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Gaslighting arseholes – the real enemy of the people

On a recent article titled The price of procrastination, AIMN contributor Peter made the following observation:

Turnbull is a fucking lying disgusting and pathetic mother of all gaslighting arseholes. He has no principles to speak of except for unadulterated greed.

EVERYTHING he and the Coalition touches turns to shit. Renewable energies, our education and health system and the pièce de résistance our National Broadband Network. And he has corrupted the Australian Federal Police using them for witch hunting.

The enemy of the people are not foreign, its people inside Australia working against Australians. 70% of Australians want marriage equality and they are not getting it. Who’s protecting corruption by preventing an investigation into banking corruption? Is it ISIS?

The majority of Australians want action on climate change. Who’s stopping this government from doing that? The Assad regime? No.

Who is ultimately responsible for murdering, torturing and brutalizing people on Nauru? Iran? No, of course not. And who is taking a giant shit on the Australian constitution? Is it al qaeda? No. And who is cutting and slashing wages? It has nothing to do with Islam.

As I said the enemies of this country are not from outside. They are under our very noses. You want to know who it is, then go no further than Turnbull and his fucking corrupt Liberal Party.

Gaslighting is a form of manipulation that seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or in members of a targeted group, hoping to make them question their own memory, perception, and sanity. Using persistent denial, misdirection, contradiction, and lying, it attempts to destabilize the target and delegitimize the target’s belief.

That seems to very aptly describe what our government is doing.

The only thing on the agenda for the government, aside from the inevitable stoush about marriage equality, is their continued push for corporate tax cuts which, we are told, will result in more jobs, higher wages, and a boost to economic growth.

In 2016-17, corporate profit surged 21.2 percent while average wages rose only 1.8%.  In the year to September 2017, trend employment increased by 335,500 persons while the labour force increased by 333,300 persons resulting in 716,600 still unemployed.

Over the full ten-year phase-in period to 2026–27, the Treasury Secretary has estimated that the changes in the main corporate tax rate, together with all the changes flowing from lifting the small business entity threshold, will cost the Commonwealth Budget $48.2 billion in cash terms.

It is true the corporate tax rate at 30% is higher than some other countries in our region, but it is average compared to G7 countries. Further, Australia’s franked dividends system means Australian shareholders already enjoy favourable tax conditions on income earned from their investment in companies. However, foreign investors do not benefit from franked dividends and would benefit from a lower company tax rate in Australia.

As more information comes to light about tax avoidance and evasion, this is going to be a hard sell which will require some serious gaslighting if we are to believe that facilitating even greater profits for foreigners will in any way benefit the community.

In the meantime, the government will no doubt continue with their “look over there” strategy to distract us from any real analysis of what they are doing, like spending $400 billion on war toys that will likely never be used for anything but their never-ending war games, and what they are not doing to address our greatest threat, climate change.

Peter was right. The real enemies in this country are occupying the Treasury benches which they are using to reward their fellow political travellers and their donors.

 

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24 comments

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  1. James

    I don’t know who Peter is but, I agree with everything he said, our enemy is our government.

  2. Shevill Mathers

    Peter has nailed it in easy to understand good old Australian terminology. I look at fences being built around that place on the hill in Canberra, the PM’s “We are keeping you safe” at every opportunity, and on TV we see a series of ‘Border Force’ activities ? to again drive home the ‘impression’ that we are in imminent danger of being attacked, attacked? by whom? Not any external forces they would like you to believe, no, the danger lurks within that security fence. Tony Abbott started it with his armour plated bomb proof BMW for transporting the PM. And, to cap it off, they are letting Joyce actually run for his seat so he can return as the worst deputy PM in Australia’s history – he should have been sacked – with the others and denied all perks and entitlements other than his own superannuation contributions-no free stuff when he leaves politics as so many of them have, Howard, the helicopter ‘rorter’, B Bishop, and so many more, filling their pockets with taxpayers monies for taking Australia backwards, it makes me want to puke. The next federal election cannot come soon enough.

  3. Karl Young

    Turnbull is a f*cking lying disgusting and pathetic mother of all gaslighting arseholes. Tell me what you really think Kaye.

    I had a brother who was a Gaslighter. It took me years to work it out. So glad it has a name now.

  4. Aortic

    Great article Kaye and Peter is right on the money as are you Shevill. I always have a peek at the Unaustralian on line and Chris Kenny is advocating Abbott 2.0 saying he is looking better by the day and Van Onselen is advocating a comeback by John Howard. Sweet tap dancing Jesus on.a donkey they will get obliterated at the next election for sure but if this is an example of their forward “vision” for the place they may never regain power this century.

