Entries tagged as ‘Rudd’
A schoolboy in short pants attempting a man’s job, who could that be? I’d hazard a guess that our milquetoast PM fits that bill. Along with his schoolyard playmates, Swanny, who can’t do his sums, despite being our Treasurer, and their gal pal, Gillard, the carrot top who reckons that by erecting a few overpriced shelter sheds, minus the walls, constitutes an education revolution, we’ve got a debacle that can only be exacerbated by inviting the only cool guy in school, the one who sings in a band, to actually do something. Unfortunately, Knucklehead was only ever good at cavorting on stage, not climbing into the roof to check the insulation.
Fortunately the triumvirate realised this and enlisted Lindsay Tanner to complete the Gang of Four. As Finance Minister he proposed a tax on the only sector of Australian business that is actually prospering after the GFC.
Killing the goose that laid the golden egg is certainly one way to achieve a windfall, but certainly not the way to ensure Australia’s economic future.
While the previous regime shackled us with an unworkable ‘Work Choices’ policy, yet left us with money in the bank, this group of political neophytes seems intent on leaving us with a Whitlam-esque sized debt, an open border policy, and a complete lack of concern for any in the community who aren’t classified as ‘working families’.
Categories: bastards & champions
Tagged: Federal Labor, Gillard, Rudd, Swan
Unlike Keating’s ‘recession we had to have’, this election is becoming the election we wish was done and dusted, home and hosed, so we can get on to voting for the real politicians. Whether Abbott or Rudd wins the top seat this November, it will seem like an also ran affair that most of us wish we didn’t have to attend.
Bright and shiney Kev has tarnished his ‘milky bar kid’ persona by failing to oversee almost all of Labor’s initiatives; a disappointment to many who voted for him. Unfortunately attending a conference in Copenhagen and saying ‘sorry’ to the indigenous are not initiative enough to inspire confidence. The rest of Labor’s attempted initiatives appear to have fallen flat, if not self-destructed.
Bovver boy Tony Abbott, on the other hand, has come out punching without any real agenda, any cohesive policy, and displaying a reckless disregard for the trust of the Australian public. Whether he’s appearing in budgie smugglers or shooting his mouth off, the electorate is right to feel a certain apprehension about his aspirations to become prime minister.
Is there any relief in sight? Quite a lot actually. Both parties have potential superstars hidden in the wings. The effable Julia Gillard, whom I’ll describe as definitive, decisive and determined, and the magnanimous Malcolm Turnbull, a man prepared to cross the floor on the issue of global warming.
Could Julia restore core values to the Labor Party, and can Malcolm drag the Libs kicking and screaming into the 21st Century? On both counts I would hope so, and also hope that this sham of an election is done and dusted as soon as possible.
Categories: bastards & champions
Tagged: Labor, Liberal, Rudd, Tony Abbott
‘Scores of Carlsberg workers have walked off their jobs to protest the Danish brewer’s new limits on beer drinking at work.’
Whether you agree or not, this puts Australia’s ‘nanny state’ mentality into perspective. Of course drinking beer at work isn’t world’s best practice, yet the Danes aren’t wielding the big clog here, they only want brewery workers not to get drunk while drinking beer on the job. The drivers are exempt from this ruling. Apparently they can drink, but the caveat is an alcohol ignition lock on the trucks.
The Danes aren’t stupid.
The Danes also aren’t over-worrying, do-gooders who want to beat the joie de vivre out of anyone who doesn’t follow their lifestyle. Of course, this Danish example is slanted to one side of the argument, yet Australian authorities seem far pressed the other way.
You can barely blink today without some faux authority coming down on you like a ton of bricks. Take your dog for a walk? Take a plastic bag? In my day, dog shit was biodegradable. Honk your horn whilst driving? Be prepared for a $230 fine, even if it was just to say hello to a friend. Yet these same governmental do-gooders somehow fail to stop youths carrying knives. They have no control over cultural elements in society who are intent on destroying our way of life. Nonetheless they insist on reigning in our freedoms.
This is the crux of the matter; pacifying much of the populace with ‘Milky Bars‘, while giving free reign to immigrants to remake this country in their image. That the Danes manage to send Carlsberg Beer across the world, while enjoying a lager or two at lunch time, makes a mockery of our nanny state imposing baby rules of behaviour, rather than policing the issues that many Australians are concerned about.
Categories: bastards & champions
Tagged: Carlsberg, milky bar kid, milky bars, nanny state, Rudd
In my quest for artistic expression and freeware image software in that previous post, I seem to have forgotten to give my opinion on the Not So Great Debate. Given that I am a stalwart Liberal voter, of course I’m not overjoyed to see the Mad Monk so absolutely rejected by the Worm. However what dismays me more is the manner in which almost all published print journalists have had a field day shredding big Tony’s efforts while praising lil’ Kev.
