A neat four years ago Antique Barbie and Trump flunky Kellyanne Conway set the tone for a post-truth Trumpworld when she defended the tangerine tyrant’s ludicrous claims of an outsized inauguration crowd by invoking the Orwellian notion of “alternative facts”(1).
The Trumpists are thriving in Oz
“Facts sometimes are contentious, aren’t they? And what you may think is right, somebody else might think is completely untrue. And that’s part of living in a democratic country.” (Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack, January 12, 2021).
Fast forward from Trump’s Year Zero to when the seditionists and rioters obeyed the command of the despotic, half-sucked mango seed by attempting to literally torch American democracy, aided and abetted from within by treasonous, mercenary GOP urgers and spivs. All the result of four years of accumulated alternative facts and “fake news” gaslighting.
Across the Trump years tens of millions of willing dupes, oiks, the useful idiotista, Qrackpots, slope-shouldered racists and stool samplers wallowed in a steady effluvium of post-truth ordure that megaphoned Trump’s self-aggrandising lies and whiney grievance mongering.
But, the introductory quote at the start of this rant is not from some Trump vassal pissing out of the tent, it is not an artefact from crazy-town nor is it from the toxic bile factory that trades as the Dirty Digger’s Fox News. It is Australia’s acting Prime Minister Mickey The Dip McCormack speaking mere days after an attempted coup that was fuelled by “contentious facts”.
Apart from its timing the context of the quote is two-fold. Firstly, Mickey has an intellect that would not challenge foliage. He’s as thick as a coal miner’s sandwich yet he’s apparently the best and brightest the National Party has to offer – i.e. the least worst option. Secondly, he was defending the Trumpist effluent of two of the most egregious examples of the far right dross that has infected our own politics – specifically the swivel-eyed, Pete Evans-level Covid quackery from failed furniture salesman Fatty Carbuncle and, by extension, the trumpetings of Gorgeous George the Manila back street trawler and blubbertigibbet.
The BMI of these two globular nongs is such that they affect weather patterns, but that is not particularly germaine other than that these self-proclaimed champions of free speech should not have any problem with the deployment of a gratuitous sledge, yeah? The hypocrisy and idiocies of their flatulent gibberings have, following Trump’s attempted democrocide, received wide exposure and deserved ridicule but the bigger picture is the refusal of their respective masters to either call them to heel or penalise their Trumpian fanboy distortion of pandemic science and their anti-democratic blatherings and what that says about the mindset of the Tory side of our politics. Trumpism is a dangerous psychosis but both Scooter Morrison and Mickey Mac have now acknowledged by default that it has a home in the L/NP.
As the Tories go about their routine tasks of shovelling public money and assets to themselves and their cronies their ideological slide to the loony right has developed a distinctly orange tinge.
When Josh Freudenberg and Call Me Dave Sharma, two prominent Jewish Tory MPs, one an ostensible Prime Minister-in-waiting, the other an ex-Ambassador to Israel, jump aboard the anti-Twitter “free speech” ruse that propagates Nazi rhetoric and promotes Proud Boys’ fascist merch then something is deeply, deeply awry.
Scooter himself, interrupting his holidaying lifestyle to spend a few days attending to photo ops, has pointedly refused to criticise Trump in any way. Perhaps that’s down to Trump’s bestowal upon him of the Legion of Merit – the Right does so appreciate shiny baubles, ostentatious trophies and grandiose titles. The absurdity of a cowardly draft dodger gifting a militarty honour to a bloke whose first instinct is to flee from a crisis is lost on Scooter of course. Coming from Trump that medal merely symbolises Morrison’s membership of the cult of the citrus clunge.
From birtherism to The Big Lie (“the election was rigged”) Trump has long signalled his character. His betrayal of America is not new despite which Scooter has gone beyond the protocols of relationships between national leaders. His embrace of Trumpism was always enthusiastic, unquestioning and compliant with Trump’s grotesque adulteration of accepted norms and institutions. As one example Scooter, champion of the economy-first neo-lib mindset, jeopardised Australia’s economic interests on the altar of Trumpism by leading with his chin at the orange one’s urging to openly and loudly insult China.
Two deluded non-entities shouting at clouds from the backbench should be an amusing sideshow, after all the Tory goat rodeo had Abbott and Joyce in the two top jobs for a time. But Carbuncle and Gorgeous G are symptoms not abberations. With one notable exception(2), and Morrison’s dissembling weasel words aside, no Tory MP has condemned the radical right insurrection in the US last week.
Across the board the self-proclaimed champions of free speech hypocritically loathe any free speech that is not their own. They always have. Scrutiny, questioning, dissent, alternative views, truth… they don’t like it. Parliament, journalists, unions, the ABC, judges, scientists, academics, environmentalists, whistleblowers, safe schools, you and me… we’re all existing or potential targets for their mendacity.
RWNJ opinion is now the news. The Tories all watched Trump, they all liked what they saw. All the little lies are useful and the Big Lie almost worked.
