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The longevity of conservative bullshit clogs their veins with hypocrisy

Election Diary No7, Wednesday, January 26 2022

People need to wake up to the fact that Government affects every part of their lives and should be more interested. But there is a deep-seated political malaise that is counter to representative democracy.

Less informed voters, unfortunately, outnumber the more politically aware. Therefore, conservatives feed them all the bullshit they can. And the menu generally contains a fair portion of hypocrisy and lies.

Hypocrisy is one area where conservatives dwell on the unthinking individual who has no idea of the ideological beliefs of different parties: the hundreds of thousands of people that take little notice of politics.

The word hypocrisy means a pretence to have a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not possess. A façade of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude. Or a situation where someone pretends to believe in something they don’t, or the opposite of what they do or say at another time.

1 When as Treasurer Scott Morrison repeatedly said of negative gearing that there were “excesses in the system” and decided to do nothing about them, it would be reasonable to conclude that he is a hypocrite.

Not long ago, former Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull co-wrote a paper that suggested that negative gearing skewed “national investment away from wealth-creating pursuits, towards housing.”

Could we be blamed for saying “bloody hypocrite” when he did an about-turn on climate change policies that he had assured the people he believed in to attain the leadership over a long period?

Like when you profess to be fixing a problem when you are doing the opposite. Examples are many. In 2016 Malcolm Turnbull said that negative gearing was “tax avoidance”; it could be seen as gross hypocrisy in light of his support for it later on.

Another example of hypocrisy: In 2015, 500 workers who benefited from Gillard’s edict that non-faith-based workers be allowed in our schools were replaced by chaplains sourced predominantly from big Christian organisations. It is a secular public school system, and it is fundamentally wrong be you religious or not.

In 2016 it seemed that Evangelical Christians were gaining most from the National School Chaplaincy scheme, earning millions of dollars. Kirsty Needham, writing in The Sydney Morning Herald that year reported that:

Generate Ministries has won $4 million to provide chaplains to 202 of the 438 NSW schools participating in the scheme in 2016.

The Hillsong-linked Your Dream will earn $1.4 million for 70 schools (up from 50 last year), while Macquarie Life Church will provide chaplains in 20 regional schools.

We are supposed to have a secular public school system. Religious Chaplains in secular schools was hypocritical.

When in his maiden speech, the present Prime Minister alludes to good Christian commonplace values of compassion and love for his fellow humans and then behaves entirely differently toward asylum seekers; then again, I suggest he is being hypocritical:

“From my faith I derive the values of loving-kindness, justice and righteousness; to act with compassion and kindness, acknowledging our common humanity and to consider the welfare of others; to fight for a fair go for everyone to fulfil their human potential and to remove whatever unjust obstacles stand in their way, including diminishing their personal responsibility for their own wellbeing; and to do what is right, to respect the rule of law, the sanctity of human life and the moral integrity of marriage and the family. We must recognise an unchanging and absolute standard of what is good and what is evil. Desmond Tutu put it this way: … we expect Christians … to be those who stand up for the truth, to stand up for justice, to stand on the side of the poor and the hungry, the homeless and the naked, and when that happens, then Christians will be trustworthy believable witnesses. These are my principles. My vision for Australia is for a nation that is strong, prosperous and generous: strong in our values and our freedoms, strong in our family and community life, strong in our sense of nationhood and in the institutions that protect and preserve our democracy; prosperous in our enterprise and the careful stewardship of our opportunities, our natural environment and our resources; and, above all, generous in spirit, to share our good fortune with others, both at home and overseas, out of compassion and a desire for justice.”

A close observation of his words reveals the narrowness and simplicity of his thinking; his views seem to be closed to other people’s values, thoughts and ideas. His standards are those he thinks others should have, his family, church, and the community, so everyone should have them. His words seem to represent a world long gone without considering what the future offers. “Well, that’s what my father believed in, and he was a good bloke” seems to be what he is trying to tell people, but society is changing quicker than he can think. The hypocrisy of not seeing it is blinding.

Do you shape the truth for the sake of good impression? On the other hand, do you tell the truth even if it may tear down the view people may have of you? Alternatively, do you simply use the contrivance of omission and create another lie. I can only conclude that there is always pain in truth but there is no harm in it.

2 When will an election be held?

The Government has issued a parliamentary sitting calendar indicating that it intends to hold the federal Budget on 29 March 2022. The Government can change the sitting calendar, and there is no guarantee that the Budget will be held on that day however if it is that only leaves 3 possible election days (7, 14 and 21 May).

Any 2022 election held before 7 May 2022, would, according to the proposed sitting calendar, only have the Parliament sit during the February sitting weeks (and only the first week for a 19 March election). This means that any legislation the Government wants to pass in the current term would need to be passed by both Houses by the end of that sitting. An election on 14 or 21 May would potentially allow the March and April sitting periods to also go ahead.

A total of 10 sitting days before the election. Isn’t that deplorable?

