Comments on: Battle of the bulging egos: Mal v. Kev

By: Jenny L

Jenny L — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

You all sound like the Opposition trying to scarify Ken Henry!! Amazing that commentary from a fairly informed position draws such rabid response. At an ALP meeting up in Brisbane five years ago Mr Cool walked in to engender the party message by fostering interest and debate..as the local federal member. Preoccupation with the personal combined with a time limit and disinterest in others saw Kev now PM exit early without achieving the branch mission. No one in the Capalaba area talked about Kev after that until someone said he was the opposition Foreign Affairs spokesman who suddenly assumed leadership proportions. You see once they pass Party headquarters as the annointed…party membership at the local level matters none. You got him and we’re not sorry he’s out of the area. Self-indulgent and self-absorbed he certainly is and the party goes on. I suspect those down in Vaucluse might describe Malcolm in the same way.

By: Marilyn

Marilyn — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Bernard, there was no leak of the phone call. All leaders announce what was said in phone calls so you need to get over the drivel.

if Rudd had stood up and rightly called Bush a moron he would have been cheered from the rafters and for you along with dopey Dennis to try and make it an issue proves how nothing it really is.

Heaven's above we don't have to grovel to the US president any more. So grow up Bernard, this story is beneath Crikey.

Why don't you talk about news.

By: Michael de Angelos

Michael de Angelos — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Oh Bernard who really gives a toss about this non issue ?. We’re talking abut Bush-a man who should hauled up in front a war cimes tribunal for his lies and warmongering. I mean this is abloke who had the CIA deliver the frozen head of an Al Qaeda leader to the Oval Office to gloat over. Put your efforts into seeing if you can get The Man Who Would Be King , Malcolm Turnbull to enunciate an actual policy instead of his endless foot stamping. Do you really think mst Aussies give a hoot about this subject ?

By: Poidarr

Poidarr — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Bernard, you got it right from the start: the only people who care about this issue is the Canberra Press Gallery. You should have stopped at that point unless you were going to try and answer the only relevant question: why should Rudd answer this question and in so doing give oxygen to Turnbull’s suffocating attack? Repeat ten times: It does not matter!

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Shortly after the Republic Referendum, I was visiting Ireland and was asked to explain ad nauseum how the !#@* Australia, home to the knockabout larrikin, voted to stay at home with Mother. After confusing the audience, and myself, with long winded psephological analysis of referenda history, I could only conclude that the leaders who opposed the motion were uberweasels – all understood that - and those who proposed were .. incompetent beyond belief. “Was your leader a lawyer by any chance” I was asked. “Yes”, I replied “Top shelf – one of the highest order”. “That’ll be your problem then” was the response.

It’s like your cat continually depositing his garden kill on the kitchen floor, just to show how clever he is. Once would probably be enough.

Louis XIV without a Versailles.

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Bernard,
Who cares about the comments about George Bush? I wonder why though nothing was reported on for a few days.
I am always wary of politicians who get up and wax lyrical as Turnbull does. He's not in a court as he thinks he is. He reminds me of snake oil salesman. He doesn't seem to me to have the sincerity of say Barcak Obama.
My view has been that Turnbull is doing all he can to wreck our economy by talking it down, nitpicking and having a different policy each day. It seems as though your comments somewhat back this up.

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

My Great Aunt, Maria Paz Dolores, was fond of the following statement. “Listen to me Venise, you will not bring home a short man!” I must have always looked puzzled, because she would, as a routine, always explain the problem. “The more short the man, the greater will be the ego. And to the regret of humanity, politicians are invariably less than tall.”

By: George

George — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I think Turnbull is undermining our confidence in banks ,our financial instituions ,treasury, Government and this is the wrong time. In many people’s minds at a time when the community needs is confidence he is a spoiler. Many people will not forgive him for the effect this has on their investments, business confidence and the economy. While I find his positions on social issues preferrable to Rudd’s I will not forgive him for putting his personal interests and ambition above the needs of the country. He will be villified like Punter has been by the cricketing fraternity.

