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| The gloves are off | |
Well the rubber gloves are off, the knives are out of the draw in the ALP kitchen, and things are
cooking up for a showdown a week from now. In the defender's corner we have, weighing in a 96 pounds, the undefeated
champion of low polls and Iraq-war casualty: Simon (Rottweiler) Crean. And in
the challenger's corner we have, tipping the scales at 250 pounds, the two time
loser, small-target extraordinaire and Tampa-tantrum victim: Kim
