If there was a Walkley award for blogging, I think Possum’s new post – “Let the Great Unhinging begin” – would win by acclamation.
The whole piece deserves reading, but I’d highlight this analysis of recent polls:
A large proportion of the Coalition vote base believes there is one and only one acceptable outcome in politics – theirs. And it is this zealotry that will explode.
The temptation for the Opposition to continue to exploit this belligerence, as they so successfully did in the lead up to the campaign and in the campaign itself, will be overwhelming. When all that stands between the Opposition and a new election – a new chance at *power* – is one scandal, one stuff up, one member of parliament changing – the attraction of flicking the switch to rhetorical overdrive for effect, and righteous indignation to incite their masses, will simply be too great. No distortion will be too large, no lie too audacious, no accusation too brazen.
And they will be ably assisted and their supporters commercially exploited, by the leadership and opinion section of The Australian – not to mention the curmudgeonly Lesser Scribes infesting the sewer end of the News Ltd tabloids and that growing group of feeble minded cowards at the ABC [who] appear to have lost any capacity for intellectual autonomy when it comes to independently assessing the dynamics of Australian politics.
Anyone who wants some evidence of the zealotry in question only needs to take a glance at the comments on Andrew Bolt’s post of yesterday. The media seems to refract this anger at a somewhat less intense temperature, but the slant towards decrying any Labor government (and this minority one in particular) as somehow illegitimate and an interruption in the natural order of things is undeniable. Sadly it extends beyond the commercial media deep into public broadcasting.
We, as a nation, are very ill served both by the degree of vehemence in the refusal of many to accept the basis of liberal democracy – the validity of a majority needs respecting – and the way the media, generally, sings the same tune to a different key.
I find it all somewhat bizarre. In the US, the similar antics of the Tea Party mob have a lot of resonance with aspects of American society and culture.
Yet, in Australia, the ideology of “don’t tread on me” would seem to have weaker roots. At least until recently.
It’s the disconnect with reality that’s bizarre.
People pay less income tax than they used to, on the whole, and company tax is hardly theft. The weight of “regulation” on the fabled small business owners seems hardly to vary whether there’s a Labor or a Coalition government.
What is it that accounts for this madness?
The weight of regulation on small business had something of a spike when the terrible, left-wing, barbarian GST was introduced.
Kim, I think its just madness of a very peculiar kind. To a great extent the ALP has sold out the “true believer” so Labor politics no longer excites the political passion for Labor supporters it used to excite say 30 odd years ago.
OTOH, the Coalition, especially the Liberal side, has developed a very stringent ultra right wing philosphy that grips the Liberal “true believer’. There’s is the only way the world can be run, in terms of ideology and economic theory (so they believe.) Socialism, the great ogre is dead (so they believe, being totally unaware that as an ideology socialism is in fact slowly, and I stress slowly, resurgent.) For the Libs the neocon way forward has proven to be successful overseas, and they see the way to political success to graft its (not so) self-evident truths onto the Australian political body. They still hold the passions they have felt for so many years, albeit cast somewhat differently, while the left is fragmented (deservedly so when it comes to the ALP, since its sold out so many basic Labor principles.) The right though has gone from strength to strength, almost frightenly so.
Classic.
Goodness and ideological righteousness will surely follow them cos they say so, ad infinitum ad nauseam.
(And one clown on La Bolta sez he wouldn’t be surprised if one of the Indies office (or home?) is firebombed.)
(All we need now is for The Bird to find some Islamic ancestors of the Indies and the Tea Party connection will be complete.)
In their defence the Australian had this article explaining why Labor will end up winning the 2 PP vote. Shame of course that it was buried amongst all the hyper-ventilating in the rest of their web page.
It is also noticeable that Tony was keen to talk about the Greens/Labor coalition when beating up a scare campaign but ignoring this alleged coalition and the WA not joining his coalition when adding up his seats. The great big lie about everything is still the center of the Abbott strategy.
Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t. It’s a very effective political tool. In the US they gained an unlikely presidency despite losing the popular vote, and in Australia they ejected a prime minister and came within a few votes of unseating the government. I haven’t followed too closely, but haven’t there been a few tea party candidates selected in the latest round of US electoral insanity?
It’s easy to point and laugh at the teabaggers and their ilk, but when you see one of them as shadow minister for finance it’s time to think about how a buffoon can get that much power. Tony Abbott is IMO a more reasonable choice as leader than Bush the Lessor, but that doesn’t mean he’s a good choice on his own merits. FFS, anyone who can make Howard seem competant in restrospect has a lot of talent.
Tell your friends and family:
Do not buy the Australian. Do not pay for Sky News, do not click on any of the Murdoch stable news links in any of the papers even for amusement or at the behest of LP posters on the parent news site and encourage the News ltd. company to paywall everything at every opportunity by pretending to be a concern troll. Do not give bolta the satisfaction of clicking on his open sewer blog, even for curiosity.
If any of the News journalists appear on Q and A, do not watch it. Do not watch “The Insiders”. Change the topic of conversation if somebody wants to discuss something Barrie Cassidy said.
Do not watch Channel 9 news (a news ltd. partner on the web). Watch 7 under sufferance. Ask the ABC on a regular basis to downgrade Uhlman and that other stupid reporter with the blonde hair who make up 90% of the crud on ABC24.
I can’t pretend it’ll make Murdoch shut up or even slightly affect his bottom line or political aspirations, but you’ll thank me in 6 months when your blood pressure is checked.
I hadn’t realized what a brilliant set of words Possum has when the bullshit finally gets to him. This gem should be read far and wide.
“Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag and hate, hate, hate.”
The assistance of the “curmudgeonly Lesser Scribes” at The Australian continues. Today’s edition of The Scuttlebutt Chronicle has an article by Janet Albrechtsen in which she wrote the following on the independents:
.
She could have added “and you can’t run” to complete her vacuous intimidation.
What Ute Man said.
I gave up Channel 9 weeks ago and the 10 minutes I saw this morning was proof that I was right to do that. Gutter journalism. ABC and the Drum will follow suit, have already ditched Insiders.
For amusement I will sit back and watch conservative heads explode all over the country when the PM and the “First Bloke” move into the Lodge together.
The Australian and its ilk could probably *juuuust* about stomach a Labor government if they thought that they were the most influential forces behind it (which they did believe and possibly were, for right or wrong, during the Hawke/Keating years), and that a deregulationist agenda would always have pride of place within government. What enrages them and the Bolt Brigade beyond any description is the idea that supposedly “respectable” bastions of conservatism like Treasury could suggest that financial stimulus, high levels of government spending, national infrastructure like the NBN, and taxes on mining might represent sound economics.
