This is a comment from James over at Catallaxy Files in response to Henry Ergas’ post A lost search for silver linings, which looks at the washup from the election.
The inevitable navel gazing is currently infecting not only the ALP but also their acolytes at Their ABC, Fairfax mastheads The Age and SMH andvarious left leaning commercial TV station commentators such as Laurie “Jabba the Hut” Oakes, Mark “Don’t write crap” Riley and Peter “I really wish I was born in Russia” Bourgono
Let’s see what pearl of lefty wisdom James has gleaned from watching and reading the post election analysis of these oh-so-obviously left leaning media types.
So according to the television:
The ALP was awesomeness but Just got disunity n stuff.
The big businesses and da evil Murdoch tricked the voters into voting out an awesome party of economic geniuses who could not tell everyone how awesomeness they were because of disunity.
Rudd is awesome for doing so well, but bad because of disunity.
Most importantly the ALP has never been wrong about anything.
Sounds about right given the mutterings I have seen and heard from leftards that I know. LOL
If this is what his own team say about him what does it say about them now that they elected him leader of the ALP again? Are they hypocrites or just shameless carpetbaggers protecting their cushy sinecures?
How can Australian’s have such a short memory to have forgotten that Rudd was a dismal failure the first time around?
Is it our diet of Big Brother and Masterchef that has rotted our collective brains? Flooded by a diet of vacuous narcissists vying to be popular for popular’s sake we have forgotten to question actual performance and efficacy.
Is it a left leaning media’s obsession with the banal utterings on Twitter that has masked the feelings of the silent majority with the faux outrage of the Perpetually Offended and Outraged (POOs)?
We have been hoodwinked into thinking that a 30 second trend by 1% of people on a platform that has less than 10% of the population participating is indicative of how the wider community feels.
Finally, after several weeks of Kev Jong Il poncing around the country, the Liberals have launched their Rudd Offensive.
Part one of a series of TV adverts that begins today illustrates quite clearly that Dear Leader is the prime architect of the majority of Labor’s ill fated policies, policies that have brought us nothing but pain, now and into the future.
He’s not the messiah, he’s just a puffed up egomaniac who is unfit to govern.
From Andrew Bolt comes a startling insight from former Labor Chief Whip, Joel Fitzgibbon, into the joke that Labor has become, even to those inside Labor itself.
When asked whether he was shattered about todays Newspoll results that show Labor almost beyond salvation Mr Fitzgibbon pulls out the official Labor playbook to give the suggested response to any questions relating to the disastrous figures.
And laughs. OMG could this bunch be any WORSE?
I think we know the answer, but lets go to the tape.
The poll that Kochie is referring to is the latest Newspoll which clearly shows that Labor’s support is falling faster than a lead balloon and is heading to Tarago country.
I am not sure if you saw the new Liberals advert on TV over the weekend, but if you havent it is an absolute cracker.
Poking fun at the never ending policy foul ups that have plagued the government ever since Gillard’s coup de grace in 2010, it really hits the mark in portraying Labor as a bunch of headless chooks running amok in the henhouse.
Check it out
I would encourage you to also visit the campaign site for more chook lotto fun and check out the hilarious character assessments of the various Labor chooks. The pick of the bunch are the assessments for the “world’s greatest treasurer” Wayne Swan and his Finance Minister sidekick Penny Little, ah I mean Penny Wong.
Swan is described as a text book example of the Peter Principle, which asserts that employees tend to rise to their level of incompetence. Fans of Dilbert will be well versed on the Peter Principle.
Wong is also on the receiving end of a decent serve by describing her climb back to the top of the SA Senate bill as going from number two to number one. Ouch.
There will be many more of these types of campaigns as the Liberals sheet home the blame for the last seven years of incompetence, backflips and policy debacles wholly and solely into the Labor camp.
Tired of being told I’m not tolerant by intolerant minority group that demands that I change and I dare to ask them why I should.
Tired of these never ending demands from extremely vocal minorities who they say their demands must be met by a largely acquiescent majority that are not allowed demand anything from them in return.
Tired of being told that I’m out of touch because I’m happy with things that work and that have been the cornerstone of our liberal democracy for centuries.
Tired of watching people take for granted and trample on the very freedoms that Australians have died for in the past and have made Australia the envy of the world for as long as people can remember.
Tired of being told I’m a racist for wanting people who come to this country to try and fit in just like everyone else who has come to this country before them did like many of our parents, grand parents and great grand parents did without complaint.