  5. Michael

    = theft and pillage of public property by the trustees we collectively have elected.

  6. John Boyd

    And they are just their good points!

  7. babyjewels10

    Twenty first century government. Wolves in sheep’s clothing. Most people don’t want to acknowledge the bleeding obvious.

  8. diannaart

    Another thing gaslighters do is set up situations to unnerve their victim(s). Everything appears reasonable up until the point the GL suddenly switches tactics leaving the vulnerable in a situation beyond logic – what went wrong? The victim often blames themselves, because the confidence, power or influence of the gaslighter is given more credibility than their hapless conquests. Personal experience here.

    Yes, Australia is being eaten out from the inside. Excellent comments, Peter and brilliantly observed Kaye Lee.

    It is up to us to remove this cancer and, yes, it is effing scary but we can do it. Our (gaslighters) government have reached such levels of absurdity that we have the opportunity to take them down at the next election. Vote in the senate for progressive, intelligent people.

    The senate is our best hope for change.

  9. Andre

    It’s absolutely mind boggling the way these criminals who are in power, are destroying Australia etc.

    These disgusting parasites are deliberately creating fake/false dept, so they can make harsh cuts to welfare making life hell & a misery to many who are already struggling as it is.

    Would love to see these self serving & selfish scumbags like Turdbull inc. its ilk, to reap a taste of their very own medicine!

  10. Sir Scotchmistery

    And please bear in mind we have gaslighters in the states as well. Queensland now has something called the fixated persons unit. We got rid of the special branch under Joh, and it had been replaced and is used by the likes of minister Grace Grace to hide her interactions with Santos.

    Doesn’t matter which party is pulling the levers, the only beneficiaries are the fluck-knuckles of the political class.

  11. Susan

    Well said??
    I just can’t comprehend why the Australian people keep voting for them????

  12. OPPOSE THE MAJOUR PARTIES

    TPP II IS TREASON. don’t agree that corp tax cuts are the only issue left on the LNP agenda. We now learn that a TPP mark II has been negotiated in stealth and would have executed by a gov riddled with divided loyalties at APEC had Trudeau not ‘missed’ the meeting. This ‘agreement’ is the highest form of treason. It will facilitate the transfer of public assets to private multnational corporations. Good bye public schools, hospitals, transport, broadcasting….you name it.The TPP is the neoliberalist coup de grace.

  13. Jack Straw

    Absolutely agree with you Oppose on The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP. Though shortening it’s name keeps it further under the radar. And your right it is treason and legal theft of public own assets.I remember The pathetic Nick Minchin crowing about one these agreements with the US. Though the people are never consulted on these agreements.

  14. John Lord

    My thoughts are in accord with yours Kaye. I never thought I would be ashamed of my country. But I am.

  15. OPPOSE THE MAJOUR PARTIES

    turnbull and his traitors with divided loyalties in his gov are determined to get the TPP thru because it means the destruction of public life in aust to the benefit of foreign nationals. they are traitors pure and simple. They will simply put it in place and allow other countries to join in when they too are gov by traitors like the LNP.

  16. Phil

    Well said Peter. Indeed, the enemy is within. It’s troops reside in the Liberal Party and the National Party.

    Thanks once again Kaye for a cutting contribution. I hope we are seeing the death throes of the Liberal party.

    Globally, conservatism and its il-mannered offspring, neoliberalism/neoconservatism, are dying – Australians must do their bit to hasten the end.

    Thanks to Turnbull’s hopelessly incompetent and, dare I say corrupt government, our opportunity is here and now.

  17. Ricardo29

    There is a brief reference to the Border Farce TV show, coming up on our ABC. The ex-Google, ex-Murdoch Michelle Guthrie showing the government the ABC can out-populist the commercials. Unless this shows some of the BF ‘s dark side it’s going to be just another hagiography, and we do not need something that attempts to humanise those responsible for Manus, Nauru and turning back the boats. I appreciate the good work of customs and Immigration, but not he nasty stuff that’s being done in our name.

  18. Harry

    If you hate Australia vote Coalition.

  19. Michael

    So, what is a/the solution – so it does not happen again?

  20. johno

    Well said Peter and Kaye

  21. Gloria J. Holland

    The TPP IS DEFINITELY NOT in AUSTRALIA’S best interest!! if it IS so Beneficial to Us why then has the LNP kept it’s contents under wraps/secret/furtive??? Strange how the LNP could renegotiate the TPP but NOT PASS SSM legislation??!! Politicians Self Interest(s) are so much More Important than the Will of the People who elected them and pay their salaries!!

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