Religious Rights, Democratic Rights, Freedom of Speech And All That Other Things That People Try To Pretend Exist…

Rossleigh

6 years ago

Now, I’m an old, white male so I’m not used to being wrong…

Perhaps, I should clarify that: I’m not used to having to admit that I was wrong.

I actually thought that Labor would win and that all of the scare campaigns would just seem silly once most people understood that rents weren’t going to go up, the housing market wasn’t going to tank and – in spite of Clive Palmer and his ads which switched from attacking both parties to attacking Labor once he’d had a little chat with the Liberals – Labor wasn’t actually going to tax us by an “extra trillion dollars”!

I’d also like to say that the behaviour of both Labor and the Greens since the election loss makes me want to quote Shakespeare and say: “A pox on both your houses”… I don’t mean to be awful here but surely it’s the time to not say anything that may be taken down and used in evidence against you. No, it’s not NOT the time to tweet your support for any leader.. why don’t you just elect a new one? And no, Richard, you don’t get points for blaming Labor about anything. If you want to do that, just go and join the Liberals!!

But all these things are the meanderings of a man who has had too many expectations because, well, old, white males aren’t expected to have to say they were wrong… And let’s be real, most of them don’t, even when they are.

And I want to emphasise that I am being entirely personal here and thinking only of myself and my disappointment that we don’t have a change of government… I mean, even Pauline may have led to more of us taking more of interest in politics next time round…

I’m not thinking of all those who have had their franking credits saved.

I’m not thinking how those who have been found to be refugees who are still on Manus or Nauru who may lose all hope and yet understand that now that Scott has been hailed as the Messiah, they will suddenly find a way to go to a better place… Euphemisms abound in days like these…

I’m not thinking of Israel Folau, who can’t tweet whatever he likes when it offends his employer… Because nobody else has been ever sanctioned for defying their employer and sending out another tweet that they were warned not to send…Still, can’t help but wonder why neither Scott nor Barnaby were upset about the reference to liars and adulterers going to hell!

I’m not thinking about poor Alan Jones, who’d promised us that he’d stop public appearances were Labor to win. That’s all public appearances and not just those for the convenience of the public.

I’m not thinking about… Damn I had another group of people I wasn’t thinking about… It wasn’t Queenslanders without jobs because now Adani’s going ahead it’s clear that any of them who don’t get a go, well, it’s because they’re not having a go…

Um… I’m not thinking about…

No, I AM thinking. That’s why I can’t remember the other cheap shot I was going to have.

Who was it that said that we can live together as brothers or die together as fools?

Doesn’t matter… although I suspect that his sexist language may upset some people…

I’d just like to point out two things:

Since the Liberals lost the “unlosable election” in 1993, Labor has only won one election with a clear majority and another by convincing the Independents that they’d be a better bet than a minority government led by Abbott… which, considering his inability to lead a majority government full time, seems completely reasonable… Anyway, the point I’m making is the Liberals must have learned something. Can Labor – or somebody else – learn it quickly and rid us of this smug, person who may become the next John Howard if we all just keep taking pot shots at each other about the past?
My son had a political conversation with me tonight that made me wonder for the first time ever if he could one day be Prime Minister… ok, I used to have loftier ambitions for him but he’s twenty now… However, I decided that he’d be better off to actually use his political nouse to do some good in the world instead of worrying about convincing the majority that he’s right.

The five stages of grief have, like most things, been popular for a while then forgotten, but let’s go through them as best I remember.