Hurry, the sky is falling in
Posted by Christopher Sheil on Tuesday, May 22, 2007
According to leaks from the LNP party room, John Howard warned his side this morning that they face “annihilation at this year’s election unless there is a reversal in the polls and has suggested that his leadership might be contributing to the problem”. Why would the Prime Minister approve the leaking of such dark foreboding from the party room? Is Howard a surrender monkey?
Is John Howard also timeless? |
I’m reminded of something Keith Richards said years ago. I can’t remember it exactly. But in lieu of taking a couple of hours to rummage in my music archives, the Human Riff was asked whether he was concerned about a new musical trend, which had become the popular rage of the moment. “Nah”, said the Riff, or something like that. “I’ll happily open the door wider so that everyone can rush through. They’ll be back after they hit the wall on the other side.”
Unable to reverse the political trend, the PM is now deliberately opening the door wider, publicly predicting his own prospective annihilation to speed the present cycle in favour of the ALP to its conclusion. On the surface, it looks like a disarmingly honest admission of the reality. Underneath, it speaks of exceptional confidence in his own ability to ultimately come back. With Keith, such devil-may-care complacency was of course soundly based; in Howard’s case, well, we’ll just have to wait and see. No, we’re still not there yet.
Update: You gotta laugh. The PM’s bid to circuit-break the polling trend with shock therapy has morphed into a debate about whether he should be annihilated immediately. Laurie Oaks is stoking the dump Howard push.
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20 Responses to “Hurry, the sky is falling in”
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I haven’t ever tried to imagine how Howard thinks, at all really, over the past decade and a bit. Too counter-intuitive. But his latest words say several things. Firstly, they are totally predictable, for obvious reasons. Two, Howard has always been honest, as well as being a lying hound from hell. He can’t deny the polls can he? He is proactively acknowledgeing the truth about about how his government is rated. But, as he and his courtiers correctly insinuate, the figures don’t actually incorporate verifiable specific value judgements or critique. As far as anyone knows or thinks, the essentials remain ok or unchanged and not explicitly challenged.
So get a grip, his message will go. He will talk past the commentariat, Rudd and the ALP lilliputians, to his battlers, appealing to their humour, affinity, loyalty.
So, he spins, the main problem is longevity. As with all cliches and stereotypes, this has an element of truth. Yes, we are all sick to death of your f’king face and wish you would piss off. You’re old mate, past it. Bring on the new.
Now I personally may not think this way, but plenty of others, Howard voters, do, for good and bad reasons. But, as Howard knows, there is another parallel longstanding countervailing force to this conflicted desire for change. The fear of change, mate.
This story won’t be over ’til the fat lady sings.
Posted on 22-May-07 at 8:59 pm | PermalinkIt’s the bloody Irish in them
Posted on 22-May-07 at 10:41 pm | Permalinkhttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1816619.ece
We’ve “switched off” apparently, so say the pundits. About which a more recent Keef quote is appropos.
World to Ratty:
Posted on 22-May-07 at 11:05 pm | PermalinkLoad of crap, load a crap. Posers, rubbish. There ain’t nothing out there that’s worth shit. I listen to the real shit, I don’t listen to bullshit. I listen to my shit, baby.
Elvis the King of RnR
Lou Reed the Godfather of Punk
Miles Davis the Prince of Darkness
Aretha Franklin the Queen of Soul
Keith Richard the Prime Minister of Rock
Isn’t Howard more of a Mick Jagger figure? And Kevin Rudd like Bono?
We’re sick of Mick Jagger, Bono’s younger and he’s cooler. Bono worked with Brian Eno, too.
Posted on 22-May-07 at 11:09 pm | PermalinkGo Keef!
observa, reading politics as a reflex of the economy used to be known as ‘economic determinism’ and was long a hallmark of popular streams of Marxism. That this has now become a right-wing cliche is pretty funny. Castigating voters for not behaving as the economy supposedly dictates they should is hilarious. Yes, it’s all false consciousness, comrade observa. Have you got ways of dealing with such deviationists?
