Who leaked this footage? Was it someone from the Julia camp, or just a Liberal stooge?
One of the first public criticisms of Rudd’s leadership was that he was too obsessed with the daily media cycle. But was it all about spin, or was he simply trying to beat the media at their own game?
I had thought the recent media focus on who caucus hates most – Julia or Kevin – was a beat up. The tragedy for Julia is that she could not get on top of the rumours, and has done nothing terribly positive outside this issue to take back control of her image.
But nothing shows who frames the debate or who is deciding what questions are important than this clip of Rudd doing a dummy spit. No wonder Kev was obsessed with trying to control the media cycle. Politicians seem to be more accountable to the media than to voters – so much so that I feel not just impotent but that, as a voter, I am being manipulated.
If the media really frames all political debate, maybe the question is not one of whether we truly get the government we deserve, but one of whether we get the media we deserve.
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Rudd is reputed to be a bit of a perfectionist, reputed not to be a team player, and reputed to be someone who does his block over trivial things [like crappy sandwiches on a long flight].
While I don’t know that it’s okay to swear at an innocent flight attendant over someone else’s failure to provide decent food, I must admit that I have, from time to time, lost my temper and used bad words just the way Rudd does in this clip.
It doesn’t change my impression of him one bit.
God help us if the media gets wind of some politician breaking wind.
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It does the Liberal Party no credit that Tony Abbott has had their loyalty for so long. If they stood for anything, they would want to be represented by a spokesman prepared to tell us what that is.
What the leak suggests is that the ALP is a party at war with itself.
And if the party is at war with itself, this is because it doesn’t stand for anything, any more than the Liberal Party does.
If no one wins elections, but simply takes power by default because they are the lesser of two evils, who will win the next election? Who do you choose when there’s not even anything left to scrape from the bottom of the barrel?
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The Westminster
We are leaderless and – no pun intended – rudderless.
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it – to myself as usual if that’s the best I can manage – the person who represents this country and sets an agenda and vision for parliament should be chosen directly by voters. It must be someone who is free to speak their mind, not someone beholden to a bunch of movers and shakers.
A reasonably independent agenda would hold parliament accountable, by framing debate and asking those who work against this elected vision to explain themselves.
The corollary of this is that any directly elected leader would be held openly accountable by parliament, not simply threatened behind closed doors.
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great post Fruity. I despise them all. the party machine that put Juls where Kev used to be, is probably sorry now that they thought a woman would be compliant. she is real tough, but she has let me down on several issues.
ReplyDeleteI am watching question time as I type. grandstanding like cirque de soleil, the lot of them. I wish they would just run the country.
Question time? Ann, you are a beggar for punishment.
DeleteHad to laugh when i seen this video on the news last night as it just goes to show he's only human like the rest of us the poor fella. Corporate Australia and the church are the movers and shakers running this country one example is the banks snubbing their noses at the reserve bank and raising interest rates, sacking hundreds of people and then sending management on a ship cruise, the worst thing of all is their obscence profits at the expense of the struggling little people. I'm going to stop ranting now as i could go on and on and on :-).
ReplyDeleteWindsmoke, I think we should sit you at a desk with a flag behind you and a glass of water in front of you. Or at least put subtitles on the Kev video saying similar things about banks. I reckon it would go viral.
DeleteA new system for us and well worth thinking about. Not that Julia is my favourite, but I reckon she is doing an ok job of staring Rudd and his henchmen down.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, there is no doubt that Julia is one heck of a strong character. This is something I admire a lot in her, but unfortunately the only thing I admire about her. Kev is no doormat either - more like a tightly coiled clock-spring than cool, but in relative terms more likely to say what he means and mean what he says. A Cassius.
ReplyDeleteBy now you've heard of Kev's resignation and the noble reasons behind it. [Not just tactical but also the right thing to do.]
Rudd to move and mate in two moves? Has he shot himself in the foot and if so does this mean he will be able to walk on water?
Where is Malcolm now that we really really really need him?
We sportslovin' ozzies do like a close match.
Rudd is kind of adorable when he's angry.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with you. Are we supposed to be shocked to know that Prime Ministers have normal human emotions?
Adorable when he is angry, Dina? When people lose their temper I run for my life... there was a time when I would start to laugh nervously, but this often just made them angrier.
ReplyDeleteBut of course anger is a normal emotion, and I guess perfectionists get angry when something goes wrong. Still, tomorrow there will be a party room vote and no matter who wins, I suspect there will soon be an election, and the Labor party will be a long, long time wandering in the wilderness.
It's a bit of a cliffhanger, really.