This is so far out of their worldview that there must be something *inherently* corrupt and unhealthy in it, just as the whole Left project can’t “really” be about anything other than self-interest and envy from freaks, minorities and other people who don’t deserve nice things. The Right and News Limited have got very used to the idea of the organs of government being “their” territory – their place to demonstrate to those stupid lefties who live in fairy land why any reform to the system will result in chaos and upending of the social order. Places of authority, and respectability, and antipathy towards social progressivism. And they would be backed up by the “Howard Battlers” – who were sensible Real People as opposed to Inner City Elites. Those people, *without any justification whatever*, the Right has considered to be their core constituency over the last two decades. Howard Battlers would never stand for things like that nasty pink batts program. They would see through it, and re-elect a Coalition government, as soon as they got the chance.
The idea that these bastions, combined with representatives of “Real Australians”, like the people who live in the bush could go against their reading of things, is what reduces them to apoplexy. It’s unnatural, corrupted, an inversion of decency – all of these things. It is simply inexplicable and terrifying.
More importantly UteMan, one should keep a careful note of those taking display advertising in Murdoch’s organs and boycott them, writing to the marketing companies associated therewith to explain why.
Murdoch makes almost nothing out of selling papers or link revenue (hence the paywall). He makes his money out of selling audiences and it is this asset we should attack. By all means look up back copies of The Oz in the local library, note the offenders who are debauching public discourse and explain why you will discourage others from taking up their services.
I should add that whatever cultural reasons the Murdochracy has for opposing ALP government, it certainly has some commercial ones. Advertising revenue is its bread and butter, and weak governments advertise a lot more. If well-resourced interest groups opposing the government think they will get a run in the Murdochracy, they will advertise too.
Just as an arms dealer probably prefers conflict more than he prefers the fortunes of one side, so too the Murdochracy needs conflict to keep its advertising revenue healthy.
Meh. Let them get angry. What are going to do? Start a civil war? Stage a coup? This isn’t Spain circa 1936.
It has already begun, Kim.
Australia’s Freedom March.
I’m breathing again – that was long time on life support. No doubt the pack of baying wolves are slathering outside the campfire, but I just want to enjoy this moment, before the horrors descend.
Great joy upon opening our local rag this morning to see out local country (left wing) ALP member listing her swag of private members bills that she has ready to go. I’ve booked in my first constituent’s appointment for the new partiamentary term and look forward to helping her win local hearts and minds as she hopefully progresses her shocking left wing agenda!!
The point is Sam that they don’t need to do any of those things when they control most of the media outlets in this country.
You just have to look at the talking points that took hold during the term of the Rudd government, using the familiar technique of repeating a lie often enough and it will be believed.
Part of the problem was that the government didn’t take on the media, and in fact started acting as if they believed what they were saying, hence the all pervasive defensiveness that was ultimately so damaging.
That’s why it’s been refreshing to see the independents respond to some of the more extreme examples of media manipulation.
Australias Freedom March?
What are they going to do? Chain themselves to the bulldozers installing fibre to their homes?
Facebook has turned half the population back into toddlers.
patrickg @15
I’ve just popped over for a quick squizz and have to admit that it’s an impressive list of things that I’ve always considered to have been the ideal of those on the left of the spectrum … I find it amusing that these are now apparently to be barracked/fought for as part of the ‘right’ of the political spectrum?
The world is definately turned around today *me cynical? Nah*
We need something like the Jon Stewart Daily Show, to take the piss and wind out of the right wing noise machine.
Wow, everyone needs to just calm down. The internet is the future of freedom of expression, and the election win cements broadband into our futures. The MSM is railing against its growing irrelevance, and Labor gave them a hand up last term.
The smartest thing this Government could do is completely ignore the Oz and focus on policy delivery.
This comment on Poss’ post is interesting:
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollytics/2010/09/08/let-the-great-unhinging-begin/comment-page-1/#comment-23535
It’s the sort of direct evidence we need to start to gather in order to have a *factual* case against the ABC newscaf outfit and its lazy, corroded, and contemptible kowtowing to the Murdoch agenda.
Part of the problem was that the government didn’t take on the media …
Exactly. Rudd’s greatest failing was his lack of confidence to take on his enemies in the media. So we had Fischer and Nelson and God knows who else appointed to prime posts, just so Rudd could avoid a “jobs for the boys” attack.
I don’t think that, now the election is done and dusted, Gillard will be so timid. She will – or should – take the fight up to them.
The OO has to be punished. It’s as simple as that.
As for Mark Scott, he needs to be taken into the back room and quietly reminded of the facts of life.
And freezing out the Murdoch media empire does not mean a non-media strategy. One thing Rudd did very well in opposition was use FM radio. He stopped doing in in government, but he shouldn’t have. This is one way of appealing directly to voters without the message being corrupted by the editors.
And there’s social media. There’s no reason why Gillard can’t use Tweeter intelligently to get her message across. She can conduct interviews on Facebook. It’s up to her. To begin, she could get a media adviser who is not just an old MSM hack.
“The OO has to be punished. It’s as simple as that. ”
One simple thing – take away the government advertising from them. The government has an out from making it look like simple payback too. Perhaps the government ought to consider a “government portal” (government gazzette anyone?) which is a simple .gov.au website containing all the tender announcements, job advertisements, etc. Why in this day and age is it necessary to put 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, full page ads in print media for this sort of thing? It simply is not. The internet can easily substitute. You could do it with a copy of wordpress, a couple of servers, and under a million bucks I reckon.
Tyro Rex, you mean like this or this or this or this?
A paper out of Michigan U on cognitive dissonance “backfire” reports that when someone with delusional beliefs is exposed to facts, the delusional beliefs are totally unaffected — even strengthened. If this phenomenon is real, (and it explains a lot) then just giving people the facts won’t change (correct) their view.
Indeed @drsusancalvin, there is a wealth of psychological and cognitive science research on this point.
Interestingly, one study I read recently found that if you get someone to do a self-affirmation exercise before giving them the alternate case, they are vastly more likely to change their mind.
Possum has certainly given the approving throng a message they want to hear. Hooray.
