Most contrived culture war? A new contender
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Years ago, when The Australian was getting increasingly desperate in its war against the ABC, op-ed editor Tom Switzer ran a few stories by Paul Gray, an unctuous Christian from the Herald Sun, laying into Aunty for its secular nihilism. This was the time when Channel Ten was running Big Brother Uncut and Law and Order: SVU (“Whadda we got, Elliot?” “Netball team, s-domised and decapitated.” “A-gain?”). Gray’s objections, beyond The Chaser etc, eventually boiled down to a crime drama which centred around a married affair — proof the ABC wasn’t “family-centred”.
Switzer wisely wound the series up after that, and the record for most pathetically contrived culture war appeared destined never to be broken. But now we have a new winner, and in the same spot — Alan Oxley, in yesterday’s Oz, launching into the Greens for “vilifying” their opponents from their smug base of certainty. The evidence for this? Greens leader Christine Milne said the Australian Forestry Standard was “not credible” and “not respected”.
Anything else? No, that was it. Apparently Milne “railed” — that is, said these words — while arguing in favour of a different scheme. This is simply expressing a forthright point of view, essential to democratic debate, yes? No, according to Oxley, disagreeing with something you disagree with is, well, something more sinister. “In my opinion, the denunciation by the Greens of those who take a different path smacks of McCarthyism.”
I could quote George Brandis calling Greens Nazis, the endless talk of “greenshirts”, Julia Gillard saying Greens don’t love their families, and everything written about Lee Rhiannon, but why bother? (I could also quote an article from The Age, during the height of the late ’90s anti-capitalist wave, which said that everyone in the movement wanted a North Korean slave state. It was written by … oh, Alan Oxley.)
Really, it’s too pathetic. If this is all The Oz now has, it may be best to wrap up the war. Meanwhile, Alan, take some rescue remedy, eat some Norgen-Vaaz, watch The Notebook, and cry your eyes out — it’s going to get a lot tougher out there.
Oh the irony. The Australian headline: “Greens vilify anyone at odds with them”. Time to have a good look in the mirror. Having abandoned any notion of independent reporting, the Oz is now simply the media dept of the Liberal Party.
Everyone knows the Australian Forestry Standard is a joke. The only reason it exists is because the timber industries practices were so destructive, they couldn’t even satisfy what many consider the industry friendly FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) requirements and withdrew from a FSC audit. Then the local industry then came up with their own greenwash version to dupe consumers into thinking their products were sustainable.
Planet Ark which has been in the red for 3 years then accepts $700K from the timber industry for their endorsement of AFS. Understandably the founders of Planet Ark are appalled at the sell out and have cut ties with the organisation.
The OO has lost the plot entirely.
Oxley and Rundle- two environmental illiterates babooning each other.
What does either know about the “Australian Forestry Standard”? Or the FSC? (what’s the FSC, Guy?). For Roxley and Undle, environmentalism is replacing the dead potplant after each trip.
Oxley is a corporate mouth for hire, currently spruiking S.E.Asian logging and palm oil expansion. Ex-DFAT, Oxley exploits his beltway insider contacts- just like Bracks, Hawke, Downer and the rest. Slagging the Greens is just routine positioning for the coming apotheosis of the Right.
Oxle and Undley have much in common, mostly ignorance. Their moronic “culture wars” ballet is pure ideology, detached from the empirical world.
Both are continually in motion, Rundle frequent flying between cafes close to crises, Oxley at the other end of the plane, suiting from one Huge Deal to another.
Both are carbon Yetis.
What they believe hardly matters. Oxley massages his op-ed audience. Rundle harangues Crikey trolls.
Beneath the slogans is a vacuum. So what if Oxley is a climate sceptic and Rundle a climate millenarian? Both are climate illiterates. So what if both know rat-all about economics or the environment or political reality?
They’re just circus barkers.
Breaking their own cardinal rule, for the past few decades, of pretending that The Greens Parties don”t exist at all, in the vain hope that they’ll just “go away!”.
Any publicity just makes The Greens Parties stronger. Why so?
First they ignore you - then they laugh at you. Then they fight you……
It makes sense if you look up some definitions from the News Limited dictionary:
rail to express a view opposing those held by News Limited and/or its corporate or political allies.
villify to express a view that the actions or motives of News Limited and/or its corporate or political allies are not entirely meritorious.
McCarthyism expressing views that News Limited does not like.
secular nihilism not sure - anything that social conservatives (whose votes News Limited’s political allies are chasing) don’t approve of?
The Greens are growing due to an ever increasing awareness not just in their environmental policies but also their social ones. Once a larger part of the public examine these social policies they will find they are not indifferent to the ones that Labor once held in the 70s.
The decades following the 80s saw an era of ultra-capitalism ushered in under Reagan & Thatcher. This era which still continues has seen some of the most destructive environmental & social policies ever known, not only has it proved destructive but also a failure. As Australians we are headed down this same path under the so called (free marketeers). There is nothing free about this & ultimately it will cause a collapse as the “world financial cartels” take absolute control of our future, perhaps this is the design of it.
The Greens will come under attack from the murdocrisy media as they hold an avenue of escape from the madness of the current market system that we are now suffering from. I expect that as the support grows for the Greens so will the spurious media attacks against them. You never know people might actually wise up & dump the 2 majors who are sitting comfortably in the back pocket of the NWO.