Politics is a charade
By Ad astra
Charade: an absurd pretence intended to create a pleasant or respectable appearance.
We, the people, are the victims of such deliberate pretence by the political class.
Do any of you need convincing of this cruel reality?
If you do, reflect for a moment on the proceedings of Donald Trump’s so-called ‘impeachment trial’ in the Senate that was thrust at you every day on your TV screens. There you saw both sides of the ‘debate’ pretending that it was a serious attempt to ascertain the facts and reach a reasoned conclusion about whether Trump incited the riotous behaviour at the Capitol building on January 6 that we all saw in such graphic detail on our TV screens, and whether his words: ”Fight like hell or you won’t have a country” were simply rhetorical flourish, or whether they were calculated words of incitement?
Even a cursory glimpse at the Senate process exposed it as a charade, indeed the most cynical we are ever likely to witness during our lifetime! From the very beginning we knew what the outcome would be: Trump would be acquitted.
The February 10 issue of The New York Times spelt this out in an article that asserted: ”Donald Trump’s impeachment team is trying to rewrite the narrative of January 6, calling the charge against Trump ‘a monstrous lie’.” It went on: ”Trump’s team insisted that he never glorified violence during his presidency, and that he consistently called for peace as the rampage of the Capitol unfolded. By showing video clips of Democrats urging their supporters to ‘fight’ and Donald Trump venerating ‘law and order’ they sought to rewrite not just the narrative of Trump’s campaign to overturn the election, but also that of his entire presidency.” Charade writ large!
Of course, Trump is a supreme master of charade. Can you recall a more striking example than Trump’s insistence that despite the vote count that showed he had been convincingly defeated by Joe Biden in the recent Presidential election, he had actually won it in a landslide, and had been ‘robbed’ of his due only because there had been widespread corruption in multiple jurisdictions all across the US? If he really believed that, his deranged mental state could be the only plausible explanation.
When we hear China’s CPC feigning distress at Australia’s ‘dumping’ of our barley and wine on their markets, we know immediately that is yet another charade, Chinese style, that permits them to retaliate.
But we don’t need to look at the US for examples of charade.
When PM Morrison stands outside the parliament and repeatedly refuses to commit to a zero emissions target by 2050, because he can’t until he knows how to reach it, we all know that’s a charade.
When he insists that his office had nothing to do with Bridget McKenzie’s ‘sports-rort’, the evidence exposes that distortion of the truth as a charade.
When he pretends that the illegal attempts to retrieve so-called ‘over-payments’ by Centrelink were appropriate, he perpetrates another charade.
More recently, when asked to explain the actions of maverick Craig Kelly’s repeated spread of false health information on his web platform, our PM responded (complete with smirk) with: “He’s not your doctor, and he’s not mine”, and even more irrelevantly, “He’s doing a great job in Hughes”, you immediately recognise the cynical charade those words portray.
Still more recently, there was the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins in the office of Defence Minister’s Linda Reynolds, which evoked this response from Brittany: “It was the sight of the Prime Minister standing on a podium with Australian of the Year Grace Tame, a survivor of sexual assault that hardened my resolve to speak. I was sick to my stomach. He’s standing next to a woman who has campaigned for ‘Let her speak’ and yet in my mind his government was complicit in silencing me. It was a betrayal. It was a lie.”
This is charade writ large, and in a distressingly extreme form.
Of course, charade is universal. You’ve see Boris Johnson perpetrate charade after charade as he pretends he knows the solution to the UK’s escalating COVID-19 crisis, that worsens by the day. Many would call it simply BS! You’ve seen Vladimir Putin’s charades again and again.
Years ago, writing in The Hill, in an article titled: Change tack: Don’t embolden Putin to continue his charade, Mareh Sarif detailed the unsuccessful attempts of successive US Presidents to reach rapprochement with him. Master of charade, Putin outmanoeuvred his counterparts again and again. He had Trump on a string despite Trump’s bluster. We can envisage him smiling from the safety of the Kremlin at Trump’s egomaniacal ineptitude, stupidity and arrogance. Is there any doubt that Putin interfered with the recent Presidential election?
Do these examples convince you that politics is a charade? Do tell us of other instances.
This article was originally published on The Political Sword
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11 comments
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Joe Carli -
2353NM -
Michael Taylor -
Joe Carli -
Michael Taylor -
Kronomex -
Matters Not -
Ross -
Michael Bongiorno -
Gangstas Paradise -
wam
Return to home page“Do these examples convince you that politics is a charade? Do tell us of other instances.”…sure..here you go Ad Astra…you’re welcome.
https://theaimn.com/the-long-days-dying/
Joe, This piece has nothing to do with your obsession over class warfare.
It does have a lot to do with a small group of people manipulating the system for political advantage. While it could be argued that class warfare does the same, it doesn’t necessarily follow that all trying to take advantage are from a particular class in society.
2353NM is right, Joe. Everyone’s aware of your obsessive hatred of the middle-class and upwards.