By: Paul G Morgan

Paul G Morgan — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Apart from the foolishly ill-informed, misguided and gratuitous drubbing Rudd delivered Henson, by and large he's not missing an opportunity to deliver positive and energising leadership. It's what we need after 11 dark years. One term will not obliterate their shadow.

Turnbull may be able to demonstrate leadership capability if he focuses on statesmanlike policy approaches. To date he is spectacularly failing to do this. It's an open question as to whether he has the discipline to resist the small target approaches which he seems to favour, and concentrate on the big picture items which might allow us to understand whether he has a sustainable vision for us or not.

Glad to see Crikey exposing the deficits with such clarity.

By: Glenn Brandham

Glenn Brandham — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I echo the comments of Jenny L. Well said Jenny.

By: Barbie

Barbie — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

As one who voted in favour of the referendum to approve Australia becoming a republic IN SPITE of the condending Mimi Metoo ‘s inhibiting presence on the TV screen,I have a faint lingering fascination to watch this man’s desperate bid for relevance.
He is so-o-o-o consumed by his own self absorption.
And yes, I agree with Poidarr:
it does not matter.

By: bh

bh — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Ah Bernard - the small, incestuous minds of the Canberra Press Gallery!! We don’t care about this. We have a financial crisis on our hands. We are sick of Mr Turnbull and his mates talking down this economy and telling us that the Govt. we elected hasn’t got a clue. I have news for Mr Turnbull - we think he doesn’t have a clue.
I’m with the industry leader who told the AFR - “Turnbull seems to be the only person in OZ that wants a recession.” A major bank director said “You come away from the government with a good hearing. You come away from Malcolm feeling slight dirty”.
Sums him up completely.
Hey, we all know that Kev is human - that is probably why we like him. And we know he is trying and is a hard worker. Plus his mandarin conversations with the Chinese leaders are a huge plus for us - we know where our bikkies come from.

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

From when this story first broke I thought who cares? GWB is a despised president who every one thinks is an idiot any way. I read the comments on the story on ABC and also read the comments here and it seems pretty much that my opinion is in the majority.
Then I got to bernards comment about Howard and Clinton. Wow. Seems YOU missed the point bern, Clinton was not disrespected in his own country, Clinton was described as having a brain as big as a building and the press did not do much of a job on howard regarding the AWB story.
I feel your working for the wrong organisation bernie, go see if there are any jobs at the Australian will you. I, like denise, do not think that I will be subscribing to crikey because I can get all the political bias I want from pinheads like bolt, blair and ackerman from news ltd. I hope you get roasted for this bernie, more for the comment than for the pseudo balanced article
seeya.

By: Timothy.Nash

Timothy.Nash — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Bernard, it is true that the only people who care about this issue are the Canberra press gallery.
But I believe even they are bored with the issue.

This kind of thing is SO typical of Australian politics. This ability to focus in on a issue that nobody cares about or is totally irrelevant to the current state of the world and then turn it into a kind of carnival for politicians who parade around raising their voices at each other and laughing arrogantly at every second comment.

This is kind of thing is not restricted to any particular party or even to any country.... it’s just a simple tactic. If you throw enough shit at something some of it will stick.
Basically out here in the real world NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE LEAK. George bush will go down in history as one of its worst presidents. It’s totally lame to try to suck up to someone on the way out, it’s much more fitting particularly for an Australian to sink the slipper in.

Bernard -It’s not about security or laziness or Kevin Rudd’s pride.... IT JUST DOSEN’T MATTER!

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Bernard,
Who cares if Kev told someone about the phone call - there was nothing earth shattering about its contents and why should Kev admit anything about it to anyone - though if an admission would stop the bombastic posturings of the Opposition Leader it might be considered a public service.

By: Zane

Zane — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I notice the mad monk Abbott has had another brain implosion and called the PM a coward for not admitting he leaked the story to the Oz and that his friend Howard never ran away from a fight. Its like tragic love affair gone wrongThe raving of a person not in control. I can’t see him lasting another 2 years in Opposition. He already looks like a refugee from an anorexia live in. Definitely lost the plot.