Poss is spot on, and it needs to be countered by
a. Disciplined communication from the new minority govt to the cross benches (who wont be around the caucus table)
and
b. A degree of grassroots organsiation to support new policy and reform agendas, and media monitoring. If this is left to govt and the media alone itll become a running sideshow.
c. here’s my first shot back to the chaos mongers: The nation-building, urban-rural cross subsidy principle is back in town! Its complete anathema to neo-liberalism, and I welcome its return. Its the tolling bell for the Nats.
The colation is in serious strife in the mid-term when the indies deliver. Write that up, you hacks!
I expect the OO and commercial mass media to be biased.
As major capitalist corporations themselves and then reliant on other major capitalist corporations for the bulk of their revenue via eyeballs to advertisers I am not surprised when they constantly come out with spin aka propaganda that supports capitalism in general and the parliamentary wing of that in Australia, the COALition, in particular.
Such does not surprise me.
I get irritated, bloody angry sometimes, at the unsubtlety of their propaganda, and the dishonesty which is involved.
BER ‘debacle’, WMDs anyone, millions of horrible boat people about to decend on us …..?
But the ABC is different.
Or should be.
But isn’t.
I looked at the Board of the ABC yesterday and saw that the role of the commissioners is:
“The duty of the Board is to ensure that the functions of the Corporation are performed efficiently with maximum benefit to the people of Australia and to maintain the independence and integrity of the Corporation. The Board is also responsible for ensuring that the gathering and presentation of news and information is accurate and impartial, according to recognised standards of journalism…”
What a joke. A sick joke.
Every day the essence of that role is sabotaged.
Here is one tiny little subtle example.
Normally ABC Radio National opens its news with: “The Leader of the Opposition …..blah blah blah”
But a couple of days ago it opened with [and I tuned in cos my ears picked the change in title]:
“”The Leader of the COALition said …..”we are no longer the opposition but a government in waiting”.”
Small point maybe but significant.
Because the speaker and the writer and the producer of that line had to think about it and come out, deliberately, with a change in title for Tony that reflected and reinforced the political spin that Tony wanted to make.
Thats nothing to do with laziness, lack of resources or any such excuse.
Thats straight out collusion in partisan propaganda.
We gotta do something about the media in this country.
And the ABC, because of that job description above, could be our first target for action.
I find the link to mad dog’s comment posted by Tyro Rex @22 very interesting.
I am slso a regular listener of ABC classic FM and I would be making the same observations as mad dog. It is even more intriguing as I doubt that ABC classic FM listeners would include too many right wing zealots (although there would probably be a few).
The ABC under the Howard government seemed to be more even handed, so the questions coming to mind are:why has it come to this? Who is driving this move towards the right? Marc Scott? and more importantly what can be done about it?
At the end of the day, the ABC is funded by our taxes, surely voters or the government can make sure that it is reporting facts without bias! May be something to bring up with our 4 independents?
To quote Darryl Kerrigan in The Castle: “Suffer in your jocks!”
Was John Howard’s government illegitimate when it lost the 2PP vote in 1998? No, apparently he had a mandate to introduce the GST.
Derrida derider @ 25
Nobody expects the public broadcaster to be a government mouthpiece, at least not in a democracy.
But we also expect it not to be a replicate of this or this
Sorry, the first this was supposed to get you there
Adrian@17
This is what I don’t get either. While the Coalition has relentlessly attacked supposed bias in the ABC for well over a decade, the ALP remains completely mute on the far more obvious and strident right-wing bias of the Murdoch media. The ridiculously defensive ALP can’t seem to get off its back foot – as if it’s nailed to the floor. There is something inherently entrenched in the nation’s political culture that seems to forbid criticism of the Murdoch press. Even the Greens suck up to it.
The explosion has started.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/insults-start-to-fly-from-furious-coalition-20100908-150ia.html
These guys are not the opposite of the hardcore Labor base.
They are the opposite of the feral socialists you see banging on about their petitions outside railway stations.
iorarua @ 35 says “Even the Greens suck up to it (the Murdoch Press).”
Well, the Independents didn’t, particularly not Bob Katter.
Yesterday Julia, Wayne and Bob all had shots at the media, the OO in particular.
They know they are victims of a focused propaganda campaign.
But I suspect they feel unable to do any more than allow themselves the occasional comment.
They need empowering.
Here is Bob’s contribution from last night’s “Lateline’ in response to Sales’ mentioning some story the OO is going to run.
BOB BROWN: “Well firstly you’d expect that on the front page of The Australian, which has been doing its best to wreck this very government which has emerged through consensus today….”
Julia and Wayne had their quips in the presser yesterday.
Did you see the disgusting front page of the Daily Telegraph today (this is not a link to the paper)?
http://post.ly/wCZK
You kind of expect that kind of rubbish from Brandis @36 Diogenes – nasty, brutish, a nice little touch of racism and the sour grapes of having to suck up to “the best opposition leader EVAH” which you just know is going to grind his gears for months.
It can’t be long before the knives are turned inwards.
Can someone please explain what is meant by “the OO”? It looks from context like it means the Australian, but why?
Rob Oakeshott’s “Mandate” swear jar needs an annex for those falsely claiming to have won the 2pp vote. Peter Brent at The Australian is swimming against the tide but the figures don’t seem to stop the Coalition repeating the lie.
The ALP is now in front on the AEC site by 5 votes!. Expect retractions from the likes of Abbott, The Australian etc
oops.. now behind ! Expect more nonsense as this tooing and froing goes on ..
@Ilium, OO = Opposition Organ. When Howard was PM it was the GG = Government Gazette.
Opposition Organ, Ilium@42
blow!
Ilium,
You’ve asked the question that I have been meaning to ask, but lacked the courage. “Obnoxious Oz” was my guess.
Everyone else,
Why on earth do you bother to read the Australian? Don’t you have enough other things to get angry about?
Ron at #40
Bloody hell Rob, ‘disgusting’ is a restrained understatement.
We have gotta do somethin’ about the media in this copuntry.
Just gotta.
Ilium@42
OO = Opposition Organ…. it’s one of those juvenile insults you often see on blogs like this. Sort of like refering to John Howard as ‘ratty’ or Tony Abbott as ‘Mr rabbit’. I gather it morphed from the insult ‘government gazette’ when Howard was PM.
Next they’ll be making up a funny name for the ABC….. given the strange claims that the ABC is biased against the left wing. Funny that – I always thought it was the other way around. The ABC must be doing something right if its got both left and right wingers claiming bias!
In answer to Ilium as to why read the OO and its mates.
Well ..
I don’t.
