The romance of the retro PM
The more we see of Tony Abbott the more we are see of a person to dislike and distrust. And what we see emerging is a Prime Minister who would be more suited to leading a country in the 1950s – not the 21st century, writes Ricky Pannowitz.
The 1950s were a time of great cathartic change in everything from design to popular culture. Owning a 50’s retro car is more about perception than functionality. The regressive experience may be romantic, but it is ultimately expensive to maintain and less functional for the modern imperative. Can Australia afford a retro prime minister in a modern age?
It is no accident that Tony Abbott is a man who has gone from being the romantic notion of a simplistic bygone era to uncomfortably impractical. Like a shiny old reconditioned car in a showroom reminding us of a reminiscent past, there are many impracticalities and hidden issues that were not apparent beyond a new paint job and the aggressive sales pitch. After Tony left the showroom his transgression of trust saw a fickle voting public, transfixed by the mantra of sales spin, hit by the reality of something impractically different from what they were sold. The sagacity of wisdom from experts experienced in the realism of such decisions was barely audible beneath fervour of pitched hype. People were told across the board, the real Tony Abbott is a radical religious neo con, not this guy they are selling as centre centric. Any old school mechanic would tell you this ride will be uncomfortable, unreliable and ultimately expensive. Was Australia sold a lemon by crooked salesmen or is it a case of the buyer beware?
Friedrich Nietzsche wrote; “When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago.”
Just as we look back at the attitudes from another less progressive and enlighten time as cultural cringe, equally cringe worthy is the attitude to Abbott’s regressive assault on the hard fought rights of ordinary Australians. The very fact that the ideals, which have been fought and won with bipartisan acceptance long ago, are in Abbott’s sights is in itself a glaring example of his reckless judgement in embarking upon a politically suicidal assault on social cohesion. The sociology of political change tends to occur after a slow conciliatory process which culminates in a glacial shift that is usually in step with changing attitudes of contemporary society. Reconciliation, gender equality, sexual equality, racial equality, universal heath care, superannuation, equitable quality education, anti discrimination, protection from vilification, humanitarian responsibility, equitable immigration, a healthy public broadcasting sector, freedom of press, freedom of speech, the minimum wage, fair industrial relations, economic sustainability, research and technological capitalisation and welfare for the disadvantaged, affordable healthcare to name a few are all measures of Australia as a progressive egalitarian society. Then there is Tony Abbott; a radical ideologist who maintains a narrow centric view embodying the current pendulum swing to the furthest right axis of the social divide. Abbott is putting it all or nothing out there at once in an expedient assault of his ideological will with indifference to consequence. There is no doubt that this is all propagated by a free ride on the populous news cycle which is afforded far more democratic weight than its current erroneous substance should allow. It’s also punctuated by a heavy agenda as there are much money and favour behind Tony’s assault. A 880 million dollar tax bill payed to a media proprietor who supported him during the campaign that could possibly be a down payment to purchase the soon to be privatised telecommunications infrastructure which would monopolise delivery of his future content. Abbott has many such scores to settle in his rise to the top job.
John Avlon who wrote; “A wingnut is someone on the far-right wing or far-left wing of the political spectrum – the professional partisans, the unhinged activists and the paranoid conspiracy theorists. They’re the people who always try to divide rather than unite us” Partisan Division is a tactic that has served Tony Abbott well, until now.
Abbott represents the remnants of everything that connotes an old world view of a young, rich colonial power trying to punch above its weight on the world stage. A nation struggling with the shame of its arrogant colonial past whilst seeking to define the identity of its future as a progressive independent multicultural nation.
To understand Abbott one must look at the ideology of that which shaped him in his formative years as a student on the SRC at Sydney University. Deeply religious, highly opinionated and in contempt of anything that he considered to be of lesser social value or challenged his moralised ideological thinking; Abbott was a radical religious conservative chauvinist. Where others use university to explore, test and challenge convention through the development of critical thinking, Abbott was a defiant sycophant of ultra conservative class elitism, preferring to oppose and demonise progressive social thinking flippantly as a ‘socialist disease’ or ‘communist propaganda’. He dogmatically shoehorned all philosophy into the supposition of his inflexible world view. Tony Abbott was a political operative of Bob Santamaria, an ultra conservative religious anti communist in the 70’s who was the voice of catholic ultra conservative right. Santamaria groomed Abbott as the new charge of ultra conservative Catholicism which would ultimately come to embody the neo conservatism of the Tea Party movement and Toryism.
