39 comments

1. Frank SmithSeptember 1, 2018 at 12:00 pm

   It seems from this article by Karen Middleton that ScoMo was practicing his “have a go” mantra to full effect last week. It provides some useful insights into the “behind the scenes shenanigans” in play during last week’s saga.

   https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2018/09/01/how-morrison-played-everyone/15357240006796

2. Mr Shevill MathersSeptember 1, 2018 at 12:00 pm

   Rossleigh,

   As always, a great article. Morison continues with Turnbull’s style, meeting with and doing high fives with school children, however, he has yet to master the Turnbull skill of taking smartphone selfies. Looking back I have to wonder after all the resets the LNP have had, when do they actually start to govern in the best interests of Australia and the people who elected them to do so. The LNP have taken us backwards from the first day they took office.

3. JosephusSeptember 1, 2018 at 12:46 pm

   Clearly the new PM thinks we are all morons. Populism without any substance. He could try racism or’ terrism’ to dog whistle. Yawn. How debased has liberal democracy become.

4. helvityniSeptember 1, 2018 at 1:02 pm

   Scottie says that he is on my side…I look around but I don’t see him on this side; maybe he does not know that I’m on the side of the asylum seekers, pensioners, homeless, Indigenous people….

5. pierre wilkinsonSeptember 1, 2018 at 2:15 pm

   so, in order to get a go, i first have to have a go, but it is only a fair go if i am having a fair dinkum go without wanting to get a go from the government who only believe that i am having a go if i don’t need a fair go from them…. seems fair enough if i am having a go

6. New England CockySeptember 1, 2018 at 3:26 pm

   “Anyway, Mr Morrison – or ScoMo, as we’re all encouraged to call him – is an evangelical Christian.”

   Perhaps a better name for the resurrected Mark Antony of Australian politics is “Scat Morriscum”.

   “Et tu, Scattie?”

   “I come to bury Turnbull not to praise him.”

   Perhaps Toxic RAbbott is planning the second coming as we read ….

   “And one of the best ways to show you’re “having a go” is to not need any government help –”

   unless you are a Liarbral Party member, or a foreign owned multinational corporation seeking to make Australia a 19th century colony of the corporation, a church providing third rate education system for over 50 years, international oil exploration corporation requiring the government to pay for exploration, broad acre farmers used to “stealing” MDB environmental water flows as of personal right regardless of legislation, or a bank executive wanting to squeeze every last cent of profit out of account holders.

   The Australian Establishment has had its hand out to government since the first day of European settlement and the government just “keeps on giving”.

   And that is just for starters. Australia gifts about $150 BILLION PER YEAR free, gratis and for nothing to the undeserving wealthy and corporates in tax concessions, rebates, and other revenue cutting financial measures. Now how easy is it to “balance the Budget”? Easy squeeze!! But the LNP blew it out to about DOUBLE!!!

7. ZathrasSeptember 1, 2018 at 3:30 pm

   Morrison’s statement is Liberal-speak for – If you “have a go” and don’t get “a fair go” in this country, it must be your own fault, not ours.
   It’s the same reason Corporations implement Mission Statements – to shift the blame from the Management to the staff.

   Strangely, there seem to be a lot of people who are not getting “a fair go” in this country at the moment. There must be a lot of “leaners” out there dragging down the “lifters”.

   Things must be really bad if our representatives need to wear a trinket to remind them of their responsibilities to their constituents.

   However did they manage before those badges – the personal equivalent of those magical fridge magnets used to defeat terrorism?

8. Brad GoldingSeptember 1, 2018 at 3:49 pm

   ScoMo is PM so he must be right and Jesus was wrong! Silly Jesus! Don’t be like Jesus, be like ScoMo!
   Of course, in the case of refugees, corrupt banker mates and the homeless et al in Australia, ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?” Precisely, well done folks!!! He’d tell them to get off their butts and ‘have a go!’ Then get a better job, a degree in economics so they can decide which of the corrupt banks offers the best deal, then a law degree to work out if the contact with the new bank will not make them worse off in the end, even if they die! It’s that simple people!
   If ScoMo can do it then so should the rest of us, caveat emptor is the name of the game!
   Why should our poor politicians have to waste their oh so valuable time regulating financial institutions when we could be out there shopping around for the best (?) deal and forcing the market to act honestly?
   But if you are not able to do that, particularly if you are old or poor, could you quietly, and with no mess, kill yourselves so that the government won’t have to pay you anything and so that the banks can keep your pensions!