2353…it is also a well established principle that the “moderates” within a demographic will in the majority of instances side with and give comfort to the more fanatical elements within that same demographic…I won’t insult anyone’s intelligence on this site by proving the bleedin’ obvious…
And really..2353….”MY” obsession…that old chestnut’s worn a bit thin by now hasn’t it?
Ad astra, one wonders if Scott Morrison is channeling Donald Trump. I tend to think that Trump has empowered him somewhat.
Michael,
I looked at the photo and wondered if Saint Scotty of the Marketing had to put his right hand where it is to cover up his little brains excitement at him being touched by The Donald.
“And really..2353….”MY” obsession…that old chestnut’s worn a bit thin by now hasn’t it?” No, it has not because you just can’t leave it alone. And in reply…
Perhaps we are witnessing the end of democracy as a political ideology? Plato argued all those years ago that democracy as a concept gave rise to anarchic societies without internal unity, that they were driven by citizens’ impulses rather than pursuing the common good. That they contained within the very seeds of their own destruction.
In 1945, it might be argued there were just a dozen or so democracies world wide. Yet by the turn of the century there were more than 80 who described themselves in that manner. But then came a reversal and the numbers declined rapidly. Not only a decline in number but also in substance. In the United States we see a government that’s the best money can buy. Then there’s the shells of Hungary, Italy, Poland, with Britain and France not far behind. And no one would argue that we have a smooth functioning democracy here in Australia, hamstrung as it is by a Constitution well past its use-by-date.
Fact is democratic government, if it is to succeed at all, must be worked at. It doesn’t come easy.. It demand citizens, the fundamental building block of any democracy, to develop a critical consciousness – to be able to evaluate large volumes of facts and opinions and separate the good from the bad, the right from the wrong and the valid from the false. It requires thoughtfulness, discipline, logic and the ability to accept criticism. But there is no evidence that average punter here and elsewhere is up to that task.
So don’t blame politicians – just look in the mirror.
As someone on the cusp of joining the ranks of the elderly this correspondent has suffered many a federal government and PM’s from Ming the Merciless to the current Scotty from Marketing.
If you are looking for a charade look no further than the office of Prime Minister.
The worst PM in my living memory has to be John Winston Howard. Yes the Lying Rodent himself.
The long dark dank and nasty Howard years ended when the great unwashed had a gutful and turfed the rodent out of his seat and government. One telling reason why JWH gets the gong.
Things started going downhill the moment Howard became PM and haven’t improved much since.
Of those that came after him first up was Kevin Michael Rudd or Kevin07 who promised so much but Kev’s bright shiny new star soon went super nova and collapsed into the singularity of a black hole.
Julia Eileen Gillard was both PM and a woman, and no woman can be PM according to the misogynist bastards of the media and the LNP. (Refer one Ms Julie Isabel Bishop).
So Kevin briefly escaped from the event horizon before the gravity of the black hole reclaimed him.
Next in was one Anthony John Abbott, an ignorant incompetent fool whose brief time in the big chair is best quickly forgotten for collective mental health reasons.
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull always knew the Prime Ministership was his sacred birth right. Having achieved what was his by divine right Malcolm sat back in the big chair to bask in the glow of his own brilliance and forgot to watch his back. A fatal mistake in the cesspit that is the Liberal Party.
Scott John Morrison dudded Peter Craig Dutton while silently slipping the stiletto into Malcolm. Scott now sits in the big chair. The, so far, brief reign of Scotty that smug prick from marketing has been one of family holidays and photo shoots with his personal professional photographer, interspaced with the odd couple of hundred scandals, incompetence, sleaze, misogyny complaints and corruption allegations.
To sum up, since the demise of the abominable Howard Australian Prime Ministers don’t last long enough in the big chair to leave an arse print. It is as they say, a charade.
Thanks Ross, best laugh I’ve had in a long time,and all too accurate.
Release a damning Report into Aged Care.
Then call a press conference 10 minutes later.
Yesterday’s charade from the Morrison govt.
a great read, to the stars “he had actually won it in a landslide” Trump told republicans NOT to vote by mail whilst Biden told democrats TO vote by mail. One of the jokes sent from rabbottians who read trump’s versions of his achievements: “my grandfather submitted a postal vote and he voted democrat something he never would have done when he was alive.”
So tuesday trump was in front true or false???
ps another lying rodent sell-plan gone wrong and age ‘care’ for profit roared into life. The fact that we elderly are riddled with health issues was lost in the search for profit.
Sadly, the profit comes from paying low, skimping on services and taking on costs for handling gov money.
So first workers out were the health professionals. The sector will have $451m about the same as a bloke with a shack on kangaroo island got to open a prison for one family and mal’s missus’ 4 mates in queensland got over $100m each.
A pathetic amount from an inept government (remember christine and her loonies gave them access to unlimited cash)
ps heard channel 9 talking about a levy and if you earn $100k you pay $1k. Simple but not right. I know people who get over $100k but their taxable income is ZERO they will pay nothing. Of course labor could push for the levy on gross income then those pollies with multiple investment properties and the rich with deductions through avoidance schemes will pay as will the unemployed and benefit recipients plus the mongrel frankers and paper delivery kids