The cocks are crowing, and gathering around at the far end of the barnyard, plotting the celebrations to be had when the farmer comes along with his axe to lop off the head of the prime rooster.
Such is the tone of the Murdoch flagship today, following the Prime Rooster’s so-called ‘mea culpa’performances on radio and television since Friday. He’s been compared to Peter Beattie in the use of the “I’m sorry, my fault, I’ll fix it” mode of political responsibility, but frankly, Beattie employed that tactic with all the skill and aplomb of a practiced artisan. Rudd’s performance over the weekend, was simply embarrassing. Contrition is not his thing, and I believe he should avoid it at all costs.
Equally transparent and embarrassing is the way the usual suspects are bouncing up & down with such glee and abandon, virtually predicting the end of the Rudd Labor government later this year, or before April next at the latest. Lots of good advise from the likes of Mitchell, Milne & Shanahan et al, which no Labor pollie worth his/her salt would think of taking to heart.
In the overall examination of the government’s performance over the past 2 years and two months, much has been achieved, not the least of which has been the staving off of an economic recession which bode badly for Australia, despite what I now hear some economists saying about the inordinate rush to deficit spending the government undertook. Yes, one scheme of assistance as part and parcel of the stimulus spending has been poorly handled and overseen, but let’s be perfectly clear about that stimulus. Government didn’t decide, government acted on the best available advice from Treasury and the central bank to “go early, go hard and go household”. Yet I’ve not seen one commentator make appropriate attribution to that advice.
I suppose this dancing on pre-prepared graves by those on the right only serves to demonstrate the frustration those of that ideology feel at not holding the reigns of power. That’s deomcracy, but as we all know, democracy only really visits us one in three years. Robert Gottliebsen seems to think that this visitation process is enhanced by failures within Labor ranks to recognise the fallacy of spin, over substance. If spin is a prime factor in the current state and federal Labor government spheres, then surely the very same must be said for Labor’s ideological opposites with concepts such as Great Big New Taxes and calls for even greater government interference into small businesses to forestall what Peter Garrett has been held responsible for. Those failures, by the way, are all state responsibilities to administer.
There’s an excellent post at the Blogotariate on this very issue, which I highly recommend. yes, the Rudd government could be doing better, but given the pace at which it’s been operating, surely additional haste would seem to lead to even greater avenues for failures?