9. paul walterSeptember 1, 2018 at 3:56 pm

   If he wants to convince me he’s an Xtian, he’ll drop the blasphemous witness K nonsenses.

   “Christian” Porter!!

   Do you mind?

10. Nigel DrakeSeptember 1, 2018 at 4:28 pm

    @ Josephus: “Clearly the new PM thinks we are all morons.”

    Well, people do tend to judge others by their own standards.

11. KronomexSeptember 1, 2018 at 4:40 pm

    A few of the new Mug Brothers (and one Sister) –

    Scummo.
    Thicko.
    Fascisto.
    Roboto.
    Screecho.

    Add more names and help complete the set.

12. KyranSeptember 1, 2018 at 5:04 pm

    Dear Mr Brisbane.
    Thank you for your fine article, but there are some minor points I need to clear up. This is not the first article that has appeared with inaccuracies in it, so I must remain vigilant. Mind you, it’s been such a tumultuous few weeks I’ve constantly been asking myself “So, where the bloody hell am I?”
    Your reference to the tweeting is slightly erroneous. I only recently took to tweeting when my good pal, Donald, tweeted me. This was reported in The Guardian, which I have been trying to correct for a while now. Apparently Dutton told them they were dead to us and now they don’t know who I am.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/25/no-greater-friends-donald-trump-congratulates-scott-morrison-on-new-role

    “But he also fielded a congratulatory tweet from the US president a day after replacing Malcolm Turnbull as the country’s prime minster.
    Trump wrote there are “no greater friends than the United States and Australia!”, but made no mention of Turnbull, with whom he has had a famously rocky relationship.”
    I fixed that one with minimal puckering then had to make a call to put off Joko, ‘cause there was so much to do here.
    “Morrison also spoke on the phone to the Indonesian leader, Joko Widodo, on Saturday. Turnbull had been due to travel to Indonesia next week to sign a free trade deal but Morrison will not make the trip, opting to stay at home to formulate domestic policy.”
    Then I got a call from that pesky Ardern woman in NZ.

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1808/S00299/jacinda-ardern-congratulates-scott-morrison.htm

