Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Speedos on fire

Whenever Julia Gillard takes a different position on something from the position on it that she took some time in the past, Tony Abbott and his goons immediately revive the 'Ju-Liar' meme.

But when Tony Abbott does a complete 180 degree turn, it's because 'everything was different then'.

And the reason for this is that, like, um. Because, erm.

Face it, Tony, you've made an utter dickhead of yourself, yet again, and have demonstrated, yet again, that you don't give a rat's arse about the long-term future and all you're interested in is being Prime Minister.

I notice he doesn't explain why 'It was before Copenhagen' (say what?) should explain why he used to be in favour of a carbon tax and now he thinks it's the devil's work. I get the feeling that what he means when he says 'everything was different then' is that a pro-carbon-tax position was one that opposed what Labor was doing at the time, and he's now still opposing what Labor's doing, so what's the problem, I mean what is the matter with you people? I think he genuinely believes that it his job not to have policies, not to have principles, not to have convictions, not to understand stuff and not to represent his Party, but simply to be loudly against whatever Labor is for.

And if I hear one more person say 'The Opposition's job is to oppose' then I will throw up. Of course it's not the Opposition's job to oppose. The Opposition's job is to provide checks and balances, to represent the people who voted for it, and to maintain itself as a viable alternative guvmint. Good luck with that.

7 comments:

fmark said...

My Tony Abbott quotation (from his website, no less) is this:

"If Australia is greatly to reduce its carbon emissions, the price of carbon intensive products should rise. The Coalition has always been instinctively cautious about new or increased taxes. That’s one of the reasons why the former government opted for an emissions trading scheme over a straight-forward carbon tax. Still, a new tax would be the intelligent skeptic’s way to deal with minimising emissions because it would be much easier than a property right to reduce or to abolish should the justification for it change. "

Helen said...

Oh, please, please, send this into the AGE for the opinion page. (You'd have to add a little leadin para for the benefit of ppl who missed the qanda moment, but I'm sure that wouldn't take too long?)

Smarty said...

Nailed.

Meredith Jones said...

Amen to that.

PAUL WALTER said...

Bob Hawke yesterday described him as a nut job, or words to that effect, which is close to my reading of him.
I think of the cartoon character Snoopy, from Peanuts, a narcissistic (nearly forgot to add narcissistic) fantasist fighting imaginary Red Barons, no sense of any sense of consciousness with him.
But this pathology, that doesn't understand the meaning and significance of a lie and what it is, and can't identify when it lies, unlike most other people, is a black hole of uncertainty for me.
now, back to Hawking; enough of the poor man's Lecter.

David Irving (no relation) said...

Harry Franfurter's essay On Bullshit seems to have been written for Our Tony.

WV is "revoltio" - yet again, unsettlingly appropriate.

Ann ODyne said...

another 180-turn:
No explanations as Julia Gillard book is dumped
NEWS.com.auhttp://www.news.com.au/national/no-explanations-as-julia-gillard-book-is-dumped/story-e6frfkvr-1226073655327 - Samantha Maiden - ‎8 hours ago‎
AN unauthorised biography of Julia Gillard that ALP strategists feared would rock the Labor Party has been dumped in a literary mystery. Billed by publisher Allen & Unwin as "the book of the year", the long-awaited tell-all on the ...
Tell-all bio on Prime Minister Julia Gillard canned
Adelaide Now - Samantha Maiden - ‎8 hours ago‎
Billed by publisher Allen & Unwin as "the book of the year", the long awaited tell-all on the Prime Minister's life and times by biographer Christine Wallace was due for release shortly. The decision will shock the publishing industry but Ms Wallace ..