Abbott sees himself as a man of great morality, however this is at odds with his actions which define him as a bare knuckle combatant moralist who will say or do anything to win political advantage. Abbott is consistently a contradiction of his christian values, even when the issue on the table is at odds with the best interest of Australian society. Abbott demonstrates hypocrisy by virtue of his past and present actions. A fundamentalist catholic who entered the priesthood but ultimately failed due to the constraints of ethical dilemmas presented by his burning political ambition driven by a dogged lust for power at any cost. Abbott’s views are those of a religious conservative Australia in less progressive times that most Australians would rather forget than revisit. A dark age of xenophobic ardour, coercion of challenge to conventional institutionalism, suspicion of sociological advancement, political tyranny, scaremongering, corruption steeped in misogyny and the bigotry that maintained an indefensible position of religious faith over personal choice. Abbott believes there is no case for the separation of Church and state, in fact his religious beliefs consistently promulgate Christian influence over his Prime Ministership and publicly funded programs.
It was apparent to anyone that knew anything of Abbott’s politics and ideology before the election that he was incapable of governing for the majority as Tony Abbott knows no middle ground. Abbott’s view is all black or white; for or against as compromise is just not in his DNA. Tony is a poor negotiator who treats everything as a political game to win rather than a bipartisan outcome for the common good no matter what’s on the table. Abbott gives no quarter considering anything but ‘all or nothing’ weak and effeminate, irrespective of what the fallout or social consequence may be.
Image courtesy of the conversation.com
Abbott’s general tactic for even the most extreme obstinacy is usually to deny or offer a conditional, insincere apologetic acknowledgement to minimalise political capital before reloading to maintain assault. This is a man who has strategically manoeuvred to make his move at a time when political discourse in the country has arguably hit the lowest ebb in the nation’s history. Abbott has taken Howard’s most extreme regressive policies that tapped into the dark underbelly of prejudice, racism, hatred, misogyny and class welfare; then amplified them one hundred fold into a sensory assault strategy based on divide and conquer. The new ‘Minister for Women’s Affairs’ has long held grudges and his retribution can sometimes appear contemptibly childish to prove a point. Simplistic language dispenses a bitter pill administered with faux spin that is manufactured for the political expedience of powerful ideological encroachment rather than any visionary social progression. Tireless three word sloganism as a grinding, unrelenting mantra for political sleight of a back hand to his detractors.
This continuing language of deception is evidentiary in a budget that is little more than a manifesto of social engineering rather than a statement of prudent economics. Every thread of the Australia’s social fabric at odds with neoconservative ideology is attacked as unsustainable, unwarranted, superfluously unimportant or irrelevant. We all must do the ‘heavy lifting’ as Australia just can’t afford anything that Tony is opposed to and anyone who questions the budget with conflicting factually inconvenient critique is a ‘fiscal vandal’. The message behind the transparency of the language is arrogant, insulting and rhetorical ‘heavy grifting’ at best. The process of implementation of the budgets methodology was a prequel led by the “Commission of Audit”. This was a series of warning shot across the bow of middle Australia designed as conditioning for the predictable shock and awe of an unnecessarily tough budget to come. “You will thank us”, he reiterated, “we’re making the necessary hard decisions”. “Budget Emergency” “Big Black hole” Tony’s fire truck had arrived and its full of gasoline.