    She thought she could trade on my affection for NZ just because I stayed there for a few years in the 90’s. Ok, it was in their Office of Tourism and Sport and I masterminded the long-running “100% Pure New Zealand” Campaign, but I’m not their BFF. She did make reference to Barnaby and myself being the best ever ambassadors for NZ – as long as we stay away. She even thanked me for helping their population grow.
    “Since changes to Australia’s Migration Act in 2014, the number of deportations of foreign nationals on character grounds has soared, and New Zealand citizens have made up the vast bulk of those removed. Some have been issued with deportation orders despite having no family connections or friends in that country, or anywhere else to go.”
    I think The Guardian was playing on that one too when they reported “I’m not pretending to know one end of a sheep from another,” [Morrison said on Saturday].” You see? Not every Kiwi has such intimate knowledge of the anatomy of a sheep, let alone which end is preferable. That’s the first correction I have to make to your article. The tweet was one of those little white lies.
    “In fact, he cleared it up with a tweet. “Today I gave each of my Ministers a lapel pin with the Australian flag on it. I’ve been wearing this for many years now. The reason I wear it is because it reminds me every single day whose side I’m on. I’m on the side of the Australian people”.”
    I actually only wear the pin infrequently, and it’s to remind me I’m not in NZ – even though the flags look similar. I had to give one to everyone ‘cause they’re all a little antsy at the moment, something about elections and the Titanic and knives and so on. It can’t be too bad – no-one has started to worry about policies yet.
    But there was more pressing work to be done. Which leads to your reference to the parable of the fishes. I had to fix the drought first, ‘cause if there’s no water, there’s no fishies.
    “Morrison acknowledged the one-week-old appointment of Major General Day by his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull.
    But defeating the drought would require bringing together all the resources of government at all levels.
    “Another major general once told me don’t rush to failure, and I think it’s important we listen, we plan, we coordinate and we respond,” Mr Morrison said.”
    But the good lord spared me. I cut short my drought reign when it rained on my second day, which fixed the drought. See? Pyne’s not the fixer, I am. Which leads me to my next correction.
    “As the Liberal Party clarified on Twitter by quoting our unifying leader:
    “If you have a go in this country, you will get a go. There is a fair go for those who have a go – that’s what fairness in Australia means”.”
    As I explained to our various publicity departments at Newscorpse, the word is ‘fare’, not ‘fair’. The Liberals might be a broad church, but my church doesn’t do ‘broad’s’. We specifically teach the fare go – if you haven’t got the fare, you go. Which also brings me back to my religious convictions and how much easier it makes this job. Like every grate epiphany, I returned to the basics.
    All of the problems of ministers and politicians and standards and codes of conduct is just too hard. Simple. We will just pin up the ‘Ten Commandments’ around Parliament House. Surprisingly, Kelly and Michaelia complained. Apparently, as lawyers and ministers for employment, they felt having things like ‘Thou shalt not steal’ and ‘Thou shalt not lie’ in a building full of lawyers, politicians and lobbyists would create a more conflicted, if not more hostile, work environment. After a bit of pointing and yelling and speaking in tongues at them, they acquiesced.
    I had to explain the new top ten to Barnaby as special envoy on water. He explained that Malcolm had asked him to live by similar principles last year, something about being an ‘adult’ (or ‘ery’ or ‘erer’). So he told me the same story he told Malcolm. He said when he was first a minister for water, he often rode a bike. One day, he noticed his bike was missing and sought advice from his priest.
    The priest said, “The next time you talk about water theft, recite the basic values of the 10 commandments. When you get to ‘Thou shalt not steal’, let rip. The thief is bound to come out.”
    A week later, Barnaby, riding his bike, saw the priest walking down the street. The priest stopped and said, “I guess my idea worked for you.” Barnaby said “Sort of. As you know, ‘Thou shalt not steal’ is #8. Well, when I got to #7, ‘Thou shall not commit adultery’, I remembered where I left my bike.” I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant about bikes and theft and adultery, so I pointed and yelled and spoke in tongues at him and he acquiesced.
    So then I went and explained my new top 10 to Tony, as envoy for our First People. He explained he had a problem with the top ten going back to when he was in the seminary. He did a ‘mock mass’ in front of George, a man with a troubling pall. He was so nervous he could hardly speak. After mass he asked George how he had done.
    George replied “When I am worried about getting nervous on the pulpit, I put a glass of vodka next to the water glass. If I start to get nervous, I take a sip.”
    So at the next mock mass, Tony took George’s advice. At the beginning of the sermon, he got nervous and took a drink. After a few more, he proceeded to talk up a storm. After mass, he returned to his office and found a note pinned to the door, which he remembered vividly.
    “1. Sip the Vodka, don’t gulp.
    2. There are 10 commandments, not 12.
    3. There are 12 disciples, not 10.
    4. Jesus was consecrated, not constipated.
    5. Jacob wagered his donkey, he did not bet his ass.
    6. We do not refer to Jesus Christ as “the late J. C.”
    7. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not referred to as “Big Daddy,” “Junior,” and “The Spook”.
    8. David slew Goliath, he did not “kick the shit” out of him.
    9. When David was hit by a rock and knocked off his donkey, don’t say “he was stoned off his ass.”
    10. We do not refer to the cross as the “Big T.”
    11. When Jesus broke the bread at the Last Supper he said, “Take this and eat it for it is my body.” He did not say, “BITE ME!”
    12. The Virgin Mary is not called, “Mary with the Cherry”.
    13. The recommended grace before a meal is not: “Rub-A-Dub-Dub, thanks for the grub, yay God!”
    14. Next Sunday there will be a taffy pulling contest at St. Peter’s, not a “peter-pulling contest at St. Taffy’s.”
    Other than that, you did just fine.”
    Tony explained he soon dropped out of the seminary and he’s had a problem with the drink ever since. He can no longer remember anything about the top ten and now lives by the edict “It’s better to ask for forgiveness afterward than to beg for permission before.” So I pointed and yelled and spoke in tongues at him and he acquiesced.
    Then along came the problem of these women saying they had been bullied and they no longer wanted to be a part of my new, improved, simplified party. So I pointed and yelled and spoke in tongues at them, demanding they produce a bully. They didn’t.
    This is why I’m now being paid the big bucks. Malcolm donated his salary to his charity (and we are currently awaiting his accountant’s advices as to whether his charity will make a further charitable (and tax deductable) donation to the Liberal party), and should rightly be commended. My big bucks salary is going to me, ‘cause my religion is adamant that charity begins at home.
    Everyone is now expecting a ‘run’ of politicians pre-empting a crisis in the Liberal party. Having simplified parliament, broken a drought, bullied and berated my colleagues, dispensed with all policies and, by extension, negated all policy problems, in my first few days, I’ve even found time to redraft the entry exam for Liberal candidates.

