SHOCK! HORROR! I Agree with ANDREW BOLT
March 12th 2007 12:49
Well I began my usual browse through the Sunday papers yesterday and because I reside in Brisbane I feel it necessary to read the Sunday Mail. You know I have to find out how we are running out of water and wether Heather Beattie will run for Lord Mayor.
As I did I found myself flying through it scanning the pages for something that maybe news worthy which is generally a struggle. I did find out that Heather would not run and that she must be a rose fan as we had a picture of her tending to hers and Peters garden.
Anyway I got to the politics section and the usual culprits were there, the punching gnome Glenn Milne and the conservative head kicker Andrew Bolt.
I have a kinda love-hate relationship with Andrew Bolt he writes outrageous things and I get suitably outraged and I have developed a usual method for reading his column without getting too outraged.
My method is to usually read the first couple of pars and then his concluding par at the end that way I get an idea of who he is tipping a bucket on from the left straight away and then I usually do like his conclusion as they are more often then not filled with self-righteousness and conservative bile.
So today as I sat down and read his article on Kevin Rudd I was prepared for him to come out swinging attacking Rudd for meeting with Brian Bourke, for not revealing all and calling on him to resign or commit Harri karri or something.
I began to read and I felt i was descending in to some strange opposite world (much like the Seinfeld episode) here was a perfectly reasonable take on the whole Rudd/Burke Affair if anything a pro-Rudd piece.
He argues the Burke Affair actually helped Kevin Rudd and that it added toughness to his character that had been widely question by the media, the government and his own colleagues. Always considered a bit of a Nancy-boy who was always helping to start the fight but who would go missing immediately the gloves came off.
Like Bolt I can not help but agree that the government having cornered him on this forced him into to taking the gloves off and to begin leading with a few punches as he did.
Now had it not been for Minister Ian Campbell’s meeting with Burke and then an AFP raid on three of there own members things may well have travelled down a different path but politics is unpredictable and Rudd had not backed down and Howard knew the police raids had been carried out but decided to continue to try and take the high ground response.
Rudd has come out of this stronger and recent polls seem to bear this out. The old adage “that which does not kill me makes me stronger” seems to have been Rudd’s outcome here. Faced with his first real test of character Rudd has emerged triumph and Howard and his government appear to look foolish which is so often the case when politicians go looking to stand on a very high piece of moral ground.
The moral make-up of most political organisation is never a particularly high one.
These are exciting times in federal politics at the moment and barring another Tampa or 9/11 emerging in the next few months it would appear Rudd will be issuing a very credible challenge. His main challenge maybe keeping some of colleagues in check and ensuring there are no skeletons in their closets waiting to emerge.
Politics though just becomes to weird when I can read an Andrew Bolt opinion piece and emerge having actually read it all and find myself agreeing with everything he wrote.
I even thought his last sentence was very to the point and summed up the Burke Affair well. Bolt explained that even if Rudd had not meet Burke to shore up some sort of deal or support that having emerged from this affair in a seemingly stronger position “Brian Burke may have well delivered Rudd a favour”
As I did I found myself flying through it scanning the pages for something that maybe news worthy which is generally a struggle. I did find out that Heather would not run and that she must be a rose fan as we had a picture of her tending to hers and Peters garden.
Anyway I got to the politics section and the usual culprits were there, the punching gnome Glenn Milne and the conservative head kicker Andrew Bolt.
I have a kinda love-hate relationship with Andrew Bolt he writes outrageous things and I get suitably outraged and I have developed a usual method for reading his column without getting too outraged.
My method is to usually read the first couple of pars and then his concluding par at the end that way I get an idea of who he is tipping a bucket on from the left straight away and then I usually do like his conclusion as they are more often then not filled with self-righteousness and conservative bile.
So today as I sat down and read his article on Kevin Rudd I was prepared for him to come out swinging attacking Rudd for meeting with Brian Bourke, for not revealing all and calling on him to resign or commit Harri karri or something.
I began to read and I felt i was descending in to some strange opposite world (much like the Seinfeld episode) here was a perfectly reasonable take on the whole Rudd/Burke Affair if anything a pro-Rudd piece.
He argues the Burke Affair actually helped Kevin Rudd and that it added toughness to his character that had been widely question by the media, the government and his own colleagues. Always considered a bit of a Nancy-boy who was always helping to start the fight but who would go missing immediately the gloves came off.
Like Bolt I can not help but agree that the government having cornered him on this forced him into to taking the gloves off and to begin leading with a few punches as he did.
Now had it not been for Minister Ian Campbell’s meeting with Burke and then an AFP raid on three of there own members things may well have travelled down a different path but politics is unpredictable and Rudd had not backed down and Howard knew the police raids had been carried out but decided to continue to try and take the high ground response.
Rudd has come out of this stronger and recent polls seem to bear this out. The old adage “that which does not kill me makes me stronger” seems to have been Rudd’s outcome here. Faced with his first real test of character Rudd has emerged triumph and Howard and his government appear to look foolish which is so often the case when politicians go looking to stand on a very high piece of moral ground.
The moral make-up of most political organisation is never a particularly high one.
These are exciting times in federal politics at the moment and barring another Tampa or 9/11 emerging in the next few months it would appear Rudd will be issuing a very credible challenge. His main challenge maybe keeping some of colleagues in check and ensuring there are no skeletons in their closets waiting to emerge.
Politics though just becomes to weird when I can read an Andrew Bolt opinion piece and emerge having actually read it all and find myself agreeing with everything he wrote.
I even thought his last sentence was very to the point and summed up the Burke Affair well. Bolt explained that even if Rudd had not meet Burke to shore up some sort of deal or support that having emerged from this affair in a seemingly stronger position “Brian Burke may have well delivered Rudd a favour”
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Comment by Ahmed
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I recall back in the day when I used to read the Herald Sun, I was convinced Andrew Bolt did not believe what he was writing but was writing it because he was told to do so.
Still can never forget the line 'while Iraq triumphantly builds a democracy' referring to all doubters as if they had already lost and didn't know it yet, that Iraq was a better place, etc etc.
Comment by Brenton
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I was thinking, is Bolt really into K-Rudd? Or does he just see that popular opinion has moved on?
Comment by Suburban Boy
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I tend to have agreed with Ahmed and have thought that although by nature he is conservative that much of his oturageous comment was just to polarise his readers and that it was not really some strongly held idealogoical view.
Thanks for all the comments folks and I will be amazed if next weeks Bolt article concurs with my opinions again.
I only hope it is him coming closer to my opinion and not me drifting to his beliefs.
Comment by Suburban Boy
Oz Politics and Kulture!
I tend to have agreed with Ahmed and have thought that although by nature he is conservative that much of his oturageous comment was just to polarise his readers and that it was not really some strongly held idealogoical view.
Thanks for all the comments folks and I will be amazed if next weeks Bolt article concurs with my opinions again.
I only hope it is him coming closer to my opinion and not me drifting to his beliefs.