in particular as I learned he was at U of C Graduate School of Business around the same time my actual father was. No security whatsoever and we were on the way from point A to point B, decided we were hungry, and the club was just right there. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/37 "2017-01-18T23:35:25Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I’ll give my own examples. I’m an ordinary bloke in Canada; no links to the PMO or Rideau Hall. My head of state/government is obviously not at all accessible, since I’m an American. This isn’t a head of state/government, at least not on a national level, but I remember one time when I was in Newfoundland, visiting the in-laws, and my wife (born and raised in Newfoundland, but now living in the US) decided she wanted to see the premier of Newfoundland about something or other, and we just walked into the government building in St. John’s, and went upstairs and knocked on his door and saw him. Couldn’t do that with the governor of my state (NY). ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/38 "2017-01-19T00:45:01Z")
Population of Newfoundland, approx. 528,000. Population of New York State, approx. 19.75 millioin. Could this be why? ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/39 "2017-01-19T01:10:37Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Population of Newfoundland, approx. 528,000. Population of New York State, approx. 19.75 millioin. Could this be why? Well, yes, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314/40 "2017-01-19T01:16:55Z")
Probably not. Why should the size of the population affect risk ? If crazies are say, .01% of the population, then New York has around 2000 crazies, and there are 52 crazy Newfies. And one borderline. Whatever the odds, it only takes one crazy to do his dark and bloody deed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worldwide-dopers-how-accessible-is-your-head-of-state-head-of-government/777314.md?page=3)