Ah Magoo, youve done it again

Wanna adjust your glasses? I didn’t say that anywhere.

I think Ken has a rule a rule against shallow boastfulness.

Invoking the authourities to save your arse again? Didn’t work at Catallaxy so why do you think it’ll work here?

Ken, Jacques! Stop me before I kill again.

OK, I’ll go away now and continue the “Bowie’s overrated” discussion at Aftergrogblog. Feel free to join in there, poor old joe. Warning though! It may may involve dancing and original opinions.

I like a good punch up as much as the next alpha male,

Nabs, you really are doing a good imitation of Mr. Magoo here. I always thought you were shallow, but not so openly vain. Put up a pic and let the rest of us judge how alpha you are, Mr. Omega.

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I think Ken has a rule a rule against shallow boastfulness.

But I certainly had no idea though it would run to over 1300 words. And none of them getting anywhere remotely close to refuting my original point that the Greens and Nats are far closer to eachother policywise and deep ideology-wise than they are to any other Australian parties.

I mean really, you expended a good night’s sleep in order to come up with that? I like a good punch up as much as the next alpha male, but if you’re just not gonna try anymore, then I’ll just mark your shrinking terrority with my scent glands and move on looking for a real fight.

LOL. Good one’ Nabs.

But these guys would fit esially into right wing labor so why have more of the same.

You need to distinuish the coaiitions in the GOP. there are several. I think you’re referring to the southern god fearing types.

The south western GOP is to a large extent a libertarian grouping while the north easterners resemble the Libs. I would prefer the south western influence.

Believe it or not it is where a lot of the grass roots of the liberal party actually is. Low tax, little government intusion in social policy.

JC, the Govt(basically individual MPs) can’t ignore those unprecedented poll figures and know there’s a mood for change on. It will most likely happen if the voting intentions hold up, the only question for them (not me) now is how bad and what path can they take to minimise the loss. Howard will know that (as long as my party wants me) and will make the call. Unless he has something big up his sleeve for a campaign (some inicting Burke stuff perhaps?), I think he’ll go in the interests of his Party, with the appropriate message naturally.

Labor to win convincigly but with a Senate where the Greens/Democrats have the balance of power.

The Coalition re-groups. With the Liberals abandoning the USA Republican conservative model and go back to the liberal tradition of Fraser, Hamer and McPhee.

Big day tomorrow, if not tonight.

Hes cooking something.

If Howard goes, Shrub will invade and set things to rights like Reagan did Grenada

Wild isn’t it. If you didn’t know better, you’d think Howard was indeed cooked and ready for the fork.

I reckon it’s on a knife edge – Howard may be able to hold out and reset a media agenda quick as hell, or, entirely out of his control and regardless even of actualities within the LNP, the story could of itself grow in momentum and prove his position untenable. Heads or tails?

The other talent Howard has is to allow his ministers free rein to handle their portfolios

That, to me, is a fundamental misreading of the Howard years. Every time the little man wanted to float a potentially objectionable idea, he sent out a cypher like Abbott. That way, if it went off like a fart in a lift he quickly dropped support for it and wagged his finger at the offender. That’s basically how he operated for at least the past five years. Added to that, not a single member of the Liberal front bench was capable of generating an original idea anyway – it was always about Howards way since the Beazley election and the ascension to conservative sainthood.

It’s obvious that because Howard sucks, so much, it’s impossible to prise him off the Prime Ministerial seat.

But it’s now way to run a country, this, and the lot of them should be sacked for getting to this point and dragging it on. It’s all about the Libs, isn’t it.

Howard looked bloody suspicious on the 7.30 Report. He’s cooking something.

Had to chuckle at the report on Business Lateline tonight with news of the report on Iemmas desk to privatise the States electricity assetts, in order to fund the new power station. The unions were frothing already, but privatisation or blackouts is a no-brainer decision, after the Federal election of course.

Actually obs, its privatisation plus blackouts plus higher prices the punters fear. You are very 1980s. It’s a whole new ball game I’m afraid. The whole ‘let the billionaires bloom’ thingy is now over, and the punters are getting restless.

You’re frightened stiff of the other side aren’t you? It’s as obvious as 747 coming at you.. Dude I got two one way plane tickets outta here to Iraq. you feel up to it for a three year stint as security guards on 250k a year tax free? Risk wise it’s about the same :-)

think about the alternatives of whom will be Oppo leader after the election and whom will be shadow ministers.

bleak house indeed

From inside Possum’s Firewall, General J. Winston Howard is directing his political Galipolli. All the officers are well-supplied and bunkered. When the whistle blows, El Rodente expects that ALL Non-Core Coalition parliamentarians will do their duty.

Sure I do, I know the green policy manual from head to toe. Whats obvious is that you dont. But not to worry because most people who vote for them don’t either or if they did, they ought to be reviewed by a shrink to determine sanity.

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Shall we fisk? Lets. I know how you enjoy it and I promise to be gentle this time.

“Can you see any major differences of principle between the Nats and Greens over managing our environment?”

