Why Mr Albanese Needs To Go To Israel And Other Just So Stories…
One thing that I’ve come to believe about politics is that it helps to have a strong narrative. Note that I said “strong” and not “plausible”. And the reason for that is simple. Think of all the successful Hollywood blockbusters of the past few decades. For every one of them that’s had a completely plausible storyline, then there’d be several others that fail the pub test. Even allowing for willing suspension of disbelief and accepting that a spider bite gives you special powers or that we can bring dinosaurs back from the dead or there’s a school for wizards where they play Quidditch, the behaviour of the humans in most of those movies would be completely implausible if it were not for the fact that Trump is the front runner for the Republicans or that neither Scotty nor Boris thought it would be embarrassing to be hanging out with the other one.
Notwithstanding Donald, Scotty and Boris, one has to ask why people in movies always run away from crowds instead of calling for help when being chased by the villain, or why they always make the same mistake in the sequel that they did in the first movie…
Like I said, you need a strong storyline, not a plausible one which gets me back to Airbus Albo. It’s the sort of storyline that could do damage politically because some people will buy it. However, when you’re running that line, it sort of weakens the line that you’re trying to run when some of the Liberals – like two-time loser, Shave Darma – suggest that he should be going to Israel. (Ok, Dave lost out and isn’t one of the current mob but surely they’ll give him the vacant Senate seat to spare him the embarrassment of another loss). It also dents their credibility when they’re doing it from London… After all, the most senior Liberal left in Australia was Sussan Ley and that was just because nobody’s talking to her after her recent failed attempt to muster the numbers and people are worried that Dutton will use his Border Force mates to check who’s taking the calls…
See, I just made that bit up about Ley… and the bit about Dutton actually having mates. But it doesn’t matter because it sounds plausible… Ok, maybe not the bit about Dutton having mates, but the bit about Sussan doing the numbers sounds plausible until you realise that she’s in the party that had Josh Frydenberg as Treasurer and he was only $60 billion out on his estimates.
Anyway, it seems that the Liberals have abandoned any attempt at winning the thinking voter…
Yes, I know I’m only saying that because I’m one of these elites who’s had an education and I don’t understand how the real-world works… or doesn’t work. And I should be more understanding that it’s only thanks to the Labor Party that we have the war in Ukraine and the Middle East driving up the price of oil which contributes to inflation and that interest rates will bring peace in our time…
Anyway, as I was saying, the Liberals have abandoned any attempt to win the thinking voter, and this is not to say that there couldn’t be a great pitch to the thinking voter based on what Labor are actually getting wrong. However, when behave like that Coalition MP who was complaining that the government weren’t doing enough to fix the problem with the Optus outage, you know you aren’t going to win over someone who can go: “Hang on, this is a private company and aren’t you the ones who believe that governments should just step aside and let the market fix things?”
It’s always worth remembering that Pauline Hanson was the Liberal Party candidate until she was dis-endorsed for revealing the Howard government’s strategy before the election. This, of course, raises a number of questions:
- Why were the Liberals the sort of party that Pauline felt comfortable joining?
- Why was Pauline the sort of candidate that they felt comfortable endorsing?
- When was the last time the Liberals attacked anything that Pauline said?
- Why doesn’t Pauline sue them for copyright every time they adopt one of her policies?
- How many overseas trips has Scott Morrison had as backbencher since losing and why is there no Airbrush Scotty memes? (Sorry this one belonged somewhere else but if you want quality arguments that follow logically, you must be one of those inner-city elites that likes evidence-based writing that makes sense…)
- The Airbrush was deliberate; don’t feel superior pointing out my mistakes. This isn’t Twitter! Neither is Twitter.
- Can Albo trust Xi JinPing? But if he can’t, should we ask Peter Dutton if he can trust him also? And while on the subject, can Dutton trust Netanyahu not to endorse Scott Morrison as the future leader?
- Can the journalists asking the gotcha questions trust the Liberal MP sending them the questions to arrange for their release if they get arrested for asking such a question in China?