Under the scrutiny of experts across the political divide and with superficial micro explanation by the architects, both the audit and budget just don’t add up. Abbott is not a good orator with a fundamental understanding of economics at best. His subsequent response affirms he is in fact an “economic simpleton”. When pressed to explain himself he resorts to the rhetoric of slogans, outright lies and attack, all tactics that served elect him. This may well work in a election campaign but as a PM under the microscope in clear air, its a different proposition. The treasurer delivered the budget, tried to explain it and his approval together with his confidence rating severely tanked just like Abbott’s. Abbott and Hockey are not good performers under pressure, especially when thrown to the wolves without a script. The sheer weight of this ideology is drowning Abbott and Hockey and may well sink this government. Abbott’s freestyle oratory incompetence has seen a series of gaffs unbecoming and unworthy of his high office, further eroding his already dismal relationship with the Australian voting public. The mean spirit, retribution, hash cruelty, and inequality coupled with lack of detail, poor salesmanship with the absence of any qualified evidentiary substantiation underpinning the methodology constitutes a the budget bordering on amateurishly incompetent at best. If an election was held now this government would be deservedly decimated into political wasteland. The harsh critical analysis from all corners of society is a resounding vote of ‘no confidence’ in the Abbott Government ‘trying it on’. Such fervent discrediting asserts Abbott’s first budget to be nothing more than the wish list of corporate interest, free market capitalists led by assumptions from a socially disconnected elite. A doctrine of those who shape the ideology machine of the controlling neo right of the LNP.
Australia underestimated Abbott and his ability to tap into a festering reserve of underlying hatred, intolerance and political apathy that has polarised political debate in Australia. The reality of political lies is when they are exposed the voting public’s retribution is brutal and unforgiving. John Howard is testament to this fact and he was popular, a luxury not afforded Tony Abbott. Consequently Abbott may well be the most hated Prime Minister since Billy McMahon. History will not be kind to this government, especially now the cloaked reality has lifted and the sobriety of the real Tony Abbott’s rhetorical lies hits his enticed aspirants in the hip pocket. The voting public have began to realise they have been conned, surprised and subject to the will of a man that has no plan other than rhetorical propaganda simplified to three word slogans as a means to impose his extremist ‘retro’ ideology. Everything that Abbott said he was not and would not do, he is doing or has done. He has abandoned the people who believed his lies hoping to win them over with more of the same medicine show. This is of no surprise to those who understood Abbott before he was hastily reinvented. The real Tony Abbott is a man who embodies the personification of everything that he professes to be against such as entitlement, dirty deals, subterfuge, character assassination, slush funds, political perks, corruption, nepotism, racism and misogyny. This is evident by his words and actions. The real Tony Abbott has no shame whatsoever. When faced with the prospect of being caught in a lie, he compulsively qualifies the lie with another. The real Tony Abbott has the auspicious honour of being unpopular when elected and descending lower in the polls, all the while selling himself by claiming a mandate.
There aren’t many people left for Tony Abbott to upset. As thick skinned and unfazed by being disliked as Tony is, there is not much possibility of Abbott riding this out unscathed. Abbott and his cohorts have been very sloppy along the way, with a trial of political impropriety that is lying in waiting for the next headline. Abbott’s biggest miscalculation may have been to arrogantly open a can of worms that his machine will not be able to control. The bygone political operatives of the time they wish to emulate had the benefit of controllable information, however in an instantaneous information age nothing is controllable. The process of lighting a fuse to test credibility and competence with show trials, may well see Abbott with nowhere to run. Tony was born to rule and has fulfilled his ambitious quest to do so against all odds, but for how long and at what price? The gloss is washing off the car, the tyres are flat, it’s overheating, blowing smoke, this lemon is breaking down on the first leg of the journey. It may have seemed like a romantically good idea at the time but ultimately this bomb is an impractical rusty relic destined for the political scrap heap no matter how you paint it.
When you reduce the complexity of consequence down to the simplistic, the devil is always in the detail and the detail is most certainly in the devil they didn’t know.
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Return to home pageHow about a Royal Commission to investigate St Patricks Seminary at Manly?
Ricky and,
Well said. I believe that arrogance plus thinking that he can get away with ‘what ever’ indefinitely will be Abbott’s undoing. Arrogance makes people take risks.
Of course we were sold a lemon.
