Ah, the USA. Let’s celebrate their own celebration of ignorance and stupidity. How these people get on television is anyone’s guess. WEE mean, Australia has its own crass and appalling TV journalists, commentators and entertainers (Kyle Sandilands anyone?) but the US really takes the cake in promoting the truly sub-intelligent and moronic to celebrity prominence.

News Ltd, has found some commentators and journalists worse than their own to pick on for once…

‘Serial killer’ for approving camel cull “Launched air strikes against camels” Anchor is serious The Punch: A bit too far?PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has been labelled a serial killer on US TV for approving the culling of feral camels.Erin Burnett, an anchor on American financial news channel CNBC, launched a verbal attack targetting Rudd following his government’s decision to spend $A19 million to cull feral camels in the outback.

via Kevin Rudd called a ‘serial killer’ on CNBC | TV | News.com.au.

These people are really stupid and so dumb transparent -  you can bet if John Howard had made this decision it wouldn’t have rated a mention.

But their real stupidity is that they have sat and barracked for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for the last few years and simply cannot see the offensive irony of calling the cull of camels in the outback ‘genocide’.

These people represent a portion of the American establishment that is sick, sick, sick. They are so out of touch with any kind of reality that it really is not worth talking about their outlandish behaviour and hateful, bile filled speech. They are so tired and dull. Let’s just hope they go away.

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photo credit: whoohoo120

Jetsetter PM is losing points with voters

By Sharri Markson

September 21, 2008 12:01am

Rumblings of discontent can be heard across the nation as grumpy voters begin protesting about the extraordinary amount of time the Prime Minister spends abroad.

Jetsetter PM is losing points with voters | NEWS.com.au.

Dear Sharri seems to be making up the news now. There is absolutely no evidence presented in this article that the PM is losing points with voters. Perhaps some friends of Sharri mentioned it to her? Who knows? It’s just another case of News journalists making up the news.

The only source of dissent around the PMs travel has been the opposition leader. Well, what a surprise that he’d be making something of it. It seems that Sharri lacks the capacity for independent thought and so is just parrotting some press release from the opposition.

There is absolutely no evidence presented in the article. If she has it, why didn’t she show it? It’s because she has pulled this piece out of somewhere that the sun don’t shine.

Yet again, the standard of journalism at the Daily Telegraph reaches now lows.

I suggest perhaps Sharri wait for a poll that shows some evidence of disatisfaction with the PMs travel – then she might have an article. At the moment though, she’s making it up as she goes along.

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photo credit: Mykl Roventine

Please Kevin, can you eat a moose?

By Laurie Oakes

September 06, 2008 04:10am

Article from: The Courier-Mail

IT’S not fair. The Americans have Sarah Palin. Why can’t we have one of those?

Mooseburgers may not be everyone’s idea of the perfect feed, and some people might baulk at giving their kids names like Track or Trig or Bristol.

Also, the Alaskan Governor holds some views so far to the Right that she risks toppling off the edge.

Please Kevin, can you eat a moose? | NEWS.com.au.

Out they all come. All suckered in by the Repulican PR machine. Now Laurie Oakes is beginning a love affair with Palin. Anyone can have the positions this woman has – they are easy.

It’s so terrible that Laurie has to sit through boring press conferences with politicians. Perhaps if he did some real work and research into some of the issues facing this country he might find some really interesting things to report.

Alas he prefers to sit around waiting for someone to send him juicy gossip emails that then form the basis for his ‘scoops’. Oh it’s so much more interesting to listen to someone like Palin who is a ‘conviction’ politician who believes everything has an easy answer – gee, it sounds eerily like the present encumbent. The US needs oil in the Middle East – start a war. The economy is tanking – cut taxes for the rich. Teenagers keep getting pregnant – just stop having sex. Heavans, if it was all this simple then none of these things would be intractable problems.

Still, that doesn’t bother Laurie, he prefers people that can deal him simple answers – wow that makes for interesting interviews. If someone is poor – it’s their fault. If there is oil in Alaska you just drill for it. There’s no such thing as climate change – it’s just a bunch of old cobblers.

Yeah, that easier to report isn’t Laurie? No research required. Just some ‘good ole’ home truths from people who prefer to let those at the bottom of the pile rot. Or worse, if they live outside of the US, just blow them up with cluster bombs.

It’s time for Laurie to hang up his keyboard. It’s obviously got a little too hard for him.

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Rudd wants all to pay for climate except him NEWS.com.au
Rudd wants all to pay for climate except him

By Glenn Milne

July 06, 2008 12:00am

I mean, is this guy for real? Is this guy meant to be a serious political journalist? This is like something written by a 3 year old. WEE are flabbergasted.

What is going on at news.com.au?

Basically, Milne argues that, beyond all convention of PMs in this country, that Rudd should pay his own prime ministerial costs for transport and so forth. This is bizarre. WEE can only hope that this was an article written in jest that mistakenly made it to the website.

If Milne stands by such rubbish is this, then he really is the pathetic excuse for a journalist WEE always suspected he was. Unprofessional and puerile – that man really should be sacked.