    ENTRANCE EXAM FOR LIBERAL CANDIDATES (TO INCLUDE A PERMISSION SLIP FROM RESIDENT PARENTS)
    Time Limit: 3 WEEKS
    1. What language is spoken in Australia? (English, Australian, or any combination thereof is acceptable)
    2. Give a dissertation on the ancient Babylonian Empire with particular reference to architecture, literature, law and social conditions -OR- Give the first name of Scott Morrison. (ScoMo is acceptable)
    3. Would you ask William Shakespeare to
    ____ (a) build a bridge
    ____ (b) sail the ocean
    ____ (c) lead an army or
    ____ (d) WRITE A PLAY
    4. What religion is the Pope? (check only one)
    ____ (a) Jewish
    ____ (b) CATHOLIC
    ____ (c) Hindu
    ____ (d) Polish
    ____ (e) Agnostic
    5. Metric conversion. How many feet is 0.0 meters?
    6. What time is it when the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 5?
    7. How many commandments was Moses given? (approximately)
    8. What are people in Australia’s far north called?
    ____ (a) Westerners
    ____ (b) Southerners
    ____ (c) Northerners
    9. Spell — Morrison, Turnbull and Abbott
    Morrison: __________________________
    Turnbull: __________________________
    Abbott: __________________________
    10. Six kings of England have been called George, the last one being George the Sixth. Name the previous five.
    11. Where does rain come from?
    ____ (a) Bunnings
    ____ (b) Kmart
    ____ (c) New Zealand
    ____ (d) the sky
    12. Can you explain Einstein’s Theory of Relativity?
    ____ (a) yes
    ____ (b) no
    13. What are coat hangers used for?
    14. ‘Advance Australia Fare’ is the National Anthem for what country?
    15. Explain Le Chateliers Principle of Dynamic Equilibrium -OR- spell your name in BLOCK LETTERS.
    16. Where is the basement in a three story building located?
    17. Which part of Australia produces the most oranges?
    ____ (a) Darwin
    ____ (b) Hobart
    ____ (c) VICTORIA
    ____ (d) New Zealand
    18. Advanced math. If you have three apples, how many apples do you have?
    19. What does ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp.) stand for? (Nothing or Very Little is acceptable)
    20. The Australian National University began when (approximately)?
    ____ (a) B.C
    ____ (b) A.D.

    Signed _______________________

    So, there you go, Mr Brisbane. I have not only reversed the fortunes of this grate party, but I formulated all the domestic policy we need until the next election. I did it all so quickly, I even had time to get over to Indonesia. Boy, the look on Joko’s face when I skyped him to say I could make it after all, ‘cause he’s so important. Unfortunately, he’d cancelled most of the official talks so I only got to talk with school kids.
    My apologies for the diatribe. It’s very late. I think I’m on a plane again. Where the bloody hell am I?
    Ah well, I thought I might swing by Cambodia and see if they’ll give us the $50mill back. It was meant to accommodate refugees, not journalists.
    Can I be on your side?
    ScoMo
    Take care

13. HarrySeptember 1, 2018 at 5:04 pm

    False and insincere barely come close to correctly labelling Motormouth,

14. helvityniSeptember 1, 2018 at 5:06 pm

    “The son of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has been soliciting donations for the Labor party ahead of the by-election for his father’s vacated seat of Wentworth.” (sbs)

    We live in interesting times indeed!