If Tone was a used car salesman he would now be in the dock on Bait and Switch charges.
Love the word grifting’. It is new word for me, but could not explain things better. Yes, much more than being conned.
What is clear, after watching both houses yesterday and the lack of the Telegraph’s campaign of the last week to bite, Abbott and his government on top of everything else is incompetent.
We even see slight signs of astrosurfing being revived with little success.
Like your post.
They say the party room meeting today will be a revelation. Under attack, is what Morrisons up to. Could be that the Manus Island s9lution is breaking down, Once more inc0ompteence of what occurred under this government. Needed gentle massaging to get it off the ground. Morrison put no or little effort in at all. More interested in playing armies.
Abbott’s biggest problem is, that he believes his own spin. I see now, they are saying, Abbott had his paw in and got his way, in every area of this budget.
One can never sell an lemon, One cannot sell this budget.
An interesting corollary is that Rabbutt-the-Hun’s “intellectual’ prop is the very odd “Coot’s-With-Queer-Ideas-From-a-Parallel-Universe”, the IPA… surely one of the sillier “think-tanks” that anyone ever wasted money on?
I can’t find enough distasteful adjectives to describe Abbott. I cannot even begin to imagine what kind of woman chooses a man like this to be the father and role model for her children.
Meanwhile, just where are the climate lobbyists?…This, howard and gw bushs’ ‘governments’ should be facing charges, “crimes against humanity” ICAC, and/or Royal Commission into fossil fuel lobbyists and “environment ministers” $$$…NOW http://news.google.com.au/news/url?sr=1&ct2=au%2F7_0_s_1_12_a&sa=t&usg=AFQjCNFP0Q_PblhBK9sdLK-eRjcud-GW0A&cid=52778516358070&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.news24.com%2FGreen%2FNews%2FUN-Time-running-out-as-CO2-levels-rise-20140526&ei=NMGDU6irCce7kQXglIDYAQ&sig2=lvQcYu5NQqhHEh9x3NVfEQ&rt=HOMEPAGE&vm=STANDARD&bvm=section&did=-3509469002937678371&sid=en_au-snc&ssid=snc
Thanks folks I really do hold most politicians ( a words very close in spell check to pollution) with equal disdain. Thomas Kenealy put it well last night on Q and A… You get outraged by the lies but its expected. This government is fundamentally different than anything we have experienced before as Their campaign was based on premise of They Lie and I don’t and Wont, which was has turned out to be blatant “heavy Grifting”s This will ultimately backfire as they plummet in the poles.
Reblogged this on The Life Of Von and commented:
Just a touch of Aussie politics but look away if you’re getting bored – we sure are!
Pretty much nailed it. Abbott son of Santa. He is not however retro 50’s. Those years had some token of humanity and a sense of where we stood in the world in which we tried not to embarrass ourselves or look total fools. We sometimes did but that’s another story.
As the lodge is closed. no cooking facilities at the police college, Abbott takes his meals at parliament house. Yes, the cook that would be available at the lodge, now cooks in his rooms at parliament house. He still has 2.5 staff from the lodge. Rooms I believe are serviced at the police academy. The family now resides at Kirribilli House. Why not use the parliamentary dining rooms???
Fantastic article Ricky, eloquently stated and a clear insight into the mind of a man who is the very antithesis of a great leader.
Interestingly, there was a great article on the Conversation today about the very issue of leadership, what it is and what it isn’t. https://theconversation.com/leadership-what-it-is-and-isnt-27019
Included was a great quote on the definition of leadership:
Casting Abbott into this role one can see he clearly espouses none of these attributes.
He is thoroughly negative and presents no compelling vision, he relishes command and likes directing people rather than engaging with them, he actively disempowers those he sees as his inferiors or those who disagree with him, and his agenda has nothing whatsoever to do with useful change – it is more him imposing his personal ideology upon the people.