The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, and sidekick senator Malcolm Roberts say the Coalition should not expect their votes until the Government rolls back the state-based vaccination mandates and border restrictions. It has never meant much in the past.

So, May 21 looks to be the date we will vote to see who will lead us into the future. One way or the other.

3 Weight problems.

Clive Palmer’s mind, like his body mass, is highly inflated, but he does carry a lot of weight into this election. I read recently that he plans an even bigger spend for the 2022 election. It will exceed $80 million. Yes, it is a lot of money to prevent the Labor Party you dislike from gaining power and electing a known fool instead.

As reported in the Brisbane Times, the unvaccinated mining billionaire says the United Australia Party “will run the most expensive political campaign in Australian history” at the next election. He would also lead the UAP’s Queensland Senate ticket.

4 Speaking of a strange character who is a member of the Coalition, George Christensen, as reported in The Guardian, will not be standing at the upcoming election. Still, it looks as though he will turn up the volume on his conspiracy theory and anti-vaccination commentary.

The Prime Minister has described his commentary as dangerous; however, nothing seems to discourage this thick head from his own stupidity.

In recent months, Christensen’s commentary has varied from the ludicrous to the idiotic.

His public commentary has included pushing anti-vaccination messages, climate change denial, conspiracy theories, and comments that have vandalised his own Government’s public health messaging. One headline in The Guardian read; “George Christensen advocates for civil disobedience as vaccine mandates rock Coalition.” Not a nice person.

5 On top of that, the other nutter Craig Kelly who thinks he knows more than those with the brightest minds, is set to join others to make the first sitting week of the Parliament a misery for the Prime Minister.

Neither of these (Christensen and Kelly) represent their respective parties in the usual way, speaking out against it at every opportunity. However, today’s circumstance dictates that Morrison cannot dismiss them without using some principle.

It remains to be seen who the nutters are who will replace them.

The mainstream media will only ever print or say whatever is in its best interests. Then it might say something interesting and truthful.

My thought for the day

A commitment to using critical reason, factual evidence, and scientific methods of inquiry, rather than faith and mysticism, is the best way to solve human problems. That leaves conservatives out of the equation.

 

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20 comments

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  1. Williambtm

    Thank you, John Lord. A further article from your fine self based on good sense and logic.
    Fortunately for Australia’s people, almost all of the independent media such as AIM has kept up the necessary barrage of reporting the ineptitudes, the miserable failings, in-frequent honesty principles, and lastly, contributing next to nothing in the best interests of Australia’s people.
    I am unable to nominate any person that has befriended Scomo. I know not of anyone that has befriended Scomo, given he is little other than a liar & a sneak thief.
    Australia is leaderless & has been for almost three years, so the Lib/Nat party placing pictures of themselves all over the nation will not increase their vote. More than likely, that strategy will only invite ridicule and invectives.
    The same goes for the Coal greedster, Clive Palmer; he lacks leadership and inspiration given his squabbling and shifty Coal dealings.

    Of particular concern are Australia’s constant bushfires 2 Royal Commission’s of Inquiry into Australia’s catastrophic Eastern State bushfires. One would agree with the recommendations stated in each R/Commission final report. (2010 & 2021) Each Inquiry had called for a large squadron of high-volume water-bombing planes (say 25) would be snapped into place? But no, Scomo knows best. (But no, Scomo knows jack-schitt.)

    A scheduled rapid rotation of fire-bombing aircraft will rapidly extinguish the fierce fronts of our annual hazardous bushfires.

    Far better than just buggering around with a couple of water trucks at the rear putting out small remnant flames of the fires still raging forward?
    It makes no sense to send firetrucks up close near the roaring, blazing fire fronts.
    However, Scomo had declined; his preference is to donate further billions of our Australian dollars to the USA Arms and Weapons manufacturers for somewhat unwarranted battle tanks that forever require repair. Or worse still, buying 100s of missiles to sit around doing nothing.

  2. GL

    Common sense is transitory, stupidity lives forever.

  3. Phil Pryor

    If we energised, encouraged, openly permitted murderers, thieves, all sorts of swine, to just go for their selfishness and greed, we’d be dead and diminished. Yet our political system, charged from behind with support and donations does something like it. Utter swine with intense personal ambition of greed and acquisition are nagging, braying, yabbering in an increasingly loud and domineering way. The media has so many frauds, fools, fascists and freaks with stupidity in place of intellectual quality that we are very ill informed. With Murdoch as media monarch and magnifico maggot of mighty majesty, a foreigner who betrayed his and of birth for naked greed and power lusts, the other barons of bestiality and blasting bullshit have created a land covered by corporate control, donor driven darkness, excess consumer waste and extravagance, a population uncaring of decency, logic, ethics, morals, accuracy, honesty, IF such gets in the way of a complacent status quo. This not a clever, informed, forward looking nation. We must press for better.

