The moderator would no doubt be more concerned with how the script got through than giving you due credit.

[Good catch, Paul. Off to the spam bin with that one. ~tigtog]

Richer, prouder and stronger.

Mmmm, needs qualification Jack. Many were richer and meaner, the Mr and Mrs Negatively Geared McMansions?–prouder and more arrogant, oh yes. Stronger? (In reality Howard made the nation weaker by pissing off most of the Islamic world.)

Under Howard, the Grand Unified Theory of Torpidity and Enervating Dryness (Howardhatespeak “GUTTED”) led to a self destructive and strangely contradictory Wetness.

Well documented here, the “wet” pump priming for votes which explains LNP failures:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premature_ejaculation

So I suppose that’s an advance on more than a decade under the Father of Lies.

Indeed, and this is why even though the Opposition rats are pouring out of the Coalition policy sinking ship into the dinghy, I am still going to be alert, though not alarmed…at least not all the time.

It is testimony to the sheer mendacity of John Howard that he is probably more hated by members of his own party than by any number of Lefties of any hue. It seems the more contact one had with him, the more hatred and despair was engendered.

Menzies left office with the respect and admiration of the Australian people. Holt was an affable and friendly man, whose disappearance was greeted by universal shock. Gorton, a genuine war hero, was flawed and not memorable for his administrative acumen, but liked for his common touch. Fraser, initially hated for the events of 1975, has reinvented himself (or maybe has let the real person come out from behind the patrician shield born of shyness)

And all of these men had the respect of their parties.

And of those former Prime Ministers still living, all came to the Apology.

Except for Howard.

Sometimes, after a particular bit of condescending snark, I feel a bit guilty - have I been too hard on some well-meaning Lefty?

Strokey you are a condescending snark, with the intellectual dimension of a sheet of two-ply toilet tissue.

“Rich is a state of mind!!”.

I haven’t noticed any major shift upwards in the Australian’s self esteem (other than just recently). On a comparative dollar physical wealth basis I doubt that compared to any western place that one might wish to go there is any significant improvement in position. We are, however, better off than our kids. And as they will inherit what is left, then that balances out, so no gain there. Most people have lost family time. Television has become pathetic. No, I don’t think that your argument stacks up. And going on the fact that Howard was given the duck shove by all of Australia, I think that most Australians would also disagree with your assertion.

Good Guy Howard? Myth Busted!!

For those very few of you out there who haven’t got it, repeat after me - John Howard was and ia a liar. All Liberals are liars. For those of you who wonder why this so, after 11 years under Howard, they’ve forgotten how to tell the truth.

Howard promised a ministry committed to making AUS richer, prouder and stronger. And he kept that promise, which is really the only one the punters cared about.

But its interesting, from a clinical point of view, to observe a genuine episode of Howard-hatred, in all foaming-at-the-mouth, demented goriness. Sometimes, after a particular bit of condescending snark, I feel a bit guilty - have I been too hard on some well-meaning Lefty?

Then I read something like Paul Burns latest effort and rest assured.

Still, I suppose it’s not a retreat: The Libs are merely advancing in a different (policy) direction.

They’ve been doing quite a bit of that recently. It’s a joy to behold.

The Liberals will die if they just sit there and pine for Howard, as John Roskam and others would have them do. The party that ditches some of its old policies in opposition is best placed to take on new ones and win back government. Labor has traditionally been slow and lumbering at reinventing itself (or “selling out”), but this is changing as the benefits of reinvention are considerable.

The simple fact is that there is no way it’ll get up without the support of the ALP.

Garbage! A Federal Liberal Government, a State Liberal Government in SA, and you’re away. A willing workforce - imagine standing outside the gates at Tonsley Park just after the closure announcement, how many would have turned up their noses at retraining for guaranteed jobs?

But, in any case, there are very good reasons why nuclear power might be a dead duck in Australia for another decade, at the very least.

If Howard had been re-elected and an announcement was made yesterday to build one nuclear power station, it would take ten years to come on line.

…is it really fair to ask the conservatives to continue to make themselves a punching bag on the issue

Why not?

That’s an odd remark to make about a political issue. I’d have thought there should be no “forgive and forget” especially after 11 years of Howard.

I wouldn’t trust them anyway. Nuclear power may be off the radar for a while now, but if the conservatives want it badly enough and don’t get it through the front door they may sneak it through the back.

If the Libs wanted to change a stance relating to nuclear issues it should have been this one.