I had several other questions but I’m having to go and prepare for the war on Christmas because apparently some people are refusing to say, “Merry Christmas”, just because it’s November, while others are attacking the Christian tradition of having hot cross buns in the shops for Halloween suggesting that they should be confined to Easter which is a violation of religious freedom…
Anyway, it’s time that Albo went to Israel so they can use the term Airbus Albo again. Or else it’s time that he didn’t so they can complain that he’s staying home…
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33 comments
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corvusboreus
Return to home pageThe bedbug of the senate has struck…sigh…again:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/08/pauline-hanson-gag-order-senate-mehreen-faruqi-refuse-withdraw
The Greens show a backbone that Lanor once had.
Albanese’s unwavering support for Israel, AUKUS and the fossil fuel industry will cost him his seat at the next election.
ajogrady, if albo loses his seat, it will mean the libs get the keys again. I couldnt think of a worst outcome to wish for. Its not something i would die on the hill over…….yet.
The best defence over dutton attacks is to just tell him to shove it and then ignore him. Let him gag on his own voice. Labor doesnt need to respond to every stunt this dick will perform.
Much to parse through inc. media content, influence of media questioning technique(s) and much astroturfing &/or word of mouth to try denigrate ALP & PM from the centre, but much is astroturfing from the right, as observed in both US and UK too vs. centre.
All politicians are told they have to have a public profile and be visible on social media, but there is too much space to fill ex. photo opps that may get scraped off by MSM and/or shared.
Too many Anglos including locally with too much media watching, sound like cadet Current Affair reporters with an authoritarian streak i.e. asking closed ‘gotcha’ questions that only allow a yes/no response; precludes elaboration, analysis and suggests ‘follow orders’ or one cannot be trusted to respond correctly.
Like the US, whenever Trump is in trouble, suddenly negative MSM pieces inc. one off polls of late, about Biden or his son are broadcast to fulfil the Fox ‘fair & balanced’ principle and false equivalence; UK there has been ongoing campaigns denigrating Labour’s Starmer & his leadership in favour of Corbyn (lost two elections) that would be a gift to the Tories, again suspect much right wing astroturfing online.
Many who are genuinely centre and/or left need to chill on their often single issue demands and/or not getting their own way, simply narcissistic and selfish ignoring other issues and supporters.
Now Rossleigh, I think it may be time for LABOR to return to the old favourite ”dirt file” approach on the COALition self-serving antics. The only difficulty that I see in this strategy is that the Murdoch Media Monopoly will censor all criticism of their ”heroes” the COALition.
So, perhaps the Albanese LABOR government should determine whether the Murdochs, being American citizens, are fit & proper persons to hold any licences to publish lies, innuendo & misinformation.
Then ,of course, there is the old favourite of monopoly breaking …..
Today 200 ABC staff have complained to management about the one sided reporting of the Israeli Gaza conflict. They have been issued with a demand that journalists not use the word Palestine, and avoid genocide, apartheid and war crimes. -Hopefully we Will see some balanced reporting and a few ABC programs on the history of the conflict would redress the imbalance. That 200 staff have stood up for fair and accurate reporting shows us the problem lies with management. Time to replace Ita and the board.
Caz, it’s a bit hard for the ABC journalists to not refer to war crimes when from the G today, “The UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, has said both Israel and Hamas have committed war crimes.”
Caz,
Thanks for that.
I watched Sara … being told, on 7.30, by some Israeli minister last night how they were dealing with matters.
It was like coming from another planet.
Its only through this forum that we learn about the reality of our information gathering sources.
And get to the truth, however unpleasant that may be.
I’m not sure where the ABC bias is ; I assume it is pro Israel (?).
What I have noticed is that the news is all coming from one side, giving the Israeli perspective as it seems that the Palestinians don’t have an organised media and PR machine.
I heard, for instance, on the BBC, that the raid into Israel causing so much loss of life and taking of hostages was conducted by a rogue element of Hamas extremists – the question was posed as to why would the official Hamas admisistration organise such a raid knowing full well that the retaliation would be instant and devastating for the Palestinian people. That seemed to make sense, as if the raid was sanctioned by the official Hamas administration in Gaza it was an open invitation for the IDF to completely raze Gaza to a heap of rubble as has been the case : it doesn’t make sense. It went on to say that the rogue element should be arrested and handed over for criminal sanctions, either in Israel or by the international criminal court.