What most citizens of Oz are not watching is our own Trumpist, post-truth creep to far right shitfuckery and that suits the Tories just fine.
* * * * *
(1) “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” George Orwell. 1984.
(2) Matt Keane, NSW Minister For The Environment.
Image from 98five.com
Image from time.com (Photographer: Marco Bello/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This article was originally published on Grumpy Geezer.
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14 comments
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New England Cocky -
Grumpy Geezer -
gb -
cheryl tonkin -
wam -
Andrew J. Smith -
James Cook -
James Cook -
Consume Less -
DrakeN -
DrakeN -
Geoff Andrews -
Mike C -
Gangey1959
Return to home pageWhere did you learn such wonderful language, or is it simply natural talent? I mean, “tangerine tyrant”, ”stool samplers wallowed in a steady effluvium of post-truth ordure that megaphoned Trump’s self-aggrandising lies and whiney grievance mongering” and ”Mickey has an intellect that would not challenge foliage. He’s as thick as a coal miner’s sandwich yet he’s apparently the best and brightest the National Party has to offer – i.e. the least worst option”. Such accuracy!!
Surely Mick Muck will be stabbed in the back early in the New Year 2021 to allow the snap Federal election that thinking Australian voters are working to remove this damned blot on Australian democracy. But will the adulterous, alcoholic bigoted, corrupt, misogynist Barnyard Joke still be attractive to Tamworth women who support adultery?
Who dislikes Barking Barnaby the most Cocky? You may have the edge.
Indeed I’ve been posting about our slide into neo fascism since Credlin/Abbott began the march of the termites into Australian democracy (and the Liberal party, ironically). Try one of the following links to see how many of the “traits of fascism” rings true (or alarm bells) for our way of life as we now experience it:
https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html
or maybe this one
http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/54/54_48-49.pdf
Grumpy, you are really firing on all 8 on this one.
Brilliant.
Another beauty geezer,
Academic scholars have long studied the reasons why no viable socialist parties have emerged in the United States.
Somehow trump has convinced GOP that democrats are left wing. All septics believe that the words ‘left wing; mean ‘communism’ and that will destroy their way of life.
It’s another lie among so many but scummo loves the sound of it and the majority of Australians believe it is true.
ps
justin beiber has ditched hillsong scummo should be happy?
It’s hardly a surprise amongst many in the US who have tracked radical right libertarian think tanks (now with Koch central), GOP divisions e.g. ‘lemmings in suicide vests’ (McCain) trying to crash govt. and white nationalist ideology (based on eugenics) under various guises, including an environmental or demographic prism; in the background all joined at the hip.
As Jane Mayer commented, quite disturbingly, on the Koch inspired audit via ‘Freedom Works’ of media, to develop a GOP/libertarain friendly ‘media assembly line’ (attracting ‘dark money’ donors to support think tanks/academia -> lobbying politicians/committees -> public PR messaging via legacy/digital media -> ramped up at elections or referendum votes aka Brexit); ‘they want to change not just what people think, but how they think’ permanently including embedding influence of and within institutions e.g. Supreme Court.
Objective seems to be turning citizens into an amorphous monocultural group of angry white Christian nationalists acting as a preaetorian guard of radical right libertarianism, using the former for votes and power….
Geezer, your descriptions and analogies would do Terry Patchewollock proud!
That should be Pratchett. Curse you autocorrect. (Although Patchewollock has a certain appeal)
Well said Grumpster,
The fact that the trumpocides had to lie about crowd numbers at Trump’s inauguration, showed us what to expect for the next four years. I remember our very own no notion party popping champas to celebrate. And now Mick Mack and the tories saying zero, and using the loathsome free speech bullshit angle, (memories of fukwit Abbott and 18C anyone)
Please, now we must rid ourselves of our very own GOP.
@ cheryl tonkin: “Grumpy, you are really firing on all 8 on this one.”
Grumpy is doing a great job of leaving the old “muscle cars” in his wake, driving an electric vehicle at full battery discharge. 😉
Don’t you just love the smell of burning rubber in the morning?
In his book “The Lucky Country”, Horne mentions second rate politicians – we have been sliding down hill ever since with the exception of a brief interlude in the early 1970s.
DrakeN – wot? Billy Big Ears McMahon!!?
(BTW Thanks Grumpy.)
It might be a little early but “blubbertigibbet” gets my vote for word of the year 2021
A most entertaining read. Not to also say enlightening.
On the question of alternative “Truths”, isn’t this the basis of ALL religions since the Great Pumpkin first made itself a necessary evil way back before jc was nailed to some sticks? As the master wordsmith put it in “Industrial Disease”, “Two men say they’re Jeezuz, one of them must be wrong”. All our glorious dealers sem to have to do is spew forth some new verbal diarrhoea and the voldemurdoch minions are there to protect them. Anyone with a counter theory, backed up with maybe a science degree or something of more relevance than just an opinion and “free speech” is tarred and feathered.
Bring on the next election. Maybe the electorate will get this one right. I mean correct.
I do like “blubbertigibbet”.