  4. wam

    Yes, lord, it is advisable for politicians to reveal the truth of their faith. We should be able to investigate their personal beliefs. While we are at it we should let them prove the truth of how hard they work and how long they are away from their families. A simple release of their monthly diary would prove their claims. “Alternatively, do you simply use the contrivance of omission and create another lie. I can only conclude that there is always pain in truth but there is no harm in it.” Climate change deniers believe in climate change being natural, lord, as does anyone who knows the difference between weather and climate. So what are you contriving? You may see the point here. https://www.beforetheflood.com/explore/the-deniers/top-10-climate-deniers/ Funny how the AIMN consensus is lnp voters are ‘fixated’, among other more crude epithets, but you consider “using critical reason, factual evidence, and scientific methods of inquiry,”??? Seems reasonable for a good 20% of them who benefit so why do the rest vote for the people you call disastrous, hypocritical and??
    ps media needs money and that requires controversy?

  5. Gail Shaw

    Agree with all you have written here.

    I find it it strange when i hear people boasting about their indifference to politics and voting. Voter ambivalence and the exploitation of it by Conservatives has kept them in power for nineteen of the last 26 years. More’s the pity. Bertolt Brecht had it right when he wrote of “The Worst Illiterate”…….

    “The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn’t hear, doesn’t speak, nor participate in the political events. He doesn’t know the cost of life, the price of the bean. Of the fish, of the flour, of the remt, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is peoud and swells his chest, saying that he hates politics. The imbecile doesn’t know that from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies.”

  6. Phil Pryor

    GL is right.., a fat fraudy frau of the west gets a gong in the buy now pay later political donor schemes of public notice. What a monument to Lard, larceny, largesse to paid dummies. One of Murdoch’s mincing maggots gets some notice. Meanwhile, real workers, hard working actual achievers, are ignored, often abused, underpaid, taken for granted.

  7. Kerri

    I would really love to see protesters learn ScoMo’s speech off by heart and recite it when protesting against his actions say at the Park Hotel? Or maybe wherever he is working the crowd pre election.

  8. New England Cocky

    Q: How do you know when Scummo is speaking the truth?

    A: When he is saying nothing in front of the cameras.

    Q: Does that mean that Scummo never tells the truth?

    A: Never let the truth get in the way of a story benefiting the image of a failed Prim Monster.

  9. New England Cocky

    @ GL: Now, now GL don’t let the situation exasperate you. It is common knowledge that the majority of lawyers are alumi of private schools where they are instructed in the fine arts of deception and self-service. Indeed, much of the law taught at universities explores the deeds of lawyers who have been caught out doing the wrong thing in a profession where misrepresenting the facts is an art form.

  10. paul walter

    Only hypocrisy and insanity.

    John Lord is an excellent writer, sad tho I am for having to say that..

  11. Bruce White

    GL, I think the story is that Tim James has been officially endorsed to run as the Liberal candidate in the federal seat of Warringah. That would put him up against Zali Steggall, the independent sitting member. I’ve seen Tim James on episodes of The Drum and he was on Q&A recently. He’s as sick as any of those creeping fascist types in the extreme right wing of the federal Liberal Party. The Menzies Stink Tank executive director no less. They just keep pushing these insects up from the detritus and sewerage tanks of neoliberal/libertarian/creeping fascist Mammon Land. Total losers in terms of any capacity for intelligent economics argument or indeed social policy or government management skills. Indeed no skills in business either.

  12. Bruce White

    A well elucidated article JL. The totally apolitical class ‘I hate politics and I take pride in being totally ignorant of it’ (but hence so easily manipulated by the creeping fascists in control) and totally oblivious of the dire consequences for every else. And when they wake up, this ‘lumpen proletariat of fools’ will realise it is too late…for us…and for them…

  13. GL

    Sussan Ley, in her job as a minister while she waits for her next Annabelle role, @7.53am – and the Barrier Reef brain fart, “This package has been quite a long time in the making.” Wow, maybe a whole two weeks? Has absolutley nothing to with the upcoming unannounced election.

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/national-news-live-morrison-government-announces-1-billion-in-great-barrier-reef-spending-total-covid-19-cases-continue-to-rise-20220128-p59rwb.html?post=p53ahl#p53ahl

  14. GL

    “And now we see the Australian contingent for the 2024 Olympics entering the stadium wearing their Gina Rhinehart official sports uniforms of white plastic hard hats, blue shirts, black work trousers, and heavy boots, all emblazened with the Rinehart logo. And to add glamour to their uniforms each athlete is wearing a gold plated copper necklace to which is attached is a large piece of coal taken from the Alpha Mine. A sight to behold.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jan/28/gina-rinehart-company-announced-as-sponsor-of-australian-olympic-team

    “It is said that Barnaby Joyce and Matt Canavan were so overcome with joy at the sight that they passed out and had to be revived by the waving of large cheques under their noses.”

  15. paul walter

    Sorry, re earlier post.

    I meant Morrison’s malingerers as mad hypocrites, if that came out wrong.

    Certainly not John Lord, who is a man amongst men.

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