We are now told that something like three hundred thousand IDF forces are invading Gaza with tanks and air support with the stated intention of eliminating the Hamas fighting force of some ten thousand at most. In the meantime the civilian population of over one million have been told to evacuate their homes and move South for their own safety but it has been left to The UN and other agencies to look after and house and feed these people – an almost impossible task.
There are so many unknowns !
The following has been attributed to both Voltaire and a white supremacist, so take your pick.
“To determine the true rulers of any society, all you must do is ask yourself this question: Who is it that I am not permitted to criticize?”
It’s so valid, I can’t see a white supremacist coming up with it.
The white supremacist who repeated it was, I assume, referring to Jews, I don’t know who Voltaire would have referred to, but in my view it applies to the crushing economic system under which we struggle. That economic system and its supporters are our rulers.
In the current tragedy it seems that Israel cannot be criticized, in the view of our cultural managers.
TM, the reason ‘it doesn’t make sense’ is you haven’t thought of the possibility that some bad-faith actors have infiltrated Hamas and are doing someone else’s dirty work. Such a subversive coup of Hamas could harness a couple dozen Palestinian sociopaths from within the ranks. Select the most low-brow and driven by revenge, give them the resources to enter Israel and commit war crimes, no questions asked.
That gives the Zionists card blanche to destroy the northern half of Gaza as it’s the home of Hamas terrorists. Then wait a couple of months and the Israel govt declares ‘the Hamas terrorists moved south, quick, destroy southern Gaza, OK?’
Western leaders look on and nod sage agreement. Okayee. Once southern Gaza is flattened, next target – West Bank.
The management at ABC continues to ‘butt gaze’, the result – wall to wall misinformation and disinformation.
I watch some DW News yesterday, it showed bombed buildings, controlled demolitions after the fact, trucks moving debris away. There are some really nice water views once the building are removed. Location, location, location.
TM:
It’s pretty simple and makes perfect sense. Hamas knew that Israel’s reaction would be immediate and highly punitive. Given the standard terrorist tactic of hiding behind civilians, they also knew the impact of that retaliation would be mostly borne by said civilians. So they get a massive PR boost from having the world watch the IDF bombing civilian targets to flinders.
Don’t conflate Hamas and Palestine. Hamas don’t give a flying fuck about Palestinian people; their avowed cause is, and always has been, the elimination of Israel and of Jewish people. Collateral damage is irrelevant in their pursuit of that cause.
There is no doubt that Netanyahu fostered and even financially supported Hamas, at least in its early days and probably through to the current time. There can be little doubt that the Israeli intelligence services had advance warning of the attacks but Netanyahu wanted the justification to destroy Gaza. But Hamas does not require infiltration by Israeli agents to behave as it has; this has always been its mode of operation.
TM,
Why?
Political campaigns conducted using violence 101.
Commit sacrificial attacks upon high profile targets in order to provoke a disproportionate military/security reaction, thus generating domestic & overseas support for the cause.
(Eg Easter 1916 Dublin uprising)
Neutrality becomes sympathy, sympathy becomes militancy.
Methinks the hierarchy of hamas are no more interested in peaceful coexistence than Netanyahus ruling faction.
corvusboreus, when you have been ignored for 70 years, what do you think is going to happen? We can see it from the outside, clear as day. Our so called friends on the inside want a final solution. Shylock wants his pound of flesh. Now where have i heard that before? Irony indeed.
leefe, yes hamas only has one goal. But golly, the israeli cultists know how to play that game too. If your going to claim the higher ground, you bloody well better be squeaky clean. Settlers in the two state shows that the israeli state was playing us too.
History has shown that the Israelis believe in the Peace Process but don’t want the Peace itself because as long as talks continue more land can be settled.
(The same can be said for the Nuclear “debate” – a deliberate decades-long stalling tactic to maintain the status quo with no serious intent. Meanwhile it’s business as usual for one particular lobby).
Both sides have certainly committed crimes against humanity but one side has suffered far more than the other.
Also when one player has nothing left to lose things can get ugly.