Further down in the article is another example of the qualities of a great leader (right near the picture of Nelson Mandella – to prove the point):
Again, judging Abbott against this simple benchmark; he is pugilistic, combative and unwilling to negotiate, shows nought but class-driven hubris, he lies repeatedly, he has shown that his word cannot be trusted, he is overtly judgemental, he couldn’t even cut it in the clergy, and he values his own outdated beliefs before the judgement and counsel of others.
In short, Abbott displays none of the essential traits inherent in a true leader and we clearly deserve better than his kind to manage the future of our nation, to foster our society, to care for our shared environment and to lead our people.
Is it any wonder the public have so vehemently turned against him?
One of the best reads ever.
The man and his cohorts are a nest of vipers and I wouldn’t put anything past them. They’d sell their own families if they had to (Well TA already did) I would be willing to bet that about 6 months out from the election they will suddenly find a big bag of golden gifts – the budget will suddenly look so much more wonderful because of how clever they have been, and how strong and brave we have all been in helping to fix things and TA- DA !! Presents ! Gifts ! Largesse ! Pork barrelling !! And the mugs that voted for them the first time will fall for it again. If they were stupid enough the first time, why would anything that’s happened up to now change their minds ? They will forget all the pain and believe him all over again.
AN ABSOLUTELY EXCELLENT ARTICLE,!!
Above all, those of us who have the technology to access this crucial information, NEED to pass it on to those who dont have access. Ie those who are worst effected by the budget. We must not rely upon budget hatred to ensure this sort of political tragedy never occurs again.
Lest we forget!
Christine Milne on negotiating with Abbott:
Why would she state this?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-26/milne-says-pm-cannot-be-trusted-in-negotiations/5477198
What does Shorten have to say?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re72di5phM0&feature=kp
I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments of this article; Abbott is a hateful man that represents the utter antithesis of Australia’s supposedly egalitarian ethos. He is the embodiment of the entitlement attitude and the defence of the privileged establishment.
I just hope that Labor remains disciplined and the electorate doesn’t let itself get conned a second time by Murdoch’s cronies and their crass and putrid propaganda.
I am really interested in a conservative perspective. I’m of the centre left. (well I prefer not to catagorise myself in such simplistic thinking however.. thats the game I guess). Most of my conservative friends who are of the middle ground and voted Liberal cant stand Abbott. They are like myself, issue based. Some of these people have been called “leftist and lefties by their own party as it would seem anyone against the Neocon christian right that has control of the LNP is a Leftie? So anything opposed to Neocon fascist social engineering, regressive ideology and God is a Leftie radical economic vandal… Highly offensive stuff to me.
I find it odd that Abbott could come from not even in the game, to PM in the space of 4 years. It speaks volumes of how broken our society is that a man so unpopular with a pied piper political message could become the leader of the nation. After all a leader is a reflection of the values of the country and this screams “lazy”, “greedy”, “bigoted”, “vindictive” “ignorant” “ambivalence” and “foolish”. I guess Australia gets what it deserves in the end but the general feel I get on the ground is this neo right experiment will hopefully be the bitch slap back to the reality of bipartisan middle ground.
Abbott said to his party room today that by 2016 “the public will clear on our values” He reassured coalition MPs that voters would be clear in 2016, the year the next election is due, that the Australian economy would be in a “stronger place”. This guy is most certainly a meglomaniac ideoloist.
“No Tony its pretty clear right now”, people are starting to go from a health political hatred of you to that Martin Bryant scary kind of way 🙄
The PUP had picked up 6% primary with little more than zombies and cash. Clive has robbed the greens of the third wheel alternative sadly left by the Democrats. The Greens lost this when they betrayed the people looking for alternatives, that voted against Labor’s Liberal light asylum policy and wanted an ETS. The greens torpedoed the ETS and subsequently the whole alternate energy sector in one foul swoop by voting with the Tory’s against an ETC displaying obstinate stupidity. Australia need a third wheel, Clive is going to be an huge obstacle for Abbot and I would love to be a fly on the wall in the negotiations with Pyne 🙂
Then again after Abbott anything is possible and highly probable in Australian politics
The over the top hatred of Abbott is ridiculous, I’m no fan of him either. The far left’s hate campaign is a self feeding frenzy that has no influence on mainstream Australia…the opposite, in fact.