Tired of being told how I am not being responsible because I don’t like people smugglers running our immigration policy.
Tired of being told how I have no compassion because I don’t want people drowning in the ocean when their leaky boats sink miles from shore.
Tired of being told I’m a bigot because I don’t want to let in people into Australia who pose a serious health risk when they arrive unannounced on our shores with diseases that took us centuries to eradicate.
Tired of being told I’m a redneck because I don’t want people coming here uninvited at such a rate that the authorities can’t do the checks and we don’t know who they actually are.
Tired of being told Australia is such a rubbish country and we should all change by people who purposely travel halfway around the world to get here because the places they left were no good.
Tired of being told I’m a insert name here-ophobe by people who seem more capable of hate than love, and more able to tear down than build up.
Tired of people wasting money but being told I need to contribute more for people who contribute nothing for themselves.
Tired of being told I am an economic illiterate by people who understand nothing about basic economics.
Tired of being told that debt is good by people who will never be expected to pay the debt back.
Tired of being lied to and being told it is I that is the liar.
Tired of being told to shut up by people who just won’t stop talking.
Simon Crean has completely washed away any lingering notion that he was merely a Gillard stooge in the recent failed leadership spill by openly criticising Labor’s looming changes to superannuation legislation.
As this article is once again behind Evil Rupert’s Evil Paywall™, I will summarise it for those of you who chose not to pay for your news.
Simon Crean has deepened the rift within Labor over looming budget changes to the superannuation regime, declaring he would oppose any move by the government to tax earnings on super accounts.
Launching an attack on Labor’s inability to frame serious policy debate, the senior party figure would not comment on whether he would cross the floor to vote against any changes.
But he called on the government to explicitly rule out changes that retrospectively taxed earnings generated by super accounts, saying it was “tantamount to taxing people’s retirement surpluses to fund our surplus“.
Mr Crean delivered his ultimatum shortly after Trade Minister Craig Emerson called for a discussion on lifting taxes on the superannuation accounts of the “fabulously wealthy”, highlighting the rift in Labor ranks over values and policy substance after last month’s leadership crisis.
Crean is not the only Labor stalwart who has openly criticised the Gillard Government’s approach to superannuation policy following the recent failed leadership coup, with both Martin Ferguson and Bill Kelty voicing concerns about retrospectively taxing superannuation in order to balance the Government’s faltering bottom line.
Even Bernie Fraser, former Reserve Bank governor, Treasury secretary in the 1980s under the Hawke government and a former voice of the industry super movement, said yesterday
…the government’s rhetoric on class warfare and on foreign workers was divisive and desperate but argued that a “good case” could be made for re-examining super concessions for high-income earners.
“It’s very true,” Mr Fraser said of the criticism. “I share the same concern and frustration as to how Labor has lost its way over recent years compared to the Hawke-Keating years, which were devoted to making the whole country and the whole community better off.”
As many other commentators who are far more qualified than I have pointed out, no “good case” has been made by the Gillard government to tax superannuation, regardless of the respective balances of people’s funds.
Crean continued to not only walk the walk, but talk the talk….
“I will oppose anything that seeks retrospectively to tax people’s accumulated earnings in superannuation,” Mr Crean said.
“..But if the question is the need to ensure the sustainability of the system in the future, then frame the debate properly about what is sought to be achieved and let’s have that debate.
One of the big criticisms I have of this government is that it has failed to frame the debate in its terms. And you are always behind if you fail to frame the debate in your terms.”
Mr Crean would not be drawn directly on whether he would cross the floor but said any attempts to retrospectively target super earnings should be explicitly “ruled out”.
While the article discusses potential changes to the super for what Dr Emerson described as the “fabulously wealthy“, it does note the negatives of any such move..
An alternative strategy would be to increase the tax on contributions to super by high-income earners from 15 per cent to 30 per cent. However, this would not raise as much money.
So it seems it is all about how much money can be potentially raised by increasing taxes on peoples super, as opposed to some noble socialist cause. It was Margaret Thatcher who famously said in 1976 that
…Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.
Perhaps we should first start to look for “savings“, as Wayne Swan egregiously describes any proposed changes to taxation, in the extremely generous superannuation entitlements of our top public servants and politicians before they look to raid everyone else’s retirement savings.
As the article suggests
One of the problems with raising the tax on earnings is applying it to defined benefit schemes, such as the generous schemes for politicians and public servants that have been closed to new entrants.
If Wayne Swan is defeated at this year’s election, he is eligible for a parliamentary pension of $168,106 a year.
