Matthew Fisher: Barack Obama humiliates Australia, ignores Canada when he needs his friends the most

CANBERRA, Australia — There are ominous parallels in how U.S. President Barack Obama deliberately humiliated Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott last weekend, publicly accusing him of being a laggard on climate change, and how the American leader has kept Prime Minister Stephen Harper waiting at the altar for several years by withholding approval of the XL Keystone pipeline.

In both cases, Obama has cavalierly threatened close ties with two of the few countries the U.S. has always counted on when the world has gone berserk. It is part of a feeble, belated attempt by Obama to salvage a slim legacy for his struggling presidency by selecting a few environmental issues to embrace. And damn the consequences for his most staunch allies.

According to The Australian newspaper’s version of Obama’s snub, a report matched by other media, Obama ignored the advice of his own embassy in Canberra that such a commentary would badly damage relations...