And just in case they realise how pathetic this article is and remove it from news.com.au, WEE have pasted the contents here.

Prime Minister won’t pay his power, petrol bills

Carbon trading scheme will drive up costs

Rudd says he understands pressures families face

Last December, after signing the Kyoto Protocol at the Bali Climate Change Summit, Mr Rudd declared: “We must all share the burden.”

KEVIN Rudd wants all Australians to share the pain of increased costs to help save the planet from climate change – except him.

The Prime Minister revealed yesterday he would continue to allow taxpayers to pick up his power and petrol bills.

In the wake of the week’s Garnaut report, Mr Rudd was asked if he would pay for power, lighting and heating bills at The Lodge.

The Sunday Herald Sun also asked whether he would start to pay his petrol bills for his chauffeur-driven car.

Mr Rudd’s office responded: “The Prime Minister will not be changing the long-standing practices of previous prime ministers in relation to these matters.

“The Prime Minister understands the cost-of-living pressures that confront Australia’s working families, carers and seniors.

“He also understands that Australians want the Australian Government to take action on climate change.”

Taxpayers pick up the bill for the car and The Lodge.

The Government is set to introduce a national Emissions Trading System by 2010 that will increase the cost of energy bills and fuel in the name of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr Rudd has stressed that for a carbon trading system to work, consumers must be hit with a noticeable price rise in order for them to begin reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr Rudd declined to say how much The Lodge and his chauffeur driven car cost taxpayer’s last year, referring the Sunday Herald Sun to Government annual reports.

According to Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolio estimates, the cost of running The Lodge and Kirribilli House in Sydney is expected to be $1.8 million this financial year.

Mr Rudd, whose wife, Therese Rein’s companies turned over about $260 million last year, also has a taxpayer-subsidised nanny for his youngest son and a taxpayer-funded butler paid $78,000 a year.

Mr Rudd earns $370,000 a year, including allowances.

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WEE think the most amazing thing about this election was the fact that the off-mainstream press (MSM) were so stunningly accurate with their predictions of a Labor win. When many were wavering and worrying about the ‘narrowing’ or Rudd just messing up, the poll watchers were calmly asserting that there was nothing to worry about.

And on the night it seems they were dead right. WEE must say, that we didn’t really believe the wise old sage, Possum, would be right – although WEE were confidently predicting a Labor win to friends and sundry, back in the deep recesses WEE had our doubts.

And then, on the evening of the election broadcast (admittedly before Queensland votes had begun counting) WEE were still wavering, worried sick that Howard and his cronies would win their unwinnable election.

But to great relief, Possum and Pollbludger were proved correct. And Howard was swept from office.

Highlights of the night included the roar from the crowd in the tally room when the ABC showed a graphic of Bennelong with Maxine McKew ahead of John Howard. Also Kerry O’Brien claiming that there, ‘was a swing to the ABC’. Priceless. It could possibly be Freudian slip of the century – in that it confirms everything the Howard huggers and ABC haters have mythologised about what’s wrong with the national broadcaster.

And finally, the change of government. It’s noticeable. There is a different feeling out there in the community now. A collective sigh of relief that Howard has gone. A slight jolt when an announcer on TV mentions the Prime Minister and you see an image of Kevin Rudd. We’re still getting used to it. Eleven years is a long time, and it’s been a long time between drinks for compassionate and respectable government. Let’s hope that Rudd can deliver the goods.

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From the start of this saga, WEE had given the Government the benefit of the doubt. Maybe there really was something that the AFP had on Haneef. WEE were content, despite the uneasiness of the continued extensions of Haneef’s detention, to let the AFP do their job and trust that the judicial review of the case would ensure a reasonable outcome. But then it started…

Government ministers couldn’t help themselves, commenting on the case. Ruddock, Downer, Andrews and Howard just couldn’t keep their mouths shut. This wasn’t for the benefit of the case, it was to try and draw the opposition out – to try and get a rise from Rudd. And the longer Rudd resisted the more bits and pieces of information dribbled out. That was until it became apparent that the AFP had made some errors in the investigation.

Mick Keelty blames the time zone difference between Australia and the UK for some of the confusion. Good grief, its 2007 not 1807. However, when push came to shove and they had to make some charge against Haneef to justify all the carry on surrounding the case, the judicial system operated as it should and granted bail to the accused.

This is where things started to go off the rails and the Government really started to overstep its power. Kevin Andrews, a grubby character if ever there was one, and a committed Christian, decided that based on some evidence that only the AFP and he have been privy to (and which seems to be the only piece of evidence not leaked to the press!) he would revoke Haneef’s working visa. This truly was an act of a complete bastard. A mean, nasty and vicious act – and an act that was political in its motive.

And make no mistake, this was not an act that Andrews dreamed up all by himself. This one has all the hallmarks of a classic Howard maneuver. Try and win a political point over Labor under the guise of anti-terror laws. They have used this time and time again. And unfortunately for the Gold Coast registrar Haneef, he was in the way, and disposable (and deportable).

