Oh for ____’s sake! Well the Liberal Party of Australia is really focused in on the important issues.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been accused of swearing on purpose on national television to increase his appeal to voters.

Last night on Channel 7 Mr Rudd dropped the word “shit” as he spoke to sacked Pacific Brands workers about the Government’s decision to spend billions stimulating the economy.

“People have to understand that, because there’s going to be the usual political shit storm, sorry, political storm, over that,” he said.

His comments were applauded by the audience.

But this morning Melbourne’s Liberal Mayor Robert Doyle and Opposition frontbencher Peter Dutton both accused Mr Rudd of scripting the moment

via Rudd flies into swearing storm – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

What a bunch of tossers. With all there is to criticise Kevin Rudd over this is the one? Or is it payback for the equally moronic carry-on about the Labor Party’s horror that Malcolm Turnbull mentioned the name of the Prime Minister’s wife and wealth in the same sentence.

Can someone inform both parties there’s an economic meltdown, bushfires and industrial relations legislation to discuss in rational and mature ways – WEE guess that’s hoping for too much.

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photo credit: Hengest

He’s almost as persistent as his nemesis, John Howard…

PETER COSTELLO will be forced to declare his political intentions by early April, ending months of speculation about the former federal treasurer’s future.

Supporters of Mr Costello are urging him to fight for his seat at the next federal election, saying the Liberal Party needs him more than ever as Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull fails to make headway in the opinion polls.

via Costello tipped to run for seat again – National – smh.com.au.

Is it really possible that he would wait for Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership to crash? There is actually no  firm evidence that Turnbull’s leadership is in real trouble but surely Costello is not seriously thinking that he’ll hang around just in case. And surely the Liberal Party isn’t seriously considering Costello as a leader of the future?

Well, according to this article perhaps he is and they are.

It seems Costello doesn’t get it. He had his moment and he missed it. He trots out this line about not wanting to damage the party – well, that’s already happened. Howard damaged it (and Costello let him) and now the leadership speculation of the last 12 months is damaging the party too.

He doesn’t seem to understand that his time has come and gone. And the only real explanation for his behaviour must surely be payback. He’s enjoying his role as a thorn in the side of the parliamentary party and he’s enjoying making some of the Howardites of the party sweat. Well that’s all well and good, but the time for action was about 18 months ago and he didn’t have the guts then.

So he appears to be back to the old modus operandi of wait and wait and wait. The only problem with this is, like the last time, the time will never come.

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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: jurvetson

Costello denies he’s spineless

September 14, 2008

PETER Costello says he urged John Howard on several occasions to stand down as prime minister, but rejects the suggestion he lacked the guts to challenge for the Liberal leadership.

The former treasurer said he pressed Mr Howard on the issue on a number of occasions but that the former prime minister always had a reason not to hand over the leadership reins.

Costello denies he’s spineless | The Australian.

WEE don’t know about you, but we are heartily sick of hearing about Costello and his failed bid for leadership. WEE are tired of speculating on what might have been and what definitely wasn’t.

So, while you might feel a little sympathy for the man having to put up with John Howard’s antics over 11 years of the previous government, the fact remains that he did put up with them. And that really is the whole point about the spineless thing, isn’t it? He could have done so much to temper Howard and yet it appears he did nothing – apart from give us a 10% GST rather than an 8% GST. Great work Pete.

WEE hope that after his miserable little book is launched he limps out of Parliament and is never seen again. He is not an inspiring person, and he certainly is not a leader – he proved that over 11 years of the Howard government. And he is sadly proving it again in the way he has conducted himself over the last few weeks.

For everyone’s sake Peter, just give it up. You missed your moment. And to listen to you and now your wife tell us all how great it would have been – well that’s just it ‘would have’. It’s over. Go away.

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photo credit: Daquella manera

New kids send democracy up the spout

By Andrew Bolt

September 10, 2008 03:49am

YOU think we live in a democracy where we choose our leaders? Then wake up and check the leaders of our states and territories.

Voted for any of them?

In fact, six of the eight got their jobs without going to an election. They were picked instead by their party to replace a leader of their own side.