Posted on 22-May-07 at 11:16 pm | PermalinkChristopher Sheil:
Damn you! You stole my thunder! I’ve just come on-line after hearing Mr Howard’s wonderous words and I was going to say “What else can you expect from such a Surrender Monkey?” ….[grumble, grumble].
By the way, I think too many aspirational Aussie battlers have been grievously hurt - and some even ruined - for the Howard government to survive; not even a massive terrorist or military attack [real or contrived] and swags of giveaways could save it now. The only way a lot of Liberal MHRs and Senators might be able to cling to their seats is if they get Howard to fall on his sword and relinquish the seat of Bennelong in favour of a better Liberal candidate.
Posted on 22-May-07 at 11:20 pm | PermalinkSorry Graham. Heh. What I’d like to see is a mainstream media outlet take the pm at his insinuation: “Howard gives up on election!”
Posted on 23-May-07 at 12:07 am | PermalinkI’d be careful about getting exactly what you wish for. Wall to wall Labor doesn’t exactly give you much wriggle room if you can’t manage to keep them in the manner to which they’ve become accustomed.
http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,23636,21774268-31037,00.html
Perhaps it’s really about those interest rate rises after all.
I must say I’m beginning to relish the thought of all our Govts pulling together in total harmony to keep the economy ticking over in fully employed surplus, fixing education, childcare, hospital and dental waiting lists once and for all, solving our water shortages and welcoming all who can sail here with open arms, whilst keeping all the SUVs brimming over with alternative fuels. Hard to imagine there’d be anything to complain about in the good ship Oz then, now wouldn’t it? I guess we’re all going to experience this nirvana by the looks of things.
Posted on 23-May-07 at 12:35 am | PermalinkHoward isn’t Keef. More like Lenny Kravitz - a fraud, a pastiche of sound bites that attempts to be on the cutting edge, yet innofensive, but just ends up being annoying. Tolerated but never loved. Popular, but never cool. Can’t sell a record now to save his life.
Like Lenny, he should be singing “It ain’t over til it’s over”, so don’t cry yet observa.
Kevin Rudd is Michael Buble - I wanted a Sinatra but this will have to do.
Posted on 23-May-07 at 1:00 am | PermalinkHmmm, maybe not everyone’s that keen on a nirvana legacy
Posted on 23-May-07 at 1:29 am | Permalinkhttp://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21779899-1702,00.html
Don’t expect a “rabbit out of his hat”.
So, expect a rabbit.
Terrorism is his pet thing. And the terrorism rabbit is stacking up to be internet based.
Seven weeks out from the date, an internet threat to end all threats - and a neat little solution to bring the mob home.
There’s a guess. But what is without doubt is how utterly smelly this bloke is to even make this conference. It shows nothing of strength of leadership, nothing of substance for what eleven years has been and done - and everything about a cynical and disrespectful regard for the people he pretends to represent. It shows he can’t stand on anything, really, solid - mere perception.
The great John Howard Prime Minister - smoke and mirrors, and pissing in the wind.
Posted on 23-May-07 at 6:41 am | PermalinkThe fundies would have to bomb Sydney to the ground to compete with the threat of draconian Workchoices and GW now Robert. Only the Milky Bar Kid can save us now.
Posted on 23-May-07 at 11:04 am | PermalinkWall to wall Labor, comrade observa, equals wall to wall NoWorkChoices. Works for me.
Posted on 23-May-07 at 1:27 pm | PermalinkAll those Howard press conferences, in the courtyard of his office, staged, manicured, him staring down with sombre mustered strength while he fought the war against evil, and became the man of steel.
He had the demons and phantoms all conjured and in control, then. Now, the poor bugger is shadow boxing those same demons, whizzing around him, spooking in and out, while he flails at them.
All in his head.
From Shanahan today:
I doubt Howard will ever realise that’s the whole point.
Shadow boxing - for all it’s pitiful hilarity at least it saves him from his own reality. And good to see him working harder and harder at it, too. Box away, brother!