Julia Gillard, if defeated in September, would be eligible for a pension of $177,520 a year.
A worker not on a defined benefit scheme would need to build up a superannuation lump sum of up to $5.6 million to secure the same amount.
I wonder if Dr Emerson would regard Swan and Gillard as falling into this new class of the “fabulously wealthy“, or is that definition only reserved for those of us that actually work for a living?
Having gone through countless iterations over the past three years, Julia Gillard is almost out of personalities to morph into in her quest to hold onto the Prime Ministership that she clearly values above all else.
We saw and experienced the Real Julia™, when she noticed that the electorate was tired of the old Julia and needed something new to focus on. But that didn’t last long when people started to question if this was the “real” Julia, then who was the one beforehand?
We then endured the Concerned Julia™, when she bemoaned that a good government had lost its way under Kevin Rudd. Only for her own government to lose its own way in the polls, dropping to a point way below that where they got rid of Kevni’s own personal brand of dysfunctional megalomania.
We presently have the Bookish Schoolmarm Julia™, with her newly minted black rimmed glasses firmly planted on her nose, feverishly trying to exude an air of old fashioned strict authoritarianism in an effort to sway those lovely, yet oh so oppressed mummy bloggers of Sydney’s northern shores. Just love the pearls too, Julia.
Simultaneously, we have also seen the Fiesty Feminist Julia™, The One who will defend women throughout the world, to call misogyny out wherever and whenever she sees it. Except when it is standing there right next to her dressed as the Easter Bunny, posing for photos on her own mobile phone, like the universally loathed Kyle Sandilands did last week.
In another effort to recast the Gillard die, Mark Kenny this morning in the Sydney Morning Herald tries to argue that the new, new, new Julia is actually indestructible. Just like the T1000 in the Terminator 2.
Yep, you read that right. Gillard is now the Gillardinator – G1000 model™
Mark Kenny, in his infinite wisdom, has now compared Julia Gillard and her apparently “legendary” toughness to a homicidal, unflinching psychopathic robot that has no feelings, and no regard for anything other than its mission to kill things.
Mark, seriously mate, you need to stop drinking the Kool Aid and step out into the fresh air and take a very, very, very deep breath of reality.
But it is time to recognise that toughness not as a virtue but as a terrible flaw, an obstinacy that has encouraged Gillard to defy the harsh reality that her leadership has lost authority and that she is driving the Labor Party inexorably towards disaster.
Instead of seeing Gillard’s obstinacy as the driving force behind her inexorable march to the bottom of the political barrel, Kenny tries to valiantly ascribe a certain Churchillian quality to Gillard.
Perhaps Kenny is not quite sure what values Churchill’s great leadership was built on.
Steve Gray, a business development strategist, speaker and author of hundreds of articles on leadership, innovation, communication, marketing, management and people potential,argues in his own piece thatthe seven leadership qualities that Churchill exemplified were:
Elegant and flexible communication.
Coaching and mentoring.
Resolving challenges, conflict, complaints and issues.
Focus.
Beliefs and values.
Innovation and creativity.
Go for gold.
I would argue that Prime Minister Gillard only exemplifies one of those traits listed above, that being Focus. Only problem with that is the almost undeniable observation that Julia Gillard is only focused on staying in power and that’s about it.
Elegant and flexible communication? That’s a no from me Mark. Unless you count Gillard’s now infamous misogyny speech, which was anything but elegant. The Altona Droner has been known to mysteriously cause TV sets around the nation fall silent whenever she graces their screens.
Coaching and mentoring? Um, that’d also be a no. Unless you count the mentoring of young, fresh faces promoted way beyond their ability to ministerial portfolios that they will barely have time to understand before they are turfed into the political wilderness for the next decade after September 14, 2013.
Resolving challenges, conflict, complaints and issues? I’m sorry but that’s another no from me. I suppose one could mount an argument on this one, but only if you admire Mao Zedong’s and Joseph Stalin’s methods of dispensing with any and all dissenters that dared challenge their authority.
Beliefs and values? Um, well after having experienced so many shifts in her beliefs, the only values she subscribes to are these fabled “Labor values“, values that even Labor party stalwarts such as Martin Ferguson, Simon Crean and Bill Kelty say she has trashed in her pursuit of power for power’s sake.
Innovation and creativity? That’s another no from me Mark, because the only innovation that we have seen is innovative new ways for the Gillard government to tax us, and the only creativity I have seen from this government is in how they can creatively cook the books in their ill fated attempt to deliver a surplus that never eventuated.