Umm yea. The nats use of the term (sustainability) has a far different meaning to the Greens. The greens consider anything less than pristine and untouched ought to be barely tolerated. Meanwhile the nats consider the term to mean rational land use practices that dont degrade land to the extent that it cant be used for agricultural purposes and dosent adversely affect the neighbours. The meanings have very different connotations, you boob.
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The Nats use the term sustainable more than the Greens, call more strongly for the use of alternative energy sources in non-metropolitian regions and put forward policies which would require not just more red tape but major overhauls of Federal statutes.

Ummm I presume they are referring to things like wind farms. Yes, the nats like the idea of wind farms because the return per acreage rises as a result of lease agreements.They’ll prostitute themselves for any buck coming their way. How does the reference to policy overhaul make them similar to the greens? We need a little elaboration here please.

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But having read through all the various Green and Nat policies about living and working with the land, I do take back my comment that what I proposed was a whimisical suggestion. Now I think its a definite serious political goer.

So in just a few comments we have moved from the whimsical, and abusing me for taking you seriously the point where you think this is a serious proposition! Ok, but I think you’re being a litl implusive and effusive here when what’s needed is a hard headed approach to analysis and review.

Nabs, you abused me at first for taking you whimiscal idea seriously. Now it seems your catigating me for taking your opinion to be whimisical.. Lol. This sounds more and more like a Seinfeld skit dontcha think? You’re Kramer by the way.

Heres a thought! Why dont you write to both party presidents and see what the response is. You never know your chances in a big city, nabs. Or this case a big country.

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The Greens and Nats really do seem to have more in common with each other about treating our land as a long term economic resource to be properly managed that either the LibLabs or LabLibs.

Please see above the differences in terminology.
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Still wouldnt vote for the Greens or Nats but by crikey if they worked together on this issue the way their policy statements mesh so well, theyd be one very effective, well-connected and influential single-issue party.

Dont be silly, they would be throwing things at each other in the first party meeting. I guarantee you there would be a split after the first party meeting.
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I can tell youve never been on a working farm in RARA for a long time.

I can tell you I have, seeing me family owns one of these horrid things.
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One of working farmers favourite grumbles is the constantly rising cost of fertilisers and pesticides.

Yes I believe the price is up about 100% as my family member’s been whining about it all year.

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“Also at what point does promote suddenly equal force, demand or legislate?”

With the greens? Pretty much their entire policy manual would land you in the clink if you didnt obey them. They define the term authoritarian. The rump of the party is former hard line commie groupings that glommed on to the environmental movement. Not all, but a good number are.
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In fact, print out the Greens policy above, drive into the countryside, stop at the first working farm you see, hand it to the first bloke or blokess you see getting off a Massey-Ferguson and ask em what they object to.

Why do that as I see my family often enough. What do you want me to ask him? The first thing he would like to know is what happens to pesticide use under the Greens? When I tell him that the price would fall to zero he would try and high five me. However when I later tell him that most presticides under and a Brown and Kerry Nettle Government they would probably be banned he could quite possibly have a stroke in between tearing up the policy book and throwing it in my face.

Or even better, print out the Nats policies too, remove the headers from both, and askem to guess which party.

He knows the nats policy inside out. He thinks that owning a farm gives him the automatic right to demand zero tax and a handsome stipend for life, which is the same as every other agrarian socialist.
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We already export the majority of our agricommodities (Victoria alone accounts for 13% of global dairy product trade) while comfortably providing enough food on the shelves here.

Yea, by imposing, er sorry promoting organic farming it would mean that only people in Toorak and the rich suburbs of other capital cities would be able to afford three meals a day.

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Given Australian population growth rates and the fact we have the most productive farmers in the world, that situation is very unlikely to change over the next few decades – climate change excepted – but as your sort likes to point out, why well just cross that bridge when we come to it.

Nabs, look dude I have already told you. If we imposederrr promoted organic farming in Oz we would need to clear the equivalent of the state of Victoria just to make up for the lost production. Why don’t you believe me? I hate it when you’re like that.
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“Fortunately for our farmers, both the Nats and Greens are already thinking ahead here.”

I know. The nats are always thinking of ways to steal from the cityslickers.They sure are forward looking that way. It now seems to be a genetic predisposition. I am just more than a little concerned with the Greens “forward thinking” as we could end up starving to death.

Dude, try cutting a coupla trees down with the greens around and see what sorta reception that would get. Shall we try it, mr. Lumberjack? You first.

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“You are behaving exactly like the feral greeny rent-a-crowds you say you hate. All of you just want a motivating hate object, never mind the reality of how things really work in the real world.”

“Thems” are angry hostile words , nabs, Hatefilled in fact.. I dont hate anyone. I see the Green policy manual and try not to larf.

Heres a little more to chew on. Under green agricultural policy

Other than that major stumbling block, its not a bad idea. RARA could certainly do with a bit of ‘Green’ policy, afore it becomes even more of a toxic wasteland but they may need a name change. Old hatreds runs deep and long in RARA and time brains moves slowly.