But 100s of 1000s of Australians do therefore it is important to know how they are misinforming such.
And the OO is merely the national flagship of the Murdoch media, it sets the agenda and treatment for its subordinate newspapers eg the Daily Telegraph just to name one and the front page of that today, as linked indirectly by Ron at #40 abpve is truly …disgusting.
And from the OO the treatment extends outwards even further like a massive ink stain, into the headline TV news, radio and the shock jocks and so on.
Even straight, frequently blatantly unfiltered, into ‘our’ ABC, as shown by Sales’ question to Bob Brown last night on “Lateline”.
In short the OO et al tell Australia what to think about and to think about it, not merely just in a party political sense, but over all the socio-economic-polital spectrum.
Where was Iraq/Afghanistan the last 2 months, the NT intervention/invasion, violence against women in Oz, climate change [except for a vehicle to Rudd/Gillard bash], the increasing rate of poverty in this country and numerous other examples of vital social issues ignored, twisted or given undue prominence [eg boat people]?
Thats why, despite its toxic nature we have to be aware of the propaganda emanating from the Oz mass media, Murdochian in particular.
Ah, thanks for the explanations.
Or… Opposition Oracle, or better still, Opposition Orifice.
Had Abbott got in it would have been swiftly renamed GG (Government Gazette).
As I understand it, the circulation figures of The Australian are heavily padded by free copies and subscriptions that as I understand it are offered to students at a substantial loss. It really is the world’s most expensive vanity press, serving mainly to influence elite opinion and seeking set an agenda for the Canberra Press gallery and other opinion writers.
“Funny that – I always thought it was the other way around.”
You have trouble keeping up, Andrew. Let’s go over this one more time. Tony Abbott lost the election as of yesterday and bitterness is bad for your health.
@52 You have just summarised the idea of ‘false equivalence’. It is this ridiculous notion that if both ‘sides’ are criticising someone, that person must be ‘correct’ or ‘about right’, as if life was like the three bowls of porridge in the Goldilocks story.
One of the fundamental principles of negotiation or making an argument is setting the parameters so that what appears to others as the ‘happy medium’ is in fact where you are content to have the contest played out.
This occurs again and again in the Fairfax press. The howling from the right-wing is so intense and focussed, that in their attempts to find the ‘equidistant’ point between the two extremes, the ‘average’ coverage becomes slanted to the right-wing view. Then, shortly thereafter, the howling starts again.
It is the way that Fox News / talk radio etc. has ensured the pervasive conservative slant in the UNited States and, to a greater degree, in Australia.
Andrew, nothing juvenile about it – 100% factual, particularly Opposition Orifice.
Hi Joe2 – no I’m not bitter, I voted for Gillard because I didn’t think the Coalition was ready to return to power yet. I thought another term in opposition would do them good – one term wasn’t enough to regenerate.
I’m actually a little surprised and disappointed that they came as close as they did – it’s given them some undeserved legitimacy. It’s also interesting that they could act like a government rather than an opposition – it’s possible that the coalition could pass legislation through the lower house from opposition if they receive support from the independents. I’d rather they spent more time soul searching and renewing.
The only thing I’m a little concerned about is that the Greens may have more influence on the process of government than their immature policies warrant. However – the silver lining is that at last the Green’s policy positions may get some scrutiny…. it might accelerate their demise and fragmentation.
I visit Murdochistan with my adblock software firmly in place, so they never see a penny from my browser-views. And if I decide to let other people know about something, if I link to a single tweet in a journo’s tweetstream rather than reproducing their link to something published on Murdochistan, especially if I do it from the comments section of a blog which auto-adds “nofollow” to all links, then Murdochistan gets three-fifteenths of a smidgin of bugger-all linkjuice for SEO either. If I then convert that link using a URL-shortening service, I’m not even directly publicising the journo’s name.
e.g. new article in the OO business section about Grog’s Gamut and his effect on election coverage http://bit.ly/91a4mN
The implosion has begun
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/08/3006352.htm
I’ll give Abbott 6-12 months
Andrew @ 52
your comment re bias illustrates the problem very well. The ABCs reporting is based almost entirely on this kind of thinking. Don’t bother using facts or evidence to support what you say, just us some kind of vague supposition like yours. Go and analyse how the ABC reports, really look at it impartially, if you can. You will see:
1) policy is no longer reported
2) he-said-she-said reporting dominates
3) politics is trivialised
4) the majority of the reporting is to do with who will win (as opposed to what is good for the country)
5) there are many factual errors (Mark Simkin had about 3 in just one report last night)
6) the news is reported with opinions included (frequent use of emotive adjectives)
Its a circus and a joke. Its not that the ABC is necessarily biased (although I think the underlying structure might be – as evidenced by the make up of the ABC board) but this vacuous reporting lets those who wish to gain power by lies and distortion do so unchallenged by any objective scrutiny. Also the continual gotcha reporting is grinding down anyone who actually wants to do the right thing in politics. It doesn’t matter how good your policies are they get the same shit dumped on them as anything else. Unless you spend a lot of time investigating what is going on you are voting using the same vague suppositions that you have just used because there is no way to actually know anything in any detail or depth.
Andrew said:
Doesn’t that stand for the Australian’s Broadcasting Corporation?
The content is pretty much the old rip and read that one used to get from Reuters and AAP all those years ago.
If you want an insight into the ABC modus operandi (or any other media outlet for that matter) grab yourself a copy of the DVD ‘Outfoxed’. It’s the right wing media play book 101.
When I first started using Twitter a few months ago one person I came across regularly was Mark Tobin the ABC state political reporter for NSW.
For awhile, from his tweets, I actually thought he was a Liberal Party member of the NSW government.
The ABC ain’t what she used to be and it has been said here already, the coverage of yesterday’s events, particularly in-between interviews, was pitiful.
“We, as a nation, are very ill served both by the degree of vehemence in the refusal of many to accept the basis of liberal democracy – the validity of a majority needs respecting – and the way the media, generally, sings the same tune to a different key.”
You’ve embarrassed yourself, Kim. No one on the right is questioning the legitimacy of liberal democracy, unlike some of your left wing mates here who bang on about how democracy is a charade run by the “boss class”.
Where were your principles when left wing Green thugs smashed their way into opposition political meetings (eg. One Nation gatherings in Victoria) contra freedom of assembly?
Where were your principles when the left wing S11 thugs stopped WEF delegates gathering in Melbourne contra freedom of assembly?