Ghan Di
You talk of ‘bad-faith actors have infiltrated Hamas” I mentioned ‘rogue elements of Hamas extremists’ : isn’t that much the same thing ?
Leefe.
your analysis seems at best simplistic : where do Hamas benefit from turning Gaza City into rubble and to now be under Israeli military occupation – the expression ‘cutting off your nose to spite your face’ comes to mind
It seems that the invading Israeli force is now in occupation of Gaza and according to Netanyahu they intend to stay there ignoring any concept of Palestinian sovereignty and completely dismissing the prospect of a two state solution. Hamas wouldn’t want too many more such victories would they !
TM, re ‘bad-faith actors’ and ‘rogue elements of Hamas extremists’: I ran across some material that indicated Mossad had something to do with infiltrating Hamas at the highest level. That might be true. It wouldn’t cost much to run an on-going mission using Palestinian traitors. Some people follow the money, mercenaries = paid terrorists, some who have no issue destroying their own people and country in the process. ‘rogue elements’ is more a case of true believers in Palestine. These ‘rogues’ took things into their own hands rather than listen to management? It’s probably a case that both groups exist. Zionists see the rest of humanity as chattel, less than human, things to be used or killed. Our values don’t compute. Israel is yet to define its borders, but I don’t see why they would bother, their agenda of stealing land is working well.
Ghan Di
It pays to be up to date with Life of Brian to follow the nuances of the Middle East. Hamas, like the Judean Peoples’ Front and the People’s Front of Judea has several factions.
There is the spin-off of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and the separate Islamist militant group Hamas. The former were (are) the civil authority in Gaza providing hospitals, schools, desalinating water , sewerage, roads and all the other things that a local authority does and then there’s the militant arm who chose to attack Israel without informing other factions.
It really was much simpler when the Romans governed Palestine (and Israel).
Re Terrence Mills, you saw the suppressed story of two or three hundred ABC journos holding a meeting to protest the unthinking pro Israel stance, which all media seem to share. but there was virtually no reportage. Strange, that?
As for Hamas starting it, true at a mundane level, if you believe the Israeli position that their intelligent system couldn’t pick this about to happen. But I think it was Hamas provoked and duped, offering up a chance to smash Gaza once and for all, a cherished zionist goal.
People have forgotten that Netanyahu was an early backer and promoter of Hamas, partly because it would end the PLO but mainly to interfere with the attempt by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas or anyone in the West Bank to pursue Palestinian Statehood.
Hamas was also included in discussions about increasing the number of work permits Israel granted to Gazan laborers, which kept money flowing into Gaza, meaning food for families and the ability to purchase basic products.
Those permits, which allow Gazan laborers to earn higher salaries than they would in the enclave, were a powerful tool to help preserve calm so the Israelis were happy to do business with them when it suited.
Most of the time, Israeli policy was to treat the Palestinian Authority as a burden and Hamas as an asset.
I find it odd that Hamas were training for their assault openly for months yet the Israelis were caught by surprise with their Iron Dome deactivated at that time and police and IDF troops either far away or slow to respond.
Zarhras,
In Defense of Bibi;
A) The prolonged period of extensive, task-specific preparation and training conducted by Hamas prior to the 7/10 attacks were a closely guarded secret, only those with access/exposure to open social media had any inkling. https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-drilled-in-plain-sight-posted-video-of-mock-assault-weeks-before-massacre/
B) Netanyahu had sensibly delegated National Security ministry duties into the totally sane & steady hands of Itamar Ben-Gvir (convicted of racial hate-speech in support of terrorism).
It was part of Bibi’s reform agenda, which aims to make Israel’s parliament and judiciary more inclusive of criminality. https://www.ft.com/content/e32e2b72-739a-46cd-acbf-bcafa7d88c93
Finally, there may have been repeated, threat specific, increasingly urgent immenency warnings directed from allied intelligence agencies straight to Bibi’s office, but sometimes busy people need a bit of quiet time to themselves. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67082047
Ps, a fairly succinct overview by Matt Bevan; https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/if-youre-listening/how-did-hamas-catch-israel-by-surprise-/103020854
Zathras,
In defense of Bibi…
A) hamas’ extensive period of task-specific preparation and training prior to the 7/10 attacks was a closely guarded secret, only people with access/exposure to open social media on the internet had any inkling.
https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinian-war-hamas-attack-border-wall-aa0b0f5f3613b6c6882cf37168e8e8ed
B) Bibi had delegated responsibility for the National Security ministry into the sane & steady hands of Itamar Ben-Gvir, a zealot with criminal convictions for racial hate speech in support of terrorism.