15. FerretqueenSeptember 1, 2018 at 6:34 pm

    It seems that Morriscum isn’t a Christian at all. The Evangelical Church HE follows is a Prosperity Church. They believe you gain your reward in dollars and cents from God in THIS life – that the rich are so because they donated to their Church and “prayed” more than others – that the poor are poor because they didn’t….. and so deserve to be poor. Christianity is VERY different as this article has indicated.
    Tell me that his beliefs don’t impact his behaviour….. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…. only the truly deluded could think that.

16. paul walterSeptember 1, 2018 at 10:16 pm

    Nicely done, Kyran

17. paul walterSeptember 1, 2018 at 10:21 pm

    Speaking of percolations, here is a comment from a man who looks increasingly like our next PM (for a few months, anyway)

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/01/nanny-state-bill-shorten-pokes-fun-
    at-peter-dutton-over-au-pair-controversy

    But wait, just spotted..further to do with “Xtianity” and the government:

    This one was a bit more sobering.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/01/12-year-old-on-nauru-who-tried-to-set-herself-alight-not-getting-medical-treatment-father-says

18. Steve LaingSeptember 1, 2018 at 10:47 pm

    Well I had a go, and then Tony, Joe and Scott got into power and talked down the economy so much that customers lost confidence and stopped spending. So I sold my business. But they didn’t give me a go afterwards.

19. JexpatSeptember 2, 2018 at 2:21 am

    There’s a certain fellow who ran a hobby shop in the second largest city in New South Wales. He had a go as a vocal proponent of tearing out the inter-city rail line that brought people into town, near his shop. When he got his wish, (with assistance from a former lord mayor with a reputation for passing out bags of cash from the backseat of his Bentley) he discovered to his amazement, that people were no longer coming into town. To make matters worse, he discovered that word got round about his obnoxious behaviour toward others who’d warned of consequences to businesses if the rail line was torn out- so he lost customers on that front too.

    Having thus had his go – he’s now a vocal proponent of an investor-funded class action lawsuit (champerty being legal in New South Wales) against the very government he tirelessly lobbied to get the wish he wishes he hadn’t wished for.

20. MöbiusEckoSeptember 2, 2018 at 7:40 am

    I see that an increase of taxpayer-funded Liberal party propaganda ads are rolling out after Morrison became PM, especially ones on energy.

    Along with hoping that political donations and lobbying are one day banned, I also hope that the millions of public money wasted on blatant party political ads by governments are done away with.

21. 2353NMSeptember 2, 2018 at 7:43 am

    Please don’t abbreviate Morrison’s name – it personalises the leader of a repressive regime. It’s a bit like Bjelke-Petersen did in Queensland all those years ago.

22. SteveFitzSeptember 2, 2018 at 9:14 am

    Thank you so much Kyran – God I needed that – I’m still mopping up the mess where I peed myself laughing. And, a wonderful reminder of what life is all about.

23. SteveFitzSeptember 2, 2018 at 10:39 am

    LAMENT OF THE LIBERAL LEADERSHIP

    I know I ask a lot from you, but you deserve it.
    When I do something stupid, you go and stuff it up.
    Can you tell me to shut up, I’m giving myself the shits.
    Don’t look at me like your stupid.
    Shut up you bastard, what did you say?
    I can feel myself getting that vacant look.
    I’m going to start crying, I miss myself already.

24. New England CockySeptember 2, 2018 at 12:23 pm

    More information has arisen in these posts; Trumpery hating Turdball for standing up to him. Well, there can be one superior bully on any block.

    But think about this … who is the beneficiary of the Turdball Demise at the hands of his “loyal lieutenants” Morriscum and Konmann???

    Think Australian political history … 1975, 2012, 2018.