Where were your principles when left-wing thugs tried to thwart voluntary student unionism contra freedom of association?
Kim then sums up:
“What is it that accounts for this madness?”
Sorry Kim, but the madness you claim to see is a nothing but a figment of your own hyperactive imagination. You’ll have to live a very long time before you see the right use the thuggery that we take for granted from the left.
I believe that the decline in standards of political discourse happened under JWH. He was a master at gaining political advantage from wedging some very nasty issues and poking sticks in dark places.
Ever since then Australia has been polarised more than at any time since the Dismissal.
And the anger is spilling out into personal behaviour. Both my mother and I were separately subjected to road rage incidents today which is rare out where we live. I was actually followed to work by my charmer.
Hey that’s a great spray WD40. I gather you must be a rusted on One nation supporter. Good luck with that.
WD40 @ 67:
My memory might be a bit rusty with middle-age, but I’m pretty sure the World Economic Forum Conference in Melbourne in 2000 went ahead, and that all the delegates attended the conference.
Melbourne was virtually locked-down with security at the time, and most of the violence involving the protests was, as far as I recall, instigated by the authorities.
WD40 says:
Cock.
Like Patricks, in cahoots with the Liberal government, serving dismissal notices to members of the MUA using security guards armed with dogs.
Like the New Guard?
Like the shooting of Norman Brown.
Like the mysterious circumstances under which the SIEVE-X sank?
You’re full of it, mate.
You mean like what happened on the waterfront under Reithy’s guidance?
Or using the dominant media outlet, controlled by a foreigner, to hound the government and spread out right lies about it every day of the week for every day of its last term?
Nothing to see here, like hell.
The comments of my interlocutors speaks volumes:
Adrian: “I gather you must be a rusted on One nation supporter.” I said nothing to cause you to think that way. Why do you set out to deceive?
Terrangee “… but I’m pretty sure the World Economic Forum Conference in Melbourne in 2000 went ahead, and that all the delegates attended the conference.
Melbourne was virtually locked-down with security at the time, and most of the violence involving the protests was, as far as I recall, instigated by the authorities.”
Umm, no. Here is the Ombudsman’s report: http://www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au/resources/documents/Investigation_of_Police_action_at_the_World_Economic_Forum_demonstrations.pdf
akn “Like the mysterious circumstances under which the SIEVE-X sank?”
Obviously insane akn thinks evil John Howard somehow sunk the SIEVE-X (sic) without leaving any evidence.
Tyro Rex: “Or using the dominant media outlet, controlled by a foreigner …”
Oh no, foreigners!!!!
I rest my case.
WD40
If none on the right are questioning the legitimacy of liberal democracy then why are some on the right now questioning the legitimacy of the Gillard government? That was the word used by Sen Brandis. But both sides sought to gain government by the same means.
WD40′s getting more unhinged by the minute.
Someone must have unlocked the cage.
Sorry, can’t help myself.
I think WD40 has lubricated the discussion nicely.
Isn’t the purpose of WD40 to REDUCE friction??
This problem won’t be restricted to ‘the usual suspects – read Peter Hartcher’s simplistic piece in the SMH today. I have a sneaking suspicion that we will see countless journos (of all political hues) looking for that ideal all-explaining ‘narrative’ over the coming weeks/months – at the expense of the reporting of information dense political events. We all lose in that scenario.
I guess WD40′s not rusted-on Labor.
Wrong at #79. I always vote ALP. It’s the oily nature of dull minded lefty ungrad types thatloosens my screws.
Hi Kim,
Red rodent day one…beware of possum’s bearing marshmellow bridges and a gov’t saved by a dental floss ad refugee; and gubby minister to boot, oh the transparency; and the windsor/swan mining tax right royal bird shit fight…
Roll on roll on…can’t wait for the nbn cost benefit analysis etc.
Wd40, I’ll disprove three of your major statements.
1. You state, quote, “No one on the right is questioning the legitimacy of liberal democracy. It happened today when Liberal Senator George Brandis told ABC Radio the Labor government had “as much legitimacy as the Pakistani cricket team”.
2. You state, quote, “You’ll have to live a very long time before you see the right use the thuggery that we take for granted from the left.” If that was “thuggery” then what was it when Peter Reith sent in masked security guards with dogs to confront sacked wharfies in the dead of night?
3. You state, quote, “Where were your principles when left-wing thugs tried to thwart voluntary unionism contra freedom of association?” Where were your principles of liberal democracy in the case of Dr Mohamed Haneef when, in the afternoon following the court case in which the magistrate held that the prosecution had not provided evidence of a direct link between Dr Haneef and a terrorist organisation, the Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews announced he had, on character grounds, cancelled Dr Haneef’s visa and that Dr Haneef would be taken into an immigration detention. The rest is a shameful history.
Pretty much all has been said here however to the poster that pointed out that this isn’t Spain circa ’36. I’m sure moderates in Spain in ’36 were caught out. “Oh it’s just angry talk down at the bar…nothing will come of it.”
And yet they’re stoking the fires up on the News Ltd blogs. If this were ’98 and someone here made the same threats against Howard and his cronies as much as we all hated Howard I reckon the poster of said threats would
-be warned
-have their comments moderated
and possibly have it reffered to the police. (And God help us if the comment was even allowed up for more then ten minutes, it would be all over the media as ‘left wingers threaten political violence.’)
Shoe on other foot? Completely fine it would seem. I just hope the media now what they’re doing.
The overarching ethos of the Liberal Party has always been, and will continue to be (despite tectonic shifts in the industrial/technological paradigm) is :
“Your kids should be learning a trade! My kids will obviously end up in the managerial/mandarin classes!
This Edwardian thesis will persist until the last of the Howard era has given up the ghost.
Kim – sorry – but this is a tired arguement. If you want to talk about unhinged reactions to elections, you only need to look at left wing and union reactions to any of the John Howard victories. There is simply no right wing equivalent to the antics of the lefty scorned.
Re WD40 – doesn’t the container carry a warning against sniffing it?
I sense this topic being steered into off topic land towards the coast of “whatever…lefties are still worse man. Let’s talk about YOUR faults.”
And why not? We haven’t had any lefties talking about firebombing yet so we need something to fill in the time.
I’ll go first. Remember when Kerry Nettle viciously attacked Coalition members during the George Bush visit? By ramming her face into their elbows. What violence!
And what about the cruelty to animals displayed by ex-wharfies attacking dogs mouths with their smelly union arms! Call the RSPCA.