Certainly is a different election this time around. The old method of quietly introducing your scabbed and pus leaked rabbit has come around now to the country’s press screaming out for it! What rabbit does he have now! He always has rabbits!
It’s just too funny.
Posted on 23-May-07 at 2:13 pm | Permalink“Howard wants people to realise that if Labor is elected, there will be changes of policy and personnel that will “change the country’”.
Heh. I believe Paul Keating warned of exactly the same thing at about this time in his final cycle. It only encouraged people. If it looks like a death throe, if it sounds like a death throe, then I guess it is ….
Posted on 23-May-07 at 2:21 pm | PermalinkIt’s a death throw Chris. The only worry now is if he resigns before the crushing. And that’s a bearable worry.
That statement from Howard about annihilation was perhaps the most ridiculous thing I think I’ve seen a PM do, to try and “win” voters back. We all understand the slow burn power of a mention about being an underdog, but to declare annihilation is a) self serving in the extreme, and b) not what the public want to hear from a leader of a country - it smacks of me me me and worries and a godawful basket of losing-ness.
I think that moment solidified public perception against him. Until now they were words and innuendo and guessing and imaginings, now, instead of leading, he’s chosen to suck. Snap, that talk becomes real, suck and stuck on him.
He’s gone.
Even the ads coming up attacking Rudd won’t work now. The whole basis for Howard’s re-election has been eroded. The sneaking ploys are being called before they happen so goodness knows how they’ll be rejected if he tried one on, and each advertisement that goes to air or press speaks also of irresponsiblity and self serving. The “economy” has been rendered shallow and not enough.
One good Opposition Leader - one capable opponent, and Howard got shot through in, effectively, weeks.
President Bush arriving towards the date only enforces what Howard’s fate will be, but with Costello or a new leader, there’s a chance of some shedding of these Howard-related problems.
I think the pressure on Howard to resign now is going to mount. Remember the media speculation about a change from Beazley? It was supposed to have started in the media (but was growing strongly within the party and merely leaked out) but when the media got hold of it, Beazer didn’t stand a chance.
Howard, as it now looks, sometime not too far away, will resign.
Posted on 23-May-07 at 6:43 pm | PermalinkYeah, I think you could be right Robert. This was a calculated bid to declare the worst with the aim of capping the polling trend, thus creating a base line for his comeback. It was bad enough for him when this just triggered stories about how clever and cunning he is, but now that these are morphing into a debate about whether he should have gone last year and whether he should go now (see update), he is suddenly looking like a political corpse. He has hurried the cycle all right, but for him, it seems, in the wrong direction!
Posted on 23-May-07 at 6:56 pm | PermalinkWith you there, Chris. There are too many positives for the Liberal Party to have him go. The public were blamed for not listening to him, but in fact he had stopped talking to the public. The annihilation thing is talking to the wrong people - big business, for one.
The hard heads might do that little whisper, and speak the magic words “save your legacy”.
With another leader pushing on, and as it gets intense each day is a week, there’ll be plenty of time for the new leader to cop the blame for any losses. How much opprobrium is Carr getting?
Howard now has to get the people used to the fact he’s been a champion, lay out a nice little exit in subtle platforming to secure as much of his legacy as he can, and then look the beaut Aussie good bloke who “had a good innings”. That sort of thing.
Posted on 23-May-07 at 7:04 pm | PermalinkRobert [on post 11}:
].
Yep. It's all those bloggers - er, I mean terrorists - they're the ones causing global warming. high petrol prices and a loss of trust in what the prime minister says .... [sorry about twisting what you actually said but politics is politics
It’s inevitable that there will be a fabricated rabbit or two or three pulled out of a concocted just prior to the election ….. for all the bunnies out there..
Observa [on post 8]:
Posted on 24-May-07 at 10:33 pm | PermalinkSince Australia now has a one-faction-two-parties system [forget the Nationals, they've made themselves redundant], a Labor federal government won’t change too much more than departmental letterheads so having wall-to-wall Labor governments isn’t scary at all.