Five still haven’t got the voters’ nod since, which means most Australians have a premier they’ve never had the chance to vote for.

New kids send democracy up the spout | NEWS.com.au.

Poor Andrew Bolt seems not to understand how our constitution works. Perhaps he could walk across the threshold of a public school where they might deign to provide him an education about this.

He seems not to understand a basic tenet of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. To put it very simply, very few people in the electorate vote directly for a premier or prime minister. The voters vote for a candidate from a party or an independent. The members of the parliament then elect a leader to be premier or prime minister or oppositions leader.

This notion that people directly elect the premier or prime minister, as Bolt’s article implies is just nonsense. Do you think that dear Mr Bolt would be making such a fuss if a Liberal leader had been installed in such a fashion – and this has happened pretty commonly too? Of course not. He chooses to misrepresent the constitution for his pathetic political ends – namely, sour grapes that his team isn’t in government.

WEE all know that the current crop of Labor governments are pretty average. And in the fair state of NSW they’re rubbish. But to pretend that it’s somehow ‘not democracy’ for the parliamentary parties to elect their leaders, and as it follows, premiers and prime ministers is disingenous. Still WEE wouldn’t have expected anything else from Andrew Bolt – it’s probably all a bit complex for him to comprehend.

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See the link following…

Rudd a Haneef jellyback: Downer | NEWS.com.au

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Okay, they look incriminating given the situation, but until we hear some explanation of the comments from Haneef it’s hardly a smoking gun. And what have they edited out of the conversations? Let’s face it, Andrews has hardly covered himself in glory here, and WEE would be wise to be cautious. The question remains, why has it taken so long to get this into the public domain? And why were we told this morning this information could not be provided? Still so many questions in this poorly managed saga.

Read the latest here…

Andrews reveals Haneef details – National – theage.com.au

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Can’t really do much about that, eh? WEE do not trust this Government to make an objective assessment about this evidence, given the extreme prejudice they have shown in the case to date. Just who in this debacle has demonstrated ‘bad character’?

Please see this link for more…

Andrews to keep Haneef details under wraps | NEWS.com.au

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Now WEE have cautioned before on any early triumphalism over the excellent polls that Labor has been experiencing since Rudd’s elevation to Opposition Leader. We still would caution but even WEE have to admit that the results are starting to look sticky. And the stickier the polls look, the more Howard tries to throw some mud that will stick on Rudd.

To date that strategy seems to be an abysmal failure. First Brian Burke, then his childhood memories, a couple of other things we can’t recall, and finally Therese Rein, his wife. All of this mud, all of this hot air, and Labor remains high in the polls.

So what is going on? It seems that history is repeating itself. Howard is sounding suspiciously like Keating in the last months of his government. Tired old lines like you change government and you change the country – well, duh! I think people get that. Other lines like Rudd and Labor don’t have enough experience in government to govern – well, that’s a neat formula for a one-party state. And these lines were all tried by Keating to no effect. What should be concerning Liberal back-benchers more is this sense of history repeating itself.

The government is falling into all the same old traps of other governments on their way out. It’s extraordinary that people who have been in politics as long as John Howard has don’t recognise these signs – or maybe they do and they just don’t have any other way to respond.

Whatever the case, if the polls don’t have some shift in them soon a change of government may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. What’s very interesting is a recent poll (can’t remember whose) showing a significant majority of voters now think that Labor will win the election. Of all the polls this one should be the most concerning for the Coalition – most people are countenancing a change and that builds a momentum all its own.

From a purely personal perspective, WEE are particularly enjoying seeing Howard squirm. We enjoyed it immensely in the early part of the Latham experiment, and WEE are really enjoying the extended play version that Rudd is delivering. Rudd’s performance in the Parliament yesterday was very telling – he looked calm and measured, Howard on the other hand looked rattled and lost.

He should have gone when he had the chance last year, but as ever, Howard’s own selfishness (he loves the trappings of power) and vindictiveness (anyone but Costello) were more prominent in that decision than his oft-voiced ‘what’s best for the nation’ hubris.

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