Or we could…how boring…get back on topic.
Diogenes says:
“Liberal Senator George Brandis told ABC Radio the Labor government had “as much legitimacy as the Pakistani cricket team”.”
Umm, that’s political rhetoric of the type used by politicians of all stripes every day. It is not an exhortation to revolution against the government or a genuine proclamation of regime illegitimacy and it is disingenuous of you to suggest otherwise.
But thank goodness “tssk” has now turned up to warn the comrades of the parallels with Spain on the cusp of the Franco dictatorship.
Is there a doctor in the house?
@ 50 that’s a VERY good question. I’ve given up expecting a sensible answer.
The usual response is along the lines of @ 53 … News Ltd twists the minds of the masses … not US of course, we can see through their evil schemes … but the proles, they are SO easily led …
WB40, I guess that while others here are come, myself as the resident pessimist remembers the end of Caberet. The viewers have the benefit of hindsight to know what’s approaching, however the characters have not a clue.
I’ll ask again though, why is it OK for people unhappy with this result to talk about political violence on the actual forums of media outlets?
Feel free though to turn this around. I’d go for ‘but tssk, Franco, Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin were all left wingers! You have more to worry about with Julia than with Tones.’
WD40, you are good with your replies. The OO needs someone like you to write its editorials.
“What is it that accounts for this madness?”
Eleven years of middle class welfare. It’s not a case of “Don’t tread on me” more a case of “What’s in it for me?” or just “Where’s mine?”. The idea used to be that we accepted handouts from the government in times of need. Then we made it a crime (almost) to be on real welfare (the kind given to those really in need) while at the same time packaging up large amounts of benefits for the middle class as tax breaks (me, accept welfare? you’ve got to be kidding?).
The “working class” have become “working families” slaving to make the payments on 2 $50,000 vehicles, so time poor that they barely manage that second trip to SE Asia (it pongs a bit but it’s cheap as chips and watch out for the shifty natives). Oh yes indeed, we’re the lucking effing country and you’re not, now p*ss off.
Oi Ken.
#89
That is uncalled for.
The insinuation that I am not a prole and am smarter than such.
For starters I am a prole and I can get misled by the OO and its mates very easily and to deny that the massive disinformation of the media has no impact on the voting public is IMO pretty damn silly and I don’t think you really believe that yourself.
So please retract your insinuation that I consider myself elitist and that only proles and plebs get misled by the media.
OK?
Um – no. News Limited (and the other meeja outlets) twist the perceptions of the masses. Who aren’t so much easily led, as too busy with stuff that actually matters to them to be bothered with obsessive fact checking and all that gear. We’re different because we’re political tragics.
is tahta freedom marsk Patrickg Linked to anti -govt, very hards to tell. seems to want thing most decent Aussies would barrack for right down the middle. How serious do you think it is and who is ruffling the feathers.
soort about the errors ‘that freedon march’ it sould have read
“If any of the News journalists appear on Q and A, do not watch it.”
No matter who is on ‘Q&A’ do not watch it. That abomination is, without doubt, exception or qualification, the worst thing on TV. I have never had such a visceral reaction to TV as I got from 30secs of ‘Q&A’. I never dreamed public TV could possibly dredge up a worse idea than ‘Insight’, but there you go.
d
Hannah’s Dad @93
I reckon you should stop reading the OO. It is just not worth the risk.
Before you know it, you will be leaving comments on the Bolt blog.
Incurious and Unread @ 98:
But surely the estimable Hannah’s Dad would be moderated out?
I don’t read the OO and I would never go near Bolt, I despise the man.
Sorry about the outburst but I’m sensitive about my prole/pleb upbringing.
I do not equate working/lower class/bogan/prole/pleb whatever with stupidity or ignorance or even racism, homophobia whatever and I react, OK maybe overreact, to the insinuation of elitism.
Carry on.
“Insiders” (or as I call it, the Insane Bolt 400m dash) runs it pretty close. The Drum sucks. The 12 hours of house ads on ABC24 make a big fat lie of 24 hour news too.
But “The Tribe” on ABC3 is about the worst telly ever if you don’t restrict yourself to politics. You couldn’t make worse TV on purpose even if it was a live telecast of Murdochs turgid scrote.
You’ll be pleased to know that the current Director of News at the ABC was originally responsible for bringing The Insiders to our screens. That item alone on her CV probably got her the job.
Take a look at the budget numbers. Take what we paid for the federal government in 1996, ie the total federal government tax revenue, and divide by the 1996 population. That per capita figure is much lower (even allowing for inflation) than what we pay today for essentially the same set of services. In fact if we reduced the per capita cost of federal government back to what it was in 1996 we could nearly abolish personal income tax entirely due to the savings.
While some marginal tax rates have declined the amount of tax we pay has increased. As society gets richer we need government less and less and yet we pay more and more.
I’m surprises by the rise of the tea party. Terribly delighted also. For to long tax payers have sat on their hands politically and just copped whatever came. Now they are organising and mobilising.
The Liberal Party shouldn’t be the beneficiaries of any tax revolt in Australia given their track record of ever bigger government and ever more middle class welfare. However the ALP seems totally addicted to spending what isn’t theirs to spend so the choice is pretty bleak (except for the LDP).
The first thing we should do in terms of tax reform is increase the tax free threshold to $30,000. We should then freeze the cost of government (in per capita terms) by cutting income tax rates until income tax is abolished. It would take about ten years and would entail no spending cuts at all, just restraint. We could still have a government that meddles in our lives and wastes our money, for those that like that sort of thing, but as an added bonus we would have no income tax.
For those who are interested and may remember my series of posts under the title ‘The Failed Estate’, I have now set up a blog on the media here.
AAARRRRHHHHGGG!!! I’ve gotta get this off my chest!!!
On the Drum, I’ve just read another of Barrie Cassidy’s scathing pieces on… you guessed it…Kevin Rudd.
And as usual, I cannot post a reply because comments are closed!!!
There are quite a few positive comments sticking up for the Ruddster, which is probably why they closed off the comments.
According to some mysterious sources insider the Labor Party, Rudd is actively and quietly working to bring down the government, so they’re all keeping an eye on him, to see his next move.
Where’s the proof, Bozo, I mean Barrie???
Somehow it’s Rudd’s fault that Katter did not sign up with Labor. Maybe B.C thinks Rudd and Therese actively worked to DISCOURAGE Katter from siding with the ALP. To what end???