By: Andrew Thompson

Andrew Thompson — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Not again, Bernard! This school-yard obsession with personalities reminds me of what Walter Cronkite once said of Australia: ” Too many journalists, not enough news”.

By: denise

denise — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

If you read the comments on the abc re this story you can tell the australian voter is fed up with topic in a nut shell most said “Who Cares” this mornings web news.
We should be discussing what needs to be discussed.
I have decided i will not be taking up my opportunity to be a crickey member, good bye

By: Dan from Dubai

Dan from Dubai — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I’ve been a subscriber since jeffed.com and I know we have to take the good with the bad with Crikey, but surely you have something better than a circle jerk on this non-issue

“Turnbull would be better off letting the economic slowdown do his work for him, leaving the unemployment numbers to undermine the Government’s standing”
Your bias is unbearable these days!

Maybe we’ll see it play out long enough before any inquiry and we’ll see the AWB inquiry all over again.
“I simply cannot remember guv’nr”

By: Kathy

Kathy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Haven't upset me at all mate.(By the way it's Kathy not Cathy)

Hmm, can you point out where I was so defensive of "a liar like Howard," Rob?

All I said, was that some people did vote for him, so obviously there are those that think he is okay. I didn't vote for him(. I don't think he is okay.) I didn't vote for Rudd either.

If you were objective Rob, you would plainly see that there was no bias in Bernard Keane's piece.
This is a projection of your own bias.

Oh, btw, the position of President should also be respected even if the person in the position is that moron GWB! And remember, there were still a few Americans out there that voted Republican too, in spite of the GWB factor.

By: Bernard Keane

Bernard Keane — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Now… I wonder what would have been the reaction from you lot if John Howard had done the same to Bill Clinton. I don’t think I’d be hearing an endless chorus of “who cares”.

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Who cares, we all know George is not the sharpest knife in the kitchen, his neocon handlers give him a bit of paper with what to “feed the chooks”, poke him with a stick and like the cookoo in the clock he comes out says his piece and disappears back inside.

By: David

David — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Tend to agree with your observations Bernard and go a step further. It is obvious Rudd has no problem with answering in a manner which suggests he is familiar with porkies. Ok he doesn’t come out directly with a downright lie but his answers are like an emptying kitchen sink. Pull the plug and the water goes around and around and around without heading directly to the outlet, but eventually goes down the gurgler. The PM should take note of the final destination. He may get away with this one, but sooner or later his going around and around will eventually have him going down the gurgler. This is not the first time he has played this type of game, even the best are known to get too cocky and eventually it will catch up with him.
Incidently while on question time, I wonder when the Speaker will finally deal to Hockey. The Leader of Opposition Business flirts with chair over points of order time and again. I wonder what it will take for Harry to explode?

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

JamesK: My Great Aunt, Maria Paz Dolores, these were her Christian names: would have taken great pride in her knowledge of the world-nether regions included. To me her character was beyond reproach. Incomparable might be the word I seek. However, there were some people who accused her of having too much hatred of politicians. Alas, I was too young to make such a value comment. As our American cousins would say.

Cheers

V.

By: Inertia

Inertia — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Malcolm will become the PM if Kevin fucks up the government’s handling of the economy but the opposition’s multiple changes in its positions and its QT tactics, which emulate a general attacking from both sides instead of from one side, are more numerous than the positions listed in the Karma Sutra and display more volatility than either the gyrations on the world’s share markets or the world’s currency markets. Malcolm’s most recent claim to fame is his ability to read King David’s sayings in the original Hebrew which may be more relevant for fixing the GFC back on Wall Street than Mandarin which can only help in fixing the global economic crisis on Main Street. Malcolm, cash was at risk at the panicky start of the GFC and cash is now king in the global economic crisis but consistency (of both policy and of lines of attack) is king when fighting to win back government.