What they didn’t count on was the whole AFP case unravelling quite so badly. Unravelling to the point that the DPP had to drop the charges against Haneef.

If the Coalition had been able to resist their insatiable desire for a political wedge to damage Rudd, they wouldn’t be in this mess. If they had let the AFP do their job without the running commentary. If Haneef could have waited patiently for the case against him to be dropped after investigation, then none of this grandstanding would have been necessary. None of this visa nonsense would be necessary and the whole thing could have been a shining demonstration of how the terror laws could work – even in the case of an innocent person being detained.

But no, our grubby leaders couldn’t let that happen. And it begs the question. Did they really introduce the terror laws to protect Australia? Or did they introduce them to create the circumstances for political show trials? Show trials designed to keep the community in fear? Show trials to try and goad the opposition into questioning their outrageous treatment of any poor bugger that gets detained on flimsy or false evidence?

These are the questions we should reflect back on these men who think nothing of dragging Haneef through mud. Of course they will squeal like stuck pigs that this article is written by someone soft on terror, that WEE haven’t seen the evidence against Haneef, that WEE would prefer to see someone get killed in a terror attack that protect the nation. What rot.

WEE cannot stop asking these questions. The veil of suspicion must fall on the Howard government. It is they who have betrayed our trust in this case. It is they who have behaved in the most appalling way. It is they who are threatening the national security of this country through their abuse and disregard for natural justice and common law.

Do not let Andrews cast further suspicion onto Haneef as he tried to do by commenting on the haste with which the poor doctor left the country last night. Rather let us reflect on the haste with which Andrews made his decisions about this case, and the suspicion this arouses about the Government’s motives for such actions. Get suspicious about everything this Government has done and will do in the future under the guise of terror laws and ‘protecting’ Australia.

Question their utterances, now matter how Downer extreme. Question their actions. For in our view these are not the actions of men with the countries interest at heart – this are men who are acting in their own self-interest, and in the interest of maintaining power.

And finally, can WEE just make the observation that the quiet dignity and grace that Haneef has shown since his release stands in stark contrast to the hysterics of the grubby men who pretend they are protecting Australia.

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Well, NSW have voted and it’s another four years of the Labor Party running the state. If ever there was a winnable election for the Coalition, it should have been this one.

WEE were struck, watching the election coverage last night, that it’s inexplicable in any logical world why the Liberal Party did not select Barry O’Farrell as its leader when they had the chance. WEE hope they get the message coming out of this election that people just don’t like Peter Debnam. They don’t relate to him. The Liberals can bang on all they like about the negative campaign of the Labor party and it’s attacks on Debnam, but in the end those ads only resonated with people because they really don’t like him.

Why didn’t the Liberal Party mount a negative personal attack on Iemma? Because people like him. They certainly mounted negative personal attacks on Costa, Sartor and Tripodi (who WEE have it on pretty good authority people don’t like!). Why did the Liberal Party attack Latham with such gusto at the last Federal election? Because they suspected that people didn’t like him much and eventually that was the case. Sure the negative campaigns can be powerful, but there has to be a grain of reality in people’s perception for negative campaigns to work.

Look at Kevin Rudd. The federal Liberal Party’s attempts to hone in negatively on him have backfired spectacularly. That’s because no matter what he has or hasn’t done, people like him and reckon he’s okay. If the federal Liberal Party had handled Rudd in the way the NSW Liberals have handled Iemma, they may have avoided the embarrassment of the last few weeks of ministerial losses. Not attacking Iemma probably helped the NSW Libs in making the state election a positive result for them (even if they didn’t win office).

All they have to do now is realise that Debnam comes across as a bit of a spiv and so people don’t really like him or relate to him. They need to get rid of him as quickly as they can and install someone that people do relate to – WEE happen to think that’s O’ Farrell.

The NSW right obviously has much to answer for on this front, it was the dirty campaign to get rid of Brogden that installed Debnam in the first place (after O’Farrell withdrew from the leadership contest because he knew the right would wreck his chances by undermining him, even if he won).

Ironically, if they had all left Brodgen to it, he probably would have been Premier this weekend. Instead their meddling has delivered another four years of government to the ALP in NSW.

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WEE are not so sure. He is a wily old ______. There is still a long way to go to the next election and he’s been down and out for the count before. But most agree he hasn’t been quite this far down and out in his years in office. Perhaps we are really sensing a mood for change among the Australian people, and it would be quite extraordinary that in an economy that is still going strong, issues around human rights, the war in Iraq and workplace relations come into focus as key concerns for the voting public.

The war and human rights have been in focus before and haven’t damaged Howard. It’s really still a waiting game to see if he has credibility left on these issues, or if people are really just sick of the accumulation of mean-spiritedness and untruths over much of these social matters. Perhaps this election won’t be fought on “it’s the economy stupid” but rather over the broad vision of where Australia is heading as a nation in the next twenty years.

Whatever the next few months hold, it is going to get vicious. Howard will not risk the trashing of his legacy without a fight. Or… Costello. Nah, he’s left his run way too late.

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