According to me, Kevin Rudd could have won the election. Some voters would have thrown bricks, others would have thrown bouquets of flowers. Who the heck knows?
He could have become Australia’s best PM. We will never truly know.
So what makes Barrie Cassidy think HE knows???
@ 103:
“Bookmarked” here.
I still have a current press pass, but this week’s presser for Windsor and Oakeshott made me glad that my income now comes from driving trains.
I think you’re wasting your time with WD40. There’s a whiff of … er … um you know, sounds a bit like the word that a female Olympic champion recently (rather thickheadedly) used. And I thought all the nastiness at the WEF was caused by anarchists? Surely they wouldn’t stand for the rigid imposition of authority that we social engineering lefty types are desperately (although covertly) attempting to impose on the likes of our well lubricated friend?
The bad news is that the OO and it’s satellites had a profound impact on the last election by deliberately misleading campaigns.
They convinced the electorate that the insulation scheme was a badly managed government program when in reality it was a subsidy scheme in an area where the private sector did the work and state governments provided the regulation.
Then it convinced the electorate that the BER program was a wasteful, poorly-managed debacle despite its key role in getting Australia through the GFC and generally positive findings in the Auditor-General and Orgill reviews.
Then they wrongly convinced the electorate that boat people were arriving in huge numbers and that this flood of ‘illegal immigrants’ was directly due to ALP policies.
Then they convinced the electorate that, in putting off the CPRS in the face of certain rejection by a hostile senate, the ALP was clearly not genuine about putting a price on carbon. That, despite protracted negotiations over two years with all parties and multiple attempts to get the legislation passed.
Then they convinced the electorate that Abbott was an exciting new alternative PM without giving the slightest hint of scrutiny about his policies.
The good news is that it is likely that the efforts of the MSM were merely the final spasms of a dying monster.
#50
Most of us don’t, except to verify if the latest lie is being repeated. The trouble is that the other media, and most especially the ABC seem to feed off on whatever the OO is running with. Possum summed it up brilliantly
I’m bewildered about where the Nine Network is coming from, not being in the Murdoch camp, and once being a serious challenger (to a once credible ABC) on news and current affairs. But their performance also bordered on the lamentable.
The Latham engagement, while they could cheekily claim to gather ratings from it, was always intended to derail Labor’s campaign if only to shift attention to Latham himself. The Oakes public feud was also to draw attention to it. The Oakes leaks, and their deliberate damage to Gillard, WERE the campaign for a week. Maybe that was just Oakes doing his duty on a leaker, but you’d have to wonder if Nine was in on it, too.
Perhaps the new technology will provide an answer. I’d love to see something like Wikileaks set up to watch on media falsehoods being spread.
The Government also needs to plan a counter strategy. It cannot afford to roll over as it did during the last months of the Rudd era.
That concerns me a lot more then the loony right activists. OK, we got the Cronulla riots but then everybody pulled back quite a long way, and Jones lost a lot of credibility.
The main concern should be to make sure that sense of righteous grievance is not fed. A lot of Howard’s people’s ABC contracts expire next year. Whoever is in charge needs to get on that quickly.
Great Mr. Denmore– Bookmarked!
It did not help that dear Julia was out and about confirming, at any opportunity, that it was “a mess”. She rightly had no concerns about defending her baby BER but when it came to insulation she dropped the bundle.
It would not have been difficult to have pointed to all the happy little campers, like myself, who are enjoying a nice warm house with lower bills and carbon footprint despite the problems that occurred in rolling it out promptly.
No doubt, though, that 00 and co were largely responsible for spooking Labor on these matters which they should have been out and about being proud of, if the truth were known.
Thanks Mr Denmore. Also bookmarked. That’s a start on redressing things.
wd40 #88
The very bloke you’re arguing with, Diogenes, is one. Hello???
Count me in, as well, Mr Denmore.
WD40– Many people on both sides of politics are in fact worried about the effects that lobbyists and other interest groups have on the governing of the nation. Are you really unaware of this fact?
In fact, you are exactly the type of person of whom Possum is warning us in his article. You will have us believe that you are principled and that protesters are thugs. That you are rational and others, defined by their disagreement with you, are raving and impractical. In fact you will have us here believe that you are right about something, although you have done nothing more than deride your “interlocutors.” Call me suspicious, but when you assert that you always vote ALP, it seems to me that your comments have much in common with the tropes of conservative argument in general, and I find it very difficult to believe you.
Good start Mr Denmore
I have found your essays and thought on the topic of journalism very thought provoking. Links for your site could include:
http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/ABC-Watch.aspx
http://fabc.org.au/fabc/
Now however I think is the time to act. The current arrangements in the minority gov. mean its possible to get something happening. We need a senate inquiry into political interference and the drastic erosion of standards at the ABC. So what to do. Well a few ideas:
* hassel Get Up (I have yesterday but haven’t back)
* discuss with the Greens (I’ve corresponded with Bob Browns office and they are thinking along similar lines as myself)
* contact members
* I want to have protests outside of city ABC buildings with “NO MORE PUNCH AND JUDY REPORTING” – if Get Up come on board then this is what I’ll suggest to them
* approach Wordpress about making a widget that automates email complaints. You press the “UNTIES NAUGHTY AGAIN” button and it sends your message to the ABC, to friends of the ABC, is logged on a site like ABC Watch and sent to Steven Conroy (with a time delay to stop spammers)
* approach anyone who can help (I’ve contacted Philip Adams and am trying to get Paul Keating but his website doesn’t work ).
I toying with asking companies to help too. Maybe Google? Ask them to help in some way like the widget idea. Anyway does anyone have more ideas?
I don’t post much to LP so I don’t know if the above is OK – happy to have guidance from the moderators.
@Peter Mc,
I won’t comment on the rest of it, but approaching WordPress or Google directly re widgets is not the way to go – they both rely upon 3rd party developers to use their code platforms to create these features as Open Source items. You need to get a sympathetic plugin/app developer on side.
Tyro Rex @ 24
Good idea.
What about also moving all government tender advertising to the Trading Post, or some other medium which is basically only advertising?
Or industrial spam? ie circulated to publications which are industry specific?
Or local rags which give space to their local member for uncensored information (on both sides)?
Plenty of alternatives to Mudroch these days.
The widget you want already exists and is called Google sidewiki
I’d like to comment on what Tyro @ 22 linked to, but haven’t read the whole thread, so apologies if it’s been said.
I have a pocket digital radio, listen most of the day and part of the night. At a finger touch I switch between Local Radio, Radio National and NewsRadio. Sometimes for the repair of my soul I switch to FM.
