tcpip: (Default)
Diary of a B+ Grade Polymath ([personal profile] tcpip) wrote2007-11-22 02:59 pm

A day is a long time in politics

There was a hint a few days ago that the Coalition was going to play a little grubby. First they attempted to claim that a number of Labor candidates were ineligible to stand. That fell apart quite badly. Then there was the hysterics about if Labor wins socialists and unionists will corrupt the minds of the youth.

But now they've really screwed the pooch. It would seem that NSW Liberal Party State Executive member Jeff Egan and the retiring candidate's husband and the candidate's husband, Greg Chijoff, for the marginal seat of Lindsay, Gary Clark, have been caught trying to distribute fake election material from the "Islamic Australia Federation" to support Labor. A copy of the leaflet is available. Worse still, Jackie Kelly has tried to work her way out of it in a (MP3 file ABC radio interview and on television. I don't think I have ever seen Laurie Oakes so angry.

Paul Keating gets his revenge on moral grounds. Bob Hawke gets his on economic grounds. Even Malcom Fraser - a little more carefully - gives his considered opinion. Finally, Catherine Deveny really does have a way with words.


If we do not seize this opportunity for change we will go down in history as the most greedy, gullible, mean-spirited, selfish, short-sighted, tight-fisted generation in the history of Australia. How will it feel sitting in front of that $5000 plasma TV watching reruns of American reality shows, wearing clothes manufactured in a sweat shop and sitting on a sofa made by Third World slaves? How will that feel when our public education and hospitals have been gutted and our environment corroded to a point of no return? How will it feel knowing we have turned our back on people who need us most: the poor, the broken, the scared, the sick, the elderly and the vulnerable? How will it feel when you turn to your children and say, "I believed him"?


There is no way any decent human being could vote for the Liberal Party, or even give them a major party preference, after the events of the past twenty-four hours.

[identity profile] msss.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
Well, judging from the last 10 years, it doesn't matter as long as you're ablt to have your mind numbed by the plasma TV and reality shows.

[identity profile] silverblue.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
I literally wanted to vomit when the 'look, we're rescuing child refugees! On boats! Honest! Forget about the Overboard scandal!' thing came up.

I rather like weasels as an animal. They are neat, sharp, intelligent, and attractive.

The man is rather a leech.

[identity profile] msss.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
Oh yes. And then locking them up in a detention camp. But that's out of sight and out of mind on Christmas Island.

So that's okay.

[identity profile] zhenzhi.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
lets hope then, that the majority of voters are decent human beings!

[identity profile] tcpip.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:23 am (UTC)(link)

Apparently if you plug in today's Newspoll on a state-by-state basis and make a couple of reasonable assumptions about the ACT/NT results to Antony Green's election calculator Labor ends up with 100 seats.

I'm beginning to think the majority could even be greater.

[identity profile] tcpip.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:24 am (UTC)(link)

People can be amazingly distracted by the most meaningless technological gadgets.

"Television, the drug of the nation"

[identity profile] mr-figgy.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
It's good that Gandalf appears to be riding over the ridge with reinforcements for your Helm's Deep like country.

Mixed news from this front; the federal government created the biggest wildlife sanctuary in Canada, coincidentally in a place where Trudeau thought we should put one back in the day. A lot of people are happy, especially with the land put aside for native claims.

The other side of it is that it's relatively easy to create a big wildlife sanctuary in Canada, where we do have more land than we use, especially up in the Northwest Territories where this one's been created. Easy compared to doing something about Canada's greenhouse gas emissions, which doesn't appear to be happening.

Though I welcome new native land claim areas and wildlife sanctuaries, I also heard that all the federal opposition parties are uniting to pursue information on this scandal that's also been in the news. I take it the sanctuary thing may be a huge smoke screen, apart from it being seemingly the easiest, cheapest way to silence a few environmental critics.

[identity profile] tcpip.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:29 am (UTC)(link)

I was quietly impressed by the rat fanciers who didn't agree with their favourite animal being referred to as a rodent.

How about a lamprey? Predatory, parasitic and a bottom-feeder...

[identity profile] silverblue.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:34 am (UTC)(link)
Always got to start somewhere. I think something to embrace if you're a lefty are the victories - accept and celebrate them. Then use the energy they create as a springboard to continue. Sure, you had the land, but the formalisation of it as a park has immense value, and if it is positive, maybe you can build on that.

[identity profile] tcpip.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
It's good that Gandalf appears to be riding over the ridge with reinforcements for your Helm's Deep like country.