Oh Scraper.. well thats what I would expect from you… 🙄
Listen to yourself for goodness sake… two words pal “Julia Gillard”
I just observe the facts, Abbott was deeply unpopular, when elected and he is descending into the very quagmire of vitriolic hatred he created. He is renowned as a prolific purveyor of this hatred, by his own actions….
He earned this hatred all by himself.. This is not coming from the left or even the far left, its coming from rational centre centric people who like myself, hate radical wingnuts of any persuasion . No matter how you try and defend Abbott you cannot paint him as anything less than a radical wingnut of the neocon right.
“Mainstream Australia” is unanimously rejecting his social engineering and insulting language, he has earned such hatred because he has radicalised political discourse. Your assertion is “opposite to all the current polls”
Heres a link for you.
http://whiticisms.net/2013/01/31/anthony-john-abbott-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing/
Good God man it is easy to see that you are not going to be impoverished by this lying hypocrite. Other than joking and satire I take calling people fools seriously. To imagine that this fool deserves respect is ridiculous. In his life and amongst friends I am sure he has his good points but in the public domain where you have the lives of people in your hands to lie and deceive is absolutely immoral. Get your moral compass right scraper before scraping the bottom of the barrel for irrelevancy. The NLP thrive on hate and fear. Sheehs what a dill.
Well said Ricky Pann and Steven Tardrew. Abbott has brought all of this on himself.
In schoolyard parlance “he started it”
Even his fellow Liberals are abandoning ship. N.T., S.A.
He is becoming like a ham sandwich at a Bar Mitzvah and even that is an insult to the Jews he would allow people discriminate against.
Who is going to be left to support Tony’s Government???
He has shown himself to be a creep, a narcissist, a nepotist and devoid of empathy.
Wake up scraper!
oh yes scaper… it’s just a hate campaign invented by the far left. Obviously… anyone who hates Abbott MUST be from the far left
Does “cause and effect” have any place in your universe????
I think Abbott is banking on being able to later deliver a few of the old Howard era tax sweeteners and on his good mate Rupert to be able to manipulate an ignorant populace into forgetting and forgiving the damage he is causing so early in his term.
Alas, having see the downward spiral of the past 4-5 years, the idiot public have proven themselves stupid enough to unquestioningly swallow the pathetic 3-word slogans and believe the curmudgeon deserves a second term, particularly if he is able to generate more faux crises in the minds of the cretinous.
Labor, due to their factionalism have elected a man who is effectively a black hole, so sound, light or heat emanates form him, so unless they are prepared to alter their structure and find themselves an inspiring and passionate leader, I can see them bleeding votes to both Palmer and the Greens, although I can also see Palmer pilfering many disaffected Liberal and National votes too.
Palmer to me is a major conundrum because he is so radical, inasmuch as he is willing to say whatever the public want to hear to further his own ends. Obviously quite intelligent and with a dose of charisma sufficient to snake-charm those completely disinterested in politics who are fed-up with the duopoly and looking to show their displeasure without voting for the Greens, who have been cast as the extremist fringe by the duopoly and Rupert’s puppet media.
If Palmer succeeds in hiding his true agenda and gaining further support form the moronic voters, who knows what shape the next parliament make take?
What the people want is a messiah, but I’m not seeing one anywhere in the current crop. As long as Tony keeps having these massive brain-fart explosions of divisive policy and the outrage can be fuelled and maintained, we have a good chance of being rid of this dangerous rabble. I am desperately hoping the policy explosions so far are enough to motivate people and change mass opinion sufficiently, but rage is an emotion that is draining, this combined with a public who are fickle, ignorant and easy swayed by minor trinkets, leaves me worried.
Yep Ricky, I detest Gillard to this day because she was never fit to be PM. You say that Abbott came from nowhere to be PM. WTF did Gillard come from? If she was so good why did her own party knife her?
I have a hunch…just a hunch mind you, after the carbon tax is repealed some nobody is going to the Fairfax media to drop a bomb on Abbott and others. Just a hunch. Hehehehehe.
scraper
Where were you during the Gillard years?
