Howdy dear availees all across The Third Rock...this Monday just gone, 9th November 2020, the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Four Corners program ran a story about Ministerial affairs with staffers and/or journalists, etc, specifically about Immigration Minister Alan Tudge and Attorney-General Christian Porter...(what about others like Barnaby Joyce and David Littleproud, or anyone from Labor and/or the minor Parties?-Ed)...well that's part of the discourse, and a question many have raised, not least of all in trying to discern the real motivations for this 'expose'...if y'all ain't aware of what it's all about, here's a link to the ABC, or go to the ABC's Four Corners website and check it out...
And even at first glance, the immediate issue is about how these 2 class acts have routinely proselytised about the unassailable virtues of the "traditional model of marriage", ie, of a man to a woman, etc...(and they've both been particularly vocal in this way/context during the Marriage Equality debate-Ed)...well I'd call it 'mouthy', but sure, "vocal", but absolutely there-in lies their bare-faced hypocrisy, lording-it over everyone else about their superior "values" when in fact they're philandering stuff-pigs...(well unless of course one considers the 'traditional model' to be one whereby the li'l woman stays home and faithfully raises the kids, etc, whilst the hubby tries to throw a leg over the staff, junior colleagues, pretty much anything that moves really-Ed)...spot on mate, at the very least this story is yet another insight into the self-important 'do as I say not as I do, Born To Rule' patriarchal attitudes in the LNP, and potentially politics more generally...(I see where Minister Matt Canavan has said that this behaviour is to be 'expected', seemingly almost admitting that he's 'guilty' of this conduct, and some witty scribes have opined that Matty won't mind then if his missus scores some strange whilst he's in Canberra-Ed)...well indeed...and many people are pointing to the vast difference between lovey-dovey kid-gloves responses to Tudge's affair with a staffer, and the relentless often rancid persecution of Labor's Emma Husar for a suspected affair that apparently didn't actually happen...here's a charming cartoon and article from the horrendous Janet Albrechtsen...absolutely disgraceful...
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/11/10/michael-pascoe-trust-canberra-scandal/
Note the excruciatingly careful weasel-wording here, where-in 1) Porter tries directly to imply that he wasn't offered an opportunity to engage with the program by saying that he wasn't aware of all of it's content...(and 2) 'Nudge' twice says that he "regrets", but doesn't actually apologise to anyone, not even his wife and child-Ed)...indeed, he "regrets" getting outed for it, but be damned if he's going to apologise to anyone, it's the 'Never Say Sorry' mentality of the 'Born To Rule' sub-intelligent stooges who populate the LNP...and I say "sub-intelligent" 'cos I consider an intelligent person is one capable of showing and expressing genuine remorse and contrition, coupled with genuine respect and empathy...and here's a link to a coupla' spot-on hilarious cartoons that forensically represent the attitudes of the rankly pro-LNP corrupt Main Stream Media and ABC...1) intense focus on Dan Andrews ant/mole hill...(making a mountain out of a molehill-Ed)...whilst ignoring the mountains of LNP corruption surrounding them, and 2) ignoring the reality of LNP dysfunction and internal conflicts whilst trying to create a story about Labor's faults...
https://twitter.com/reinedelanuit05/status/1327740813414076417
I've also included this link below to a Twitter thread by the most excellent Ronni Salt, as she expertly explains/highlights the vast gulf between how the LNP reacts to it's male members relentless rorting and grifting, etc, and how women are crudely and crassly attacked and routinely made the scapegoats for others indiscretions/corruptionings...with Australia Post's Ms Holgate, she bore the brunt of Scummo's carefully confected pantomime-level outrage as he sought to distract from multiple LNP rorts and/or scandals...
https://twitter.com/RonniSalt/status/1325347050989314052
Another Twitterist I follow with quiet confidence is Michael West...("quiet confidence"?-Ed)...because I've read enough of his stuff to 'trust' it on face value as being extremely accurate...he obviously does his research on specific issues, and couples that with an extensive broader knowledge...take this story from his website, Michael West News, about one of the really concerning issues that perhaps this program should have covered/discussed, 'Nail 'Em Up' Porter's grossly politicised misuse of 'Terrorism Laws' to attack 'Whistleblowers'...(a gross misuse compounded by the fact that he has failed to comply with the only pseudo-restraint attached to this legislation-Ed)...indeed, the requirement to report to the Federal Parliament any usage/application of these extraordinary laws...(and this is the arrogant, self-satisfied clown who's gunna' bring us a farcically secretive Federal ICAC, how could that possibly go wrong?-Ed)...indeed...
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/christian-porter-nsi-orders/
And I refer dear availees to the very concise 'Comment' of 'Alan' attached to that article, copied here...
Literally and actually couldn't say it better myself...(wow, he really has nailed it hasn't he, this is exactly how and why these 'Laws' are being applied-Ed)...and I'd add to that the self-defining fact that the Liberal/National Party consider themselves to be and therefore operate in a paradigm whereby they are beyond the laws that govern the rest of us...(let alone the 'Laws' that are meant to govern their specific conduct, eg, not reporting his usage of the 'Terrorism Laws'-Ed)...and of course, getting back to The Tudgemeister, he was called-out for his "Criminal" conduct by Justice Flick, whom has has had very similar things to say about Home Affairs Minister Peter 'Spud' Dutton...here's a link...
