don´t mock the power of the goat...

This may come as news to some people, but apparently John Howard is still running Australia.  Obviously he doesn´t have his actual ¨hands on the wheel¨ so to speak, but still, his ominous presence hovers menacingly above us all, kind of like the dead King in Macbeth.

Or at least that´s what Wayne Swan wants us to believe.  

Budget blowout is John Howard's fault - Wayne Swan   is the headline in the Herald Sun.  Apparently the Liberals relied upon the continuance of the mining boom so much that they overspent and now that the mining boom has ended we´ve gone from being in budget surplus to being in deficit.  $60 billion in deficit according to leaks which may or may not be accurate and probably $200 billion in deficit over the next couple of years.

But even though the Ruddster has been around for a while this massive problem is still Howard´s fault.  No mention of money given to people to spend on booze or pokies, or to insulate their ceilings or buy more holdens.  No mention of the idea of maybe sacking a few public servants.  No the Labor Government has been condemned by circumstance outside their control.  Hardly seems fair that we´re actually paying them if they can´t do anything does it?

cheers

Harry

hate the game not the playa.....

Why are there so many playa haters out there?

Why do george and john cop it so bad? This is a really interesting article about George Bush, says a lot of the things I've been saying for a while now. Even if you don't like him you should give it a read.

To get started on the hating, I'll say right now that a few of the things that George has done in the spirit of compromise and moderation have been flawed. Fundamentally flawed. And, he has received no recognition for his compromise, his opponents seeming to believe that it's their way or the highway, with no room for middle group between two opposing viewpoints.

Now I dislike lots of people, for lots of different reasons. Their personality, their lack of ability, their weight, their smell, their annoying holier than thou attitude, their sheer, unbelievable, incomprehensible stupidity! However, i don't spew vitriol and bile like lots of people seem to do whenever certain topics are brought up.

Take a test, find your average uni student or teacher or wanna be intellectual and mention how much you hate George Bush. Watch them foaming at the mouth, agreeing with you and coming up with irrelevant or incorrect examples to back up why they hate him so much (plastic turkey anyone?).


It also works for John Howard, try it and see.


Now I'm all for a bit of dislike or personal attack, that's fine by me. But I just don't get the amount of time and energy taken in attacking someone the way these two get attacked. It seems to be a part of a real culture of personal attack that has grown up recently, especially on the left.

I thought it was quite funny that Obama aides were saying after the election that it's time for differences to be put aside and both sides to work together to solve the problems of the world. They know just how petty, mean spirited, obtuse, vicious and vacuous the Democrats have been in Congress and the Senate recently and they're hoping it's not going to come back to bite them in the arse. I think the people saying that without saying what they really mean are turds personally, however, I think they're right that we need to move beyond the bitterness, vitriol and inability to compromise on anything that has characterised the recent years of the Democrat congress.

Now, if you dislike someone (I'll put my hand up of disliking Kevin, so dibs) than that's fine. That's a wonderful part of our glorious political process. But instead of making wierd, obsessive, personal attacks that have little meaning and don't reflect the real world, why don't you try talking about actions and policy? And try using real data instead of made up stuff from John Pilger?


Remember, hate the game, not the playa!

cheers

Harry