parties and factions
The most intense hatreds are not between political parties but within them – Phillip Adams, journalist
Media Circus: Craig Thomson cleared of electoral fraud, let’s talk about something else then
Let’s keep a closer eye on the impact of policy and legislation rather than buying into the moving wallpaper ethos of personality conflicts trumping the actual political process, OK?
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Political Meme of the week: Abbott “explains” things – they just are
ABBOTT: ‘blah blah Gillard govt schoolkid bonus bad blah blah’
REPORTER: ‘How is this different from the Howard govt baby bonus?’
ABBOTT: ‘Well look, they just are.’
Parliamentary circus continues
Does anybody seriously think that the Labor caucus won’t wait until the results of next week’s Budget sessions before anyone decides to make a move? What next for the national soap opera?
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Numbers in the House
Speculation abounds as to whether the Gillard minority government will have the numbers on the House floor to pass the Budget on May 8 without Peter Slipper’s vote, especially since Andrew Wilkie remains rather miffed.
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How turning voters off politics helps US pollies get elected – will it work in Australia too?
Intriguing analysis in this post from Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post, although Jay Rosen notes that he doesn’t cover the complementary role played in this game by the news media playing up the confected outrage.
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Roseanne Barr wants the US presidential debate back on topic #righteousrant
Roseanne Barr on Ann and Mitt Romney and the Mommy Wars: “why bring out this fake issue again now? Could it be to divert the conversation from the continued restrictions being placed on women’s reproductive rights and make us forget that both parties are socialists for their own causes…?” – and Daily Beast puts this righteous rant from a woman who is running for POTUS in the Entertainment section.
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Bob Brown retires; Christine Milne now Greens leader
BOB Brown has resigned as leader of the Australian Greens and will quit the Senate, with his former deputy Christine Milne unanimously endorsed by colleagues as Senator Brown’s successor. The Greens’ sole lower house representative, Melbourne MP Adam Bandt, was later elected Senator Milne’s deputy.
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This week in Bizarre-Barf
Glenn Beck has a shiny new toy. He has had a 20 year old movie set of the Oval Office refurbished so that he can use it for a special weekly broadcast to the nation.
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How to do a homophobic political ad
Bob Katter’s Australia Party are running a homophobic television advertisement to try and convince Queenslanders to vote for them instead of the alternative conservative political party, the Liberal National Party (LNP) in the forthcoming state election.
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I get very confused about being a feminazi sometimes
Do I have too much sex with men or am I a man-hater? (Thanks to Jane for the has-to-be-read-to-be-believed link, and this is cross-posted at blue milk).
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What do I want from #respill today? Another hung parliament, please
For the last two decades of Federal and State elections, I have been voting strategically for a hung parliament (in both Houses) every time. In 2010, enough of my fellow citizens did the same that a hung Federal parliament was finally what we got.
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About #ditchthewitch
Image credit. Last night on Twitter, amongst the heated debate about Julia Gillard versus Kevin Rudd for Labor Prime Minister of Australia emerged the hashtag #ditchthewitch. It is a belittling, sexist slogan borrowed from the far right of Australia, who sunk to these depths in protests against the carbon emissions trading scheme. It is incredibly [...]
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Labor leadership spill thread #respill #kevenge
I just wish Labor as a party could put more people into Parliament who know how to tell their arse from their elbow.
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* Quicklink to recent open threads
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