That these supposedly astute professional political commentators so readily abandon their reasoning and listening skills and instead rely on a computer software widget to do their analysis is bewildering. The Worm provides no more than an easy way for viewers to see what a random group of people in a TV studio think. Rather than listen to both sides of the conversation, viewers merely have to follow the bouncing ball.
Abbott challenged Rudd to this premature debate; that it was more a name-calling exchange is not surprising. What is surprising is why did Tony do it? He has no policies stamped and printed, he has been on the ground less than four months. His taunts and jibes all carry weight, but Rudd’s overruling charge of negativity is relevant. It is the job of the Opposition Leader to attack, but to undertake a debate, Rudd is correct in saying that Abbott is all negativity.
On the other hand, the Grand Waffler, our multilingual leader, and I say that because as well as English and Mandarin he seems to have mastered Lorem Ipsum, that filler language used when any text is needed regardless of meaning. Unfortunately our man Rudd has misinterpreted this and decided to use it as his lingua franca.
Playing the man and not the politics, I’ll suggest that Rudd’s frozen smile and suppressed anger were no match for Abbott’s bovver boy smile, his misplaced jokes, and his everyman’s way of looking someone in the eye when talking to them.
I was horrified to see Rudd in action. A bureaucratic robot, nothing more. While Tony Abbott may not be our best bet, and whether Malcolm Turmbull is our next bet, the Milky Bar Kid is in his third year of Labor’s term, and has achieved no more than a third year student at Nambour High. We expect more than that. Platitudes, failed promises, inept internet solutions, GroceryWatch, FuelWatch, botched insulation installations, schools that aren’t receiving computers but are suddenly finding they have a new outdoor shelter. Ooh, just what they needed. This is ridiculous.
Rudd and Gillard need to get their heads together, learn what really matters to students, and people in general. Stop using ridiculous terms like ‘working families’, and ‘mums and dads’. Society is made up of more than that demographic. Rudd’s preponderance with pandering to his imagined constituency shows a distinct lack of political maturity.
Categories: bastards & champions
Tagged: debate, health care, Rudd, the Worm, Tony Abbott
Politics is not a glamour profession, yet rather than seek statemen as our leaders, we seem to prefer shiny new kids on the block. Granted Howard was putting up his hand for retirement, yet had he wished to fight an honest campaign, instead of inveigling us with his draconian Work Choices, he could have fought to the bitter end.
I am, however, glad he chose to step on his sword. On the other hand, in the melee that was 2005, we lost a grand politician in the former leader of the ALP, Kim Beazley. Rather than thrust him aside due to his repeatedly failed attempts at winning power, perhaps 2005+ Labor could have taken a leaf out of the Libs notebook.
Howard was Lazarus resurrected twice. He went on to run the country for ten years. Labor missed a great opportunity here, preferring a shiny new leader, a man with little experience as a cabinet minister, instead of a man with a bulk of experience and a bulk of compassion rarely witnessed in a politician. That he had a bulk of body weight seemed to weigh more heavily on Caucus than his previous achievements.
The end result today is that we have a bright sunshiny Milky Bar Kid, who having handed out his Milky Bars, is now bereft of ideas, responding only to the most dire predictions from his advisors. Having bungled the free pink batt scheme, he is gratuitously grabbing at the genome of our hospital system, declaring he’ll redesign it.
If he and his minions are incapable of administering a simple insulation installation, why should we feel confident about his hospital plan?
Better that Labor had supported their old war-horse, Beazley, the experienced politician, rather than this inexperienced gobbledegook talker. As Howard’s record shows, the electorate is not as vacuous as presented by Women’s Weekly, the Telegraph and mamamia.com.au
Categories: bastards & champions
Tagged: Beasley, Howard, Rudd, telegraph, Womens' Weekly
The man formerly known as the Mad Monk took one step closer to the Lodge yesterday with his announcement of six months’ paid parental leave. No doubt there will be naysayers who will pooh-pooh his premature announcement, citing that he was only hanging off the skirts of International Women’s Day. However, for those of us able to stand aside from partisan squabbles, he has shown himself to be a leader.
By sidestepping the usual quagmire a leader has to wade through, he has presented Australia with an idea whose time has come. Days will tell if he has the nation on side or the party. I’m sure most Australians would rather he had the nation on side.
Meanwhile, Muggins, on the other side, is waffling on about insulation standards, and as far as I can see, a rock’n'roller’s responsibility. I could be wrong there. The waffle is now so thick that I no longer understand a word he says.
Categories: champions
Tagged: Rudd, Tony Abbott, parental leave, milky bar kid