And as per usual, on Twitter everybody and their support dog/cat/bison has an opinion about the real motivations for this ABC 'expose', and when I first heard it was coming-up, my initial thought was 'what pro-LNP con-job is the ABC pulling now'...and quite frankly, I reckon I was right on the money...I immediately saw this as an exercise in 'Distraction' to drag people's attention away from some of the most recent appallingly embarrassing exposures of multiple LNP rorts, eg, Sports Rorts, or the $30million Airport Land Sale, or the New South Wales Liberal Premier Gladys 'Sob Story' Berejyklian awarding $250m+ to LNP seats and then shredding and/or deleting all official records...(mate, I just cannot believe that she's done that and is still Premier-Ed)...like anyone else whom ain't a base LNP stooge...(and what's happened about her relationship with disgraced colleague 'Dazzling' Daryl Maguire?-Ed)...as best I can tell, absolutely nothing...(but what about their phone conversations discussing his dodgy dealings and her lies about that stuff in ICAC, etc, etc-Ed)...mate, what can I tell ya'? Gladys has been carefully protected by the rancidly pro-LNP Main Stream Media, where-in it's all been carefully presented as a Mills & Boon-style tale of a good woman done bad by a scoundrel...(pathetic!-Ed)...particularly when it involves the Premier of the biggest state in Australia...but we digress...
Basically, I initially saw this program as an exercise in generating some sort of non-accountable outrage that would distract from all of the other actual corruption...that is, what morally repugnant behaviour can we use to wind-up the filthy masses, but that ultimately ain't anything 'criminal'...(oh I know, a lovely 'Sex Scandal', that'll get the prols* slavering and salivating and leaping onto their laptops to express their disdain and disappointment-Ed)...exactly, and all the other actual corruption just quietly fades into the background...but my ears really pricked-up early in the show when they discussed Porter's career-long aspirations to be Prime Minister, aligned as that is with constant Twitter-chatter about people moving on PM Scott 'Scummo' Morrison to oust him, etc, etc...and for my mind and/or money, that's what we're looking at here...Scummo has shown that he's more than prepared to chuck his colleagues right under the thundering bus of accountability...(well he didn't just chuck National's Bridget Mackenzie under the bus re the Sports Rorts Scandal, he drove the bus right over her, backed it up and had another go, and did that several times-Ed)...indeed, the clear evidence was/is that those 'Coloured Spreadsheets' and associated directives to fund LNP and/or marginal seats, etc, all of that originated with Scummo...(and he's done the same thing to Australia Post chair Christina Holgate, screeching his carefully confected outrage about a relatively very minor issue, to distract away from the LNP's corruptionings-Ed)...absolutely... (*prols - the proletariat, the peasantry)
So whilst others are applauding the ABC and Four Corners for this searing expose, I believe that it was/is a political tool being wielded by Scott Morrison to scupper the aspirations of the most plausible contender for replacing him as PM...(so it's not so much an expose as a carefully orchestrated hit-job on Porter's credibility, and as organised by Morrison?-Ed)...in my humble opinion...so that's why I agree with Michael Pascoe et al even though they don't ultimately exactly align with what I think is the base motivation...1) the conduct is deplorable, 2) the MSM's failure to report it previously is pathetic and self-serving, 3) the gross gender imbalance about the reportage and responses is insightful and unacceptable, etc, 4) there is likely an element of pro-LNP 'distraction journalism' at play here, but I believe this program is ultimately 5) about protecting Scummo's position...
And right in the Distraction Ballpark is the latest appalling misappropriation of Aboriginal disenfranchisement, etc, with Gladys Berejyklian suddenly wading into the debate about changing a single word of the Oz national anthem, from "we are young and free" to 'we are one and free' because "young" effectively excludes the 1,000s of generations of Aboriginal occupation of Australia, focussing instead on the last 250 years, but "one" includes us all, supposedly...(and this is supposed to distract away from all of her other corrupt dealings? is that the idea?-Ed)...yep, and again the simp-like complicity of the MSM and ABC make this possible...I fully agree with the sentiment, but completely denounce the self-serving political opportunism of Gladys's involvement...(and I note that Mt Gambier City Council has done the same shameless misappropriation and pseudo-respect stuff by trying to name the corruption-riddled Farcical Aquatic Recreation Centre project using Boandik words/language-Ed)...absolutely identical and deplorable conduct...we'll look at this further in the next FARC post...
Tomorrow: A Brief Review Of The 2020 Budget
Spent a coupla' hours this week catching-up on Adelaide Mail: Adelaide's Other Fake News Outlet...love this satire-style reporting, and it's a great way to de-tox after several hours on Twitter and/or a day of doing this 'ere blog, etc, etc...(I enjoy the soothing stylings of funny dog/cat videos, and/or the work of the Ozzy Man Reviews series...a bit sweary but still genuinely hilarious on occasions-Ed)...yep, loved the one about Bulls, very Aussie...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
Terrorists are vital to the interests of the Liberal party. The mere existence of a terrorist threat allows the Liberal party to run scare campaigns and invoke national security to restrict human rights and civil liberties and legal freedoms.
Whistle blowers on the other hand are an existential threat to the Liberal Party. A Party allergic to scrutiny. People who know too much, and are willing to talk. A clear threat to our most dishonest of governments. If you have a lot to hide, you have a lot to fear.