Currently reading some stuff on the Sydney Morning Herald site about the Mark Latham diaries, which came out today, and I have to say I'm looking forward to seeing Enough Rope tonight with Andrew Denton interviewing the former Labor leader.
It's interesting how people are saying that the diaries show that Latham has a 'narcissistic personality disorder.' But honestly! It's a diary *lol* Diaries are all about being narcissistic and considering yourself and yourself alone in a totally shameless way. In diaries, you don't have to be empathetic or sympathetic or even focus on another's perspective. The book isn't being marketed as a serious, unbiased, in-depth look at a political party or the times of one of its leaders, either. The word 'diary' does give that away somewhat.
Admittedly, I was unsure about Latham's suitability as a leader of the Opposition here in Australia at first. That was probably because of the way that he went about his politics, speaking his mind in a whatever-comes-to-the-surface-is-gonna-get-said way and not shying away from the good ol' political habit of name-calling. He was some variety of political bully who went in to shake things up, and it was interesting when he did. Him calling the Prime Minister, John Howard, a 'suckhole' was the stuff of wet dreams for people who had long desired to hear such a thing said, too (inappropriate as it was, of course *attempted serious look*). Even better was when he honestly pointed out that George W Bush is the most incompetent and dangerous president in the history of American politics.
Still, it's somewhat disappointing to feel all of the negativity and anger from Latham about the party that he led in his diaries and interviews. Believe it or not, I actually agree with some of the comments our PM made about the matter, especially that we should remember that there are people on all sides of politics working for the best of the nation. Of course, there's backstabbing done by Latham in the book, but then there was backstabbing done to him when he was in the party... a vicious circle, no? Whatever the decision on that is, I still don't want to think about the implied affair between the PM and Pru Goward, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner.
The mental image of them throwing their wrinkly bodies together in a frenzy of carnal lust makes me want to unleash a technicolour yawn onto my computer monitor for daring to bring that thought up ( Goward rejects claim of affair with PM by Mark Metherell, Wendy Frew and AAP).
As the current Labor party stands, they're uninteresting and uninspiring. Wishy-washy. Their in-fighting and constant lack of seeming to 'gel,' as well as never seeming to stand up for the Australian public in times when it really matters for there to be a voice that challenges things that are happening under the current government, makes them look like a group of squabbling school kids couldn't organise to find their own rear ends with both hands and a road map. Kim Beazley is an uninspiring leader, at least to the public. I mean, he's not someone I'd really want to vote for because he seems to be lacking charisma, fire in the belly and the desire to make a difference.
Latham describes Beazley in The Latham Diaries as being indecent, duplicitous and unfit to clean the toilets at Parliament House. But goodness me, aren't all politicians indecent and duplicitous and unfit to clean toilets? They don't fit down into the bowls of toilets very well, anyways... Whatever the case may be, I don't think Beazley is really that dreadful. It's just he's not an interesting leader.
But really, the Labor party's lack of success and lack of viability as an option when it comes to voting on a Federal level is something that has to be addressed. If all of the States and Territories in Australia have Labor governments that have been in office for quite a long time and seem to be relatively well-liked by the people, why isn't that translating to the Federal arena?
There are those who will say that it's because no-one votes out a government who has seen them through times of financial and economic security, which is somewhat true, I guess. But then we've had quite a lot of problems. And we've been lied to about stuff that does matter. And laws are going nuts when it comes to anti-terrorism stuff. The whole move towards the right instead of keeping balanced. Dismissing the voices of Australians who don't agree. Hmmm...
Let's close with some thoughts from Sting of truth in this suicide mission by Paul Sheehan.
"Once again, the hypocrisy of the media has been breathtaking, as it was with the John Brogden bloodbath two weeks ago. The media has engaged in an orgy of exploitation of Latham's brutality while pretending to be appalled by it. Once again, The Daily Telegraph has distinguished itself, this time publishing extracts from The Latham Diary under the headline: "Mark Latham's diary of a loathsome loser", as if the paper has not been financing, promoting and exploiting this resource.
Latham's behaviour is not so far removed from what the media serves up every day as it subjects politicians and the electoral process to an unremitting campaign of belligerence, cynicism and ridicule. The media condescends towards democracy because it competes with democracy. It competes for power and control of the national agenda. The biggest contest in Australian politics is thus not between the Coalition and Labor, but between the elected and accountable against the unelected and unaccountable.
Mark Latham may hate the media, may refer to "animals", but what is contained in The Latham Diaries is little different to what can be heard on any given weekday on radio 2UE. He would blend right in."
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