It is part of Netanyahu’s progressive reform agenda to make the Israeli parliament and judiciary more inclusive of criminality.
https://www.ft.com/content/e32e2b72-739a-46cd-acbf-bcafa7d88c93
C) There may have been repeated, increasingly urgent threat immenency warnings emanating from allied intelligence agencies directed straight to Bibi’s office, but sometimes busy people need quiet time.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67082047
A fairly succinct overview by Matt Bevan;
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/if-youre-listening/how-did-hamas-catch-israel-by-surprise-/103020854
Ps,
D) Bibi had fenced in the Gaza ghetto with a great big beautiful new vertical construction bristling with shiny spikes (The Obstacle!), a wall built bigly beyond Trump’s febrile dreams, fortifications to rival those of old Jericho.
How was Bibi to know that hamas had acquired trumpets?
AIMN admin,
I just had a post (in Defense of Bibi…) disappear twice .
It included several(4) source links, possibly one or two too many.
Cheers.
cb
Both are now up, CB. Might have been the links, as suspected.
If you only need one of them up, let me know which one you want to keep.
It seems that the recent knees-up in London for the conservative group known as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) run by Jordan Peterson was a bit short on numbers so they handed out free business class return tickets and complimentary four nights accommodation to a few of Australia’s right-wing lunatic fringe including Barnaby Joyce, John Howard, Andrew Hastie, James Paterson, Alex Antic, Nationals MP Anne Webster and Senator Matt Canavan. Former conservative politicians including Amanda Stoker, Tony Abbott and John Anderson also got a guernsey.
Not all have updated their record of interests and benefits (where applicable) but it’s safe to say that none of them paid their own way – it may have been cheaper to get seat-fillers locally but they seem to have plenty of cash.
The theme of the conference announced by Peterson was to “tilt the world towards heaven and away from hell.” Does that mean they want to bring back flogging for people of the Left…………?
My wife suggests that they could have been in line for roles as extras in the Walking Dead or Zombie Apocalypse.
They walk among us !
TM, this ARC gathering of the deeply illusioned is just another round of madness which deserves a sort of ho hum response, like kids playing in the sandpit with their vocalised brrrmbrrrms as they push the Tonka tractor around making little hills and roads through the sand, and we smile indulgently at their childishness, so it is with these man-children who gather to share their collective illusions and make their adult brrmbrrrms, tilting at windmills, or resetting towards heaven and away from hell, as you noted. The sleepwalkers live amongst us, or as your missus suggested, possibly the zombies.
Roswell,
Either/or.
Thanks man, love your work.
CB, always a pleasure.
PS: Yes, I’m a male.
Gender
(a haiku)
Maybe mention made,
Possibly guessed through context,
Probably assumed.
Ps, is it better to kneel on your feet or stand on your knees?
CB, nicely done haiku.
One allusive question gets another:
In Richard Flanagan’s book Question 7, the title of which refers to Anton Chekhov’s Questions posed By a Mad Mathematician, the following:
Wednesday, June17, 1881, a train had to leave station A at 3 a.m. in order to reach station B at 11 p.m.; just as the train was about to depart, however, an order came that the train had to reach station B by 7 p.m. Who loves longer, a man or a woman?
A suggested answer, in haiku:
Mysteriously,
Neither man nor woman know
how to measure love.
Canguro,
Elusively illusory allusions.
Thanks for the memory jog regarding the writings of Richard Flanagan.
‘Death of a River Guide” is available from several local library branches. .
Ps, I once tried to emulate the famed Dr J Petersen in his literary success.
I penned a pop-psyche piece entitled “They Squat to Piss” (an instinctual analysis of XX behaviours viewed from an XY perspective).
It sold OK amongst agoraphobic incels, but failed to crack a wider market.