This is more like the Witch King of Angmar deciding to commit suicide on Pelanor Fields... :-)

... coincidentally in a place where Trudeau thought we should put one back in the day

Goodness, someone should unveil his archives just to implement everything he suggested.

I take it the sanctuary thing may be a huge smoke screen, apart from it being seemingly the easiest, cheapest way to silence a few environmental critics.

Perhaps; but it won't work if the enviromentalists stay on their message.

[identity profile] artbroken.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
It's just been a cavalcade of shonk this week - and badly mismanaged shonk at that. I was expecting dirty tricks, but I wasn't expecting them to be executed so incompetently.

ROFL!

[identity profile] tcpip.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:43 am (UTC)(link)

I hope that stays up for longer than 48 hours.

Re: ROFL!

[identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/raven_/ 2007-11-22 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, me too.

It's up in my journal, but I thought I'd point you at it :)

[identity profile] tcpip.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:46 am (UTC)(link)

This might be the worst election campaign I've ever seen - and I'm trying very hard to be non-partisan about it.

Do you think all this is worth another 1.5-2.5% on TPP? After all the "last minute, swinging voter" isn't going to be terribly impressed by this performance.

[identity profile] tomusan.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:52 am (UTC)(link)
This is a display of complete and utter desperation on the part of the Liberal Party. Their campaign is one of the worst examples of political manuvering and communication - whoever studies this in fifty years time will lambast us for putting up with such a government for so long.

I thought they pushed themselves over the edge with the "Labor = Anarchy" advertisments, as well as the profound tactic of patronizing the majority of their electorate and basically chastising them for voting in "wall to wall" Labor state governments.

[identity profile] tcpip.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 04:56 am (UTC)(link)

The advertising campaign isn't working because it's so contradictory - on one hand they're saying the economy is so strong because of us and on the other they say the economy is really fragile, don't let Labor stuff it up. You can't have both.

As for "wall to wall" governments, one thing that the Labor people can say is that provides unprecedented opportunity for state and federal cooperation.

And to think that's their two big points!

[identity profile] catsidhe.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
I thought that the Witch-King of Angmar was our esteemed Attorney General, who has been very quiet in the last few months, hasn't he?

Rat-bastard Johnny is more like Saruman the technocrat, who will, in the most soporific and reasonable-sounding language, convince you why it is not only necessary, but laudable that your children are sacrificed to Melkor. With the other eight Nazgûl representing Cabinet, and Gríma Wormtongue writing the opinion columns...

Oh Goddess, this analogy gets more disturbing the better the pieces fit...

[identity profile] greylock.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
I take it you are not in WA and so did not see the West Australian's front page today:
"Boat people early winners under Rudd".

Yep - The West made their own Tampa.

[identity profile] silverblue.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
Nah, I'm a Melbournian...but wow O.o

[identity profile] greylock.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 05:17 am (UTC)(link)
Woah.
I don't think I have ever seen Laurie Oakes so angry either.

[identity profile] mr-figgy.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
It's tough not to think that this wouldn't have happened if there wasn't a possible future election at stake, though, or a scandal growing out of an old scandal from which people might be distracted. And that it seems like an easy-way solution that doesn't necessarily touch a bigger problem.

I suspect the Greenpeace people who send me newsletters could be happy about it. We'll see.

[identity profile] mr-figgy.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 05:21 am (UTC)(link)
It sounds like you have the beginnings of a compelling forwarded e-mail or meme, yes. :-)

[identity profile] tcpip.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 05:35 am (UTC)(link)

Ahh, The West.. To think in my youth it was considered the "serious" and "reasonable" paper.

[identity profile] catsidhe.livejournal.com 2007-11-22 06:16 am (UTC)(link)
Saruman = Howard. (Unless he's Sauron. Nah, Saruman's the politician.)
Witch King of Angmar, 1st Nazgûl = Ruddock.
The other eight Nazgûl = Cabinet.
Urûk Hai = Liberal Party Hierarchy.
Orks & Goblins = Liberal cannon fodder foot troops.
Wargs = Young Liberals. (For the rabid froth, and the only-semi-controllable nature)
Giant Spiders (Shelob, Ungoliant, and the Mirkwood Spiders) = Liberal Thinktanks. (Creeping through the shadows and spreading poison when least expected, paralysing debate.)
Gríma Wormtongue = The Chorus: opionistas like Bolt, Sheridan, Akerman, &c.

Anyone else we can think of? Where does Costello fit in?

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