Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

From a paper at Cato Institute, The Libertarian Vote:

The libertarian vote is in play. At some 13 percent of the electorate, it is sizable enough to swing elections. Pollsters, political strategists, candidates, and the media should take note of it. 

And may it be so in Oz. If only the disorganised rabble could agree on one thing for poll day - aim a collective (errrg!) boot at John Howard's overblown noggin, at Downer's puckered freckle and at Costello's sanctimonious smirk.

But, watch out! Danger! That sly dog Gerard Henderson dragged a dead Death Adder across Beazley's track, during his weekly Friday morning offering for ABC RN. He said Labor had two good points for swinging voters - industrial relations and Iraq. Don't listen, Kev. Labor has everything to lose by making doorstop pronouncements about future policy on our military presence in Iraq.

Who knows what effect the DPRK direction will have on the Middle East? From Kim Jong-il’s Suicide Watch:

Naturally enough, the North Koreans’ race theory, like that of the Japanese fascists, actuates a blithe indifference to international law. A uniquely virtuous people has no reason to obey its moral inferiors, be they allies or enemies.

You couldn't get a Tally Ho between Kim Jong-Il and Shoko Asahara. And, still on doomsday cults, there isn't much between these examples, and the cult of the red heifer.

A final cheer to Dennis Glover: Marxism in the unlikeliest places:

OK, so I've had a bit of fun here, but I have a serious point. If you try too hard, it's possible sometimes to end up resembling the thing you oppose. If Marxism is worth opposing, then the form - ruthless cultural struggle - as well as the substance - class warfare - should be deposited in Trotsky's trash can of history. It's the same lesson for the Left. Simply replacing one set of cultural commissars with another isn't the answer.

Not laughing here, Dennis. An oldie from the Good Book states "All our literature and art are for the masses of the people, and in the first place for the workers, peasants and soldiers; they are created for the workers, peasants and soldiers and are for their use." Must rush, though ... time for my weekly chat with Rupert.

According to Olbermann Exclusive: Dissecting new Book: Tempting Faith:

When cufflinks weren't enough, the White House played the Jesus card, reminding Christian leaders that, quote, “they knew the president's faith” and begging for patience.

And the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives?

According to Kuo, “White House staff didn't want to have anything to do with the Faith-Based Initiative because they didn't understand it any more than did congressional Republicans . They didn't lie awake at night trying to kill it. They simply didn 't care."

That's a great relief. It means the cynics and hypocrites at the White House are able to see through flim-flam of the Evangelical Right. They must have an Aussie adviser on the team.

Speaking at a conference under the rubric "Summit on Energy Security" at West Lafayette, Indiana, this month, the powerful chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar, characterized Venezuela, Iran and Russia as "adversarial regimes" that were using energy supplies as "leverage" in foreign policy.

Lugar said: "We are used to thinking in terms of conventional warfare between nations, but energy is becoming a weapon of choice for those who possess it."

[snip]

Lugar underlined the crucial importance of a formal coordination of the US energy diplomacy with China and India at a juncture when 77% of the world's oil supply was controlled by "foreign governments"; when the US paid 17% more for its energy in 2005 than the year before; when energy costs accounted for a third of the US trade deficit; and when the US was bracing for a whopping US$320 billion bill for its oil imports in the current year.

Beijing was quick to respond to Lugar's kite-flying. Writing in the People's Daily on April 11, an expert from China's Institute of Contemporary International Relations, Su Jingxiang, signaled that if only Washington were savvy enough to "revalue the tremendous market potential" in China and "abate unnecessary doubts toward China", closer cooperation between Beijing and Washington on international energy issues could be realized.

Su rendered some practical advice to Washington's policymakers in this connection. He questioned the efficacy of past US policies that involved "seizing resources" through military intervention and expansion aimed at "safeguarding the oil supply". He pointed out that gunboat diplomacy was no longer workable either in the Middle East or Latin America as it produced only terrorism and resistance. At the same time, Su acknowledged that growing dependence of energy imports "weakened the competitiveness and injured the economic security of the US".

My mate Noel tells me of his aunt.

Back in the days of the 21" Astor (rosewood veneer), it seems there were no remote controls (they lived a very spartan existence). Aunty had a teatowel pinned to the top of the TV, which was rolled up in readyness.

Whenever Billy Snedden appeared on the news to haunt her, she would abandon the roast and unroll the teatowel to cover the offending visage.

They don't make aunts like that any more.

Gruss Gott, Phil. Nostalgia is an older man's refuge. I yearn for the days when news came by radio and newspaper. When, the world was infinitesmally smaller and the lies of the bastards were hidden from view and came to light decades later.

Today, we go to bed with the lies piled on, a new one being added hourly or daily. If I see the detestable face of that weaselly midget at another funeral, sporting event or baby arse-kissing competition, I am going to take the mattock to the TV (though only after the footy season of course).

What a curse that smarmy face has become on Australian television. Is there no where that he won't go to get another (free) publicity shot. My wife shakes her head as I go apoplectic once again because....there the bastard is, AGAIN.

Irfun rightly points out in his latest piece Aussie Islam & Howard's cultural minstrels what an appalling piece of work this right-hand man of Bush the lesser, is.

Sachs is simply stating what a number of commentators have been saying since 2002. The real problem with allowing self determination in the Middle East is not radicalization, but development. At present, for every dollar of petrol, the Middle East gets about 10c, and our government gets 50c. With even a modicum of capitalist shrewdness, the Middle East would become the world’s dominant economic power. They are not going to spend it on radicalism/terrorism. This would damage foreign economies, and they have too much invested in these very same economies. What they are likely to do is the same thing the British Empire did. Persuade people by funding schools and charities. However, Islam is likely to follow the same path to maturation as Christianity. Yes, there will be some extreme and possibly violent groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, but the majority of people will view religion as a useful social and cultural tool, but to be seasoned with a healthy dose of salt.  

The problem George Bush has is that he is a born-again Christian, a person who truly believes in the white man’s burden. His world is collapsing. China is awakening. South America is shaking off its shackles. India is finally getting its act together. Japan and South East Asia are recovering from their crashes. The US has still to find its feet. Australia is doing quite well, but this is because we are busy selling off our assets.

Australia’s hope for success in the world 50 years from now lies in multiculturalism. Australia embracing multiculturalism isn’t sufficient. We need to persuade relatively insular societies such as China and the Middle East to embrace multiculturalism. We will not succeed if we try to teach it to them. Rather we need to say, “we are learners on a journey, would you like to share our bread and perhaps walk some way with us”.

Like a ventriloquist's dummy, the words of George Bush are out of someone else's mouth. Speechwriters, analysts, personal adviser's and of course the leaders of the most powerful companies on earth. He IS their man.

I don't fault him for that. Every political leader is beholden to a myriad interests but can only serve a few and therefore  the most powerful are having their say through the little Bush persona.

I have had a change of heart. I don't fault him at all. Instead, I reserve my disgust for those ordinary citizens who believe the lies of every political campaign of every political persuasion.

Shame on all of us.