Going for gold? BOMP POW – That’s another no. Gillard and Swan lurch ever onwards with their transformative crusade to drastically shift our economy away from the resource economy that our great nation was built on to a “cleaner energy future” that also doesnt look like it will deliver the goods either. More like going for broke on that one, Mark.
So there you have it folks. Julia Gillard is now a heartless robot, focussed on only one thing. Power.
The new and improved Gillardinator – G1000 model™, coming to an electorate near you soon.
Just be sure to run in the opposite direction when it does.
UPDATE: As Tim Blair suggests, perhaps Mark Kenny has forgotten how Terminator 2: Judgement Day ended… (I think this is the more apt clip from the movie)
With the ALP seriously on the nose pretty much throughout Australia, there has been an interesting trend with some of Labor’s high profile MPs not readily identifying themselves as being members of the Labor Party.
But I suppose who can blame them after Julia Gillard has helped them to trash the Labor brand so convincingly over the past few years? Gillard’s and indeed Labor’s unique blend of politics has undeniably focussed on class and gender war, racism and xenophobia, and dodgy deals that kowtow to the Prime Minister’s supporters in some of Australia’s most militant unions.
Chris Bowen – Former Immigration minister (recently sacked after supporting Kevin Rudd)
Mr Bowen doesnt even use the traditional colours of Labor, red and blue, instead choosing a lovely shade of orange.
In his header there is no mention that he is a member of the Australian Labor Party.
Peter Garrett – Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth
Mr Garrett does use the old red and blue of the ALP, but doesn’t mention in his header that he is a Labor MP
You have to scroll down all the way to the bottom of the page before you see a Labor logo anywhere on his site
Anthony Albanese – Leader of the House, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, and Minister for Regional Development and Local Government
Mr Albanese is another who dare not use the traditional colours of Labor; red and blue, instead choosing a lovely shade of orange
You have to scroll down 3/4’s of the way down the page to find a small ALP logo
It’s down there underneath his rather voluminous Twitter feed
Kevin Rudd – Former PM, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and current devil incarnate
Big Kev doesn’t even use his surname in his header, instead opting for Kevin Connects tomask his true allegiance (that being to himself)
Kevni doesnt mention the dreaded Labor Party name anywhere on his site, but who could blame him?
Judging from his website thumbnail, Kevni has chosen the colours red and yellow as his corporate branding, which as we all know is featured in the flags of both China and Russia back in its heyday
Mike Kelly – Parliamentary Secretary for Defence
Mr Kelly does have the guts to place the word “Labor” in his header but there is no logo present on his page at all.
Guess he’s hoping that you mightn’t see it there wedged between the pretty pictures of him
As Mr Kelly obviously doesnt like the ALP logo, he might want to have a word to one of his Facebook followers who has insensitively used the dreaded moniker as their profile picture. It’s the only time you see the logo anywhere on his site.
Mark Butler – Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Mental Health Reform
Aside from being a rather busy boy these days with three separate Ministries, Mr Butler certainly doesn’t have time for any Labor logos on his site either
But he does have a series of lovely images rotating on his flash banner. Just don’t ask him what party he’s from.
Simon Crean – Former Minister for Regional Australia (sacked for calling leadership ballot last week)
Well, Mr Crean’s long history of being a Labor stalwart obviously doesn’t extend to including the ALP logo anywhere near his face
Mr Crean has dispensed with the traditional red and blue of his beloved ALP, instead choosing a rather fetching shade of green
Martin Ferguson – Former Minister for Resources & Energy (resigned after failed leadership coup last week)
Another Labor stalwart whose long history of standing for the union party doesn’t extend to including the ALP logo on his site
Mr Ferguson has also dispensed with the traditional red and blue of his beloved ALP, instead choosing a rather lovely shade of blue with some pretty stars
Well, there you have it folks. That looks like plenty to me and there may well be more but looking at their sites and seeing their rather blatant attempts to disassociate themselves from the toxicity that is the ALP brand is making my breakfast of Vegemite toast begin to climb back up my gullet.
What can we say about these senior members of the Gillard government who just dont want their constituents to know that they are in fact part of the most dysfunctional caucus that Labor has ever produced?
I’m sure you all have a few words that readily spring to mind. If not, here is the word cloud that ABC readers and listeners provided after Julia Gillard’s first year in office. I don’t think that there are many on there that are no longer applicable, but I will let you be the judge of that.
Dacka's Razor 