This is nothing tp what the shock jocks, pickering and news dished up on Gillard.
This is now the new norm created by Abbott.
Here is a well known fact.. Hockey, Turnbull and Costello hate his guts.. When I mean Hate..its closer to detest
And by nowhere you mean….She was the head of the left, Deputy Leader of the opposition and Deputy PM 🙄
Reblogged this on hi2lea.
Clive in an eccentric loose cannon who has deep pockets and scores to settle, a dangerous combination.
Abbott’s End (37): The Last Nine Days
Posted by Bob Ellis on May 27, 2014 Leave a comment (35)Go to comments
It’s likely Abbott will be overthrown in the next nine days and his successor Dutton, Hunt or Turnbull will rapidly and brutally excise Hockey from the Treasury; not certain, but likely.
Why do I say this? Well, in Question Time today he, Tony, was very strange indeed, his face calm but his voice arching upwards huskily into polecat soprano as he asserted repeatedly that ‘not one dollar’ had been cut from Health and Education, though Plibersek waved a government document saying eighty billion dollars had been, and his backbenchers’ faces behind him, and the Ministers’ faces beside him, were melancholy-dire. He seemed mad, and it was clear they’d given up on him, the worst policy-salesman in their history (he had lost, in seven months as PM, 1.3 million votes), and were making frantic plans in hugger-mugger to be rid of him.
A while ago, it was revealed in the Fairfax online papers that no AFP officer had advised him not to go to Monash lest he be roughed up there; he had made that up; he had lied about it. And here he was, lying again, reconfiguring history as he has this last fortnight, pretending the eighty missing billions were never there in the first place; had never existed; were figments of Shorten’s crazed imagination. No eighty billion; never ever.
This was familiar. This was the Tony who had attempted a punch-up on the floor of the House, and sneered at Bernie Banton in his last week of life, run out on his pregnant bride and broken Joe Hockey’s jaw. He had ‘gone rogue’, as the saying is, perhaps because of some back-pain-relieving drug, or simple angry sleeplessness, or some private crisis, or his Catholic conscience plaguing his dreams. But he was bonkers, innumerate, glitched, crinkle-eyed and repetitive (he urged Labor to ‘axe the Carbon Tax’) as Peter Costello predicted he would be. He had forgotten already the knighthoods due on the Queen’s Birthday. He was on some other planet. He was floating.
I predicted his arrival, and I was alone in doing so, correctly doing so; alone in the nation. I now predict his going.
Thursday or Friday next week.
Hmmm, let’s hope.
Great article this. Just nails Abbott publicly and privately. He is his own worst enemy now.
Today question time was a strange outing with Pyne more irrelevant than ever with his Thirston Howell jibes and Abbott the ringmaster lost his mojo big time. Bronny as usual cant suppress her glee at how easy is her retribution to all and sundry while she flicks Pyne out of her anus.
Maybe Abbott has pissed off the critical mass of LNP party boys and girls and whatshisname who was sued by Abbott and Costello may yet prove his writing prophetic rather than pathetic.
Export Abbott not Refugees!
I am a very lapsed Catholic, but I never learnt or experience the view of the church, that Abbott seems to follow.
Julia came from nowhere? Don’t think so, were we you? Knifed by Rudd and his cronies. Sick of the misogynist Libs. Abbott’s devotion to his church has now led him to divert $6.7 million away from the Royal Commission – shame on him and for others for allowing it to happen!
You’re really not being fair on Phoney, he is just so cute as one would expect after three years in a jesuit seminary. lolol
We are loosing our freedom and never more so obvious under this dispicable hate-filled sociopathic Government.
Trans-national co-operations are controlling our soil,lifes, finances, health and environment. Abbott is in the middle of a fire-sale of our taxpayer owned businesses.
It seems as if all the evil people had united to make this Liberal Party what it is. Abbott is a war with Australia. So we are now at war with him.
Abbott clearly needed therapy from his teenage years onwards.