I think Local Radio, RN and FM all work off the same ABC news feed and present the same stuff in the same manner. NewRadio and NewsOnline reformat and sometimes have other sources.
The mad dog comment is spot on.
It’s amazing how often an Opposition statement leads the news bulletin. So you get it in the promos, in the headline at the beginning of the news segment, in the actual news item, when the ‘balancing’ bit appears, and then again in the recap at the end.
On RN The World Today is often better than PM. In the former you might get a government statement or announcement. By the time we get to PM it is intercut with opposition lies and shit and the lead often changed. These segments are then written up by NewsOnline staff into smoothed news reports, which often headline, distort the select to give a different impression.
Not good, not good at all.
tigtog and Zarquon
thanks for the advice.
Sidewiki seems too limited for what I was proposing – doesn’t do emails or log across websites from what I could see but maybe I’ve got that wrong.
After discussions with Friends of the ABC I should point out that my call for a senate inquiry is a tad naive. Basically there are many forces at work, including the Murdoch camp who are constantly lobbying to get rid of the ABC (Murdoch Jr actually said that having the BBC in the UK was undemocratic!). So a senate inquiry could be misused by these forces to achieve this goal. However there is important legislation that lapsed when the election was called that is to do with board appointments to the ABC. Basically this is to do with ensuring merit based appointments. I had thought this was achieved but it has not. Now is the time to push for it to be done.
I encourage everyone to join FABC and lend them assistance, it looks to me that they have been fighting against titanic forces for a very long time with very limited support.
What’s the most overworked lead-in phrase on ABC, ahem, news stories?
Bloody sick to death of it! What does “The Federal Opposition” do, bring their sleeping bags and thermos and take up a permanent presence in ABC newsrooms?
Joe says:
“Call me suspicious, but when you assert that you always vote ALP, it seems to me that your comments have much in common with the tropes of conservative argument in general, and I find it very difficult to believe you.”
Don’t be a bonehead. I’m Labor Right and thus have no more time for the shrill, fascistic far-left types than I do for conservatives.
Have we seen Annabel Crabb’s “all crack” post about the new paradigm on The Drum? http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/09/3007376.htm?site=thedrum
Opens with “Here we are, then. Slap bang in the middle of a new paradigm, as the creaking edifice that we call the ‘Gillard Minority Government’ is hammered nervously into place.” Then goes on to describe the minority Government as “all crack,” wanders around in chicken and egg stories and the catch 22 of media/government circle jerks but despite admitting a desire for the end of “gotcha” political reporting somehow ends up blaming the government and parliamentary system for the poor standard of reporting.
“all crack” as in “All crack and no buttocks”?
“However there is important legislation that lapsed when the election was called that is to do with board appointments to the ABC. Basically this is to do with ensuring merit based appointments.”
Peter Mc@121, how could this be so? Already I think 3 new appointments have made with a new system in place. Why would legislation already enacted and used lapse just because an election was called?
joe2 @ 126
I don’t know what the current state of appointments to the board are but remember that these appointments can be made my the government because the old appointments have come to an end. Legislation is not needed for this. The legislation that is needed is to ensure a merit based appointment process and my understanding from taking to Friends of the ABC is that this legislation did not go through because is lapsed due to the election being called.
I would be grateful if anyone can point us to an authoritative source for information about the state of ABC appointment legislation.
See below Peter Mc…
http://www.dbcde.gov.au/television/abc_and_sbs_board_appointments/the_merit-based_appointment_process
I think nothing has changed. It makes no sense at all that the election would have made any difference. I suggest you have been misinformed.
I explained the other day on another thread the current state of play of the ABC Board and how it is now poised for change. See….
http://larvatusprodeo.net/2010/09/07/we-have-a-gillard-minority-government/#comment-233774
Please unmoderate my comment.
The unhinging continues apace: now we have staunch anti-Republican David Flint belabouring the independents because they didn’t hold out for constitutional change:
Got to admire the good emeritus professor – he’s forgotten more constitutional law than I ever learned.
joe2 @ 128
Thanks for the links. The link to dbcde you gave has the merit based appointment process as “An Initiative” and elsewhere I have found a media release by Conroy announcing the appointments that you talk about. They are described as:
“new merit based appointment process”
However this does not show that the actual legislation has passed through both houses of parliament. Friends of the ABC want a bill reintroduced into parliament which also includes the reinstatement of a staff appointment to the board.
I’m not clear on this and am researching further. Any help on this would be appreciated.
joe2 @ 128
OK – I’ve found this at the Australasian Legal Information Institute:
NATIONAL BROADCASTING LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2009
At the top of the page you will notice that it states “This is a Bill, not an Act.”
I looks as though appointments have been made using the processes described in the bill but the bill has not yet been legislated. Please correct me if this is not so.
Hi, Peter Mc,
Yep, you are correct, it looks a bit like this amendment never moved any further than the lower house. I guess the big sticking point would have been around the staff appointee, remembering that Maurice Newman resigned his first stint as a board member over this issue.
The bill would almost certainly have been blocked in the Senate over teh evil abc union involvement.
Keep in mind that the new minister whoever she/he is should be in a position to appoint whoever they want under the unamended Act with or without the merit based choice mechanism.
Found this link that might be helpful.
http://www.openaustralia.org/debates/?id=2009-10-29.6.1#g6.2
Keep up the good work, guys.
joe2 @ 133
thanks for that – Friends of the ABC are currently lobbying MPs (including the indies) about this bill. As you say there is a bit of argy bargy about the amendments. So it might be a good time to send messages to our MPs to get the thing moving and in a direction that helps restore the ABC to some semblance of sanity.
Once again I encourage everyone to join Friends:
http://fabc.org.au/fabc/
They do some good work but it looks to me like they could do with some help.
Good old Annabell Crabb for promoting a meme that the Gillard Gov’t is a minority government when if fact the government comands a majority in the House of Reps. Is this part of the new paradigm of news reporting? Unhinged indeed.
ABC has become as much a part of the dumbing down of political reporting as is the Murdoch media empire. Auntie is one of the attack dogs. So I will NOT be joining friends of the ABC. Why on earth would I want to lend my support to such rubbish?
harleymc, it seems odd to condemn Crabb for using a term accurately. The Gillard govt is a minority government because it does not hold a majority of seats in its own right, and has to rely on members who do not belong to the ALP to hold the confidence (majority vote) of the House.