    1975: The Whitlam Dismissal organised by CIA operative conniving with the alcoholic GG John Curr, assisted by three others including HC judges sympathetic to US vassals. This event is extremely well documented.

    2012: The first Rudd Spill, organised by then Senator Mark Arbib, a known regular and frequent visitor to the US Embassy, and so a regular source of information for CIA policy analysts and makers.

    2018: The Turdball Spill 2018, anointing former “loyal lieutenant” Scat Morriscum and ignoring the traitorous Boring Belgian, Konmann. Most important to remove Asbestos Bishop who contrary to Liarbral Party policy is actually quite well respected in world affairs. (Maybe she could have considered an affair with Trumpery and saved her Ministerial position).

    There appears to be a strong coincidence here that the MSM has missed or deliberately overlooked.

    So, given the present world situation where the worst President of the USA (United States of Apartheid) needs to demonstrate to the EU that “he means business”, perhaps the American Alliance is a poison chalice.

25. KronomexSeptember 2, 2018 at 3:52 pm

    Of course Morrison has to say that because the Potato is a horizon spanning dark cloud of threat –

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-02/scott-morrison-says-no-evidence-of-power-misuse-in-au-pair-saga/10192620

26. diannaartSeptember 2, 2018 at 6:00 pm

    @ SteveFitz

    You have reminded me of some old Sex Pistols lyrics:

    “PRETTY VACANT”

    There’s no point in asking
    You’ll get no reply
    Oh just remember I don’t decide
    I got no reason it’s all too much
    You’ll always find us
    Out to lunch

    Oh we’re so pretty
    Oh so pretty
    We’re vacant
    Oh we’re so pretty
    Oh so pretty
    Vacant

    Don’t ask us to attend
    ‘Cos we’re not all there
    Oh don’t pretend ‘cos I don’t care
    I don’t believe illusions ‘cos too much is real
    So stop your cheap comment
    ‘Cos we know what we feel

    Oh we’re so pretty
    Oh so pretty
    We’re vacant
    Oh we’re so pretty
    Oh so pretty
    Vacant

    Oh we’re so pretty
    Oh so pretty
    Ah but now
    And we don’t care

    In fact, why not have a listen, right here, right now (turn up volume to 11)

    I know this is an original recording, but sounding a little bit tame in 2018, nevertheless “pretty vacant” fits politics in the 21St C.

    😛

27. KronomexSeptember 2, 2018 at 6:08 pm

    Morrison isn’t smart enough to have hatched, let alone actioned, this secret plan to get rid of Turnbull and sideswipe Dutton.

    https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/claims-scott-morrison-planned-attack-on-turnbull-for-months/news-story/215f764a19c5cf62cfe97c31d4cc0b3e

    More crap from Murdoch as he sees the downfall of the LNP. Won’t be surprised in the least if he starts boosting Labor as we get ever closer to the election.

28. paul walterSeptember 2, 2018 at 11:07 pm

    Diannaart, I remember the times well and not especially happily.

    This was the time of the “stagflation” recession that followed the Yom Kippur War and the Oil Shock of 1973 and Vietnam earlier. It was the end of what the historian Eric Hobsbawm described as the “Post WW2 Golden Age”, when the limitless spiral upward of living standards came to an end and jobs began disappearing in the thousands through mechanisation and automation. It was the beginning of a new, more complex, “grey” era still being played out to this day.

29. ZathrasSeptember 3, 2018 at 1:02 am

    Paul Walter,

    I think the game really started to change in the early sixties around the time of the “Happy Days” era.

    As well as increasing automation, businesses in the USA started to import much more cheap labor from over the border and the rising Womens Lib Movement provided (as planned) another source of underpaid workers, putting pressure on living standards that has never eased up.

    The oil shock and Vietnam simply threw inflation into the mix to make a bad situation worse.

30. PatagonianSeptember 3, 2018 at 3:43 am

    Morriscum’s on our side? That’s basically what he said to Turmoil only a few days ago, and then he put his arm around him. It was cringeworthy. I suspect what he was really doing was having a quick feel to work out the best place to insert the knife.

31. diannaartSeptember 3, 2018 at 8:12 am

    Paul Walter

    On a personal level I was still very young and hopeful but also my politicisation had begun; days of innocence eroded by the likes of Bjelke-Petersen, Maggie Thatcher, the corrupt dismissal of Whitlam, the shock that marriage meant I was considered property and was physically bullied … looking back now, my youthful self still believed humans would progressively evolve … in many ways we have, however, the corrupted are in control too many of the OECD nations.

32. paul walterSeptember 3, 2018 at 12:33 pm

    Zathras, must ask, do you mean early sixties or early seventies, as to “Happy Days”?

    Zathras, Happy Days was ‘seventies sanitising of the American “Nelsons”/ James Dean “Rebel Without a Cause” pop culture of the late fifties/ early sixties, before Dylan and the Beatles, to me. Like the Brady Bunch, so inauthentic all it made me want to do was escape from the house, listen to the ‘Stones and smoke weed with my hippy mates away from the torment of the TV, once my friend.

    I ask because everything you have written makes basic sense. Much of work in the sixties was robotic, either on the production line or in the typing pools, those massive regiments of women tied to the iron discipline of the typewriter like battery hens.

    Diannaart, I changed quickly during the sixties also, from the nice short back and sides kid to an angry radical circa 1970’s with things worsening after the last “good”year of 1973.

    Kennedy being assassinated seemed the end of innocence. No more nice astronauts but much more violence and unfairness starting with the US Civil Rights movement, then the Riots and Vietnam and conscription. It is difficult to describe how quickly things seemed to change between 1963 and say, 1970, especially after the let down after the moon landing

33. diannaartSeptember 3, 2018 at 2:22 pm

    Paul Walter

    I was in grade 6, the year of Kennedy’s assassination, my far more worldly best friend was full of the news, I had to pretend I knew more about JFK than I did, which amounted to the suddenly deceased man being USA’s (former) president – I did not even know about Republicans or Democrats.

    My political fire did not really light until the late 70’s when I finally acknowledged a great many things that had previously merely simmered in the subconscious.

    Then I erupted.

34. SteveFitzSeptember 3, 2018 at 3:23 pm

    diannaart – Love the song and, we need another Krakatoa

35. paul walterSeptember 3, 2018 at 5:17 pm

    Interesting.

    Diannaart, You and I must be perilously close to being the same age.

    We have certainly seen a fair bit over the years and not all of it particularly encouraging.

    But you are right about epiphanies, the penny must drop eventually for anyone with a mind, the big credibility gap between what people are told is happening and the reality of it.

    SteveFitz, it is true that the last truly huge eruption, that of Tambora in Indonesia, occurred over two hundred years ago, but if even Krakatoa could produce a mild nuclear winter, history relates that Tambora’s polluting of the atmosphere created two dreadful famine years globally around 1816-17. Be prudent as to what you hope for.

36. SteveFitzSeptember 3, 2018 at 5:45 pm

    Paul – I was thinking more about diannaart erupting and blowing the Libs into orbit. A nuclear winter is more than likely if the Liberal Party are re-elected. Although, I see your point and, I certainly don’t want another potato famine. Then again, a bit of potato head blight would be welcomed by many.

37. paul walterSeptember 3, 2018 at 11:36 pm

    Shocking outbreak emanating from Dickson.

    I wonder if you watched the idiot Alan Jones on Q and A tonight? Demonstrates how you can be a vegetable and a blight without even being a potato.

38. SteveFitzSeptember 4, 2018 at 7:13 am

    I’m just having too much fun here – Get it off your chest and have a good laugh – Life’s a wonderful thing and far outweighs the alternative. I wonder if zombies feel the same way?

39. DiannaartSeptember 4, 2018 at 8:58 am

    Paul Walter

    I was in Year 6, not year 12, which explains a great deal about my ignorance and volumes regarding the calibre of my best friend. Lesson to be learned: little girls discuss everything.

    SteveFitz

    To be let loose in parliamentary question with unfettered freedom to ask any question I wanted … no politician left standing. While LNP remain their predictably execrable selves and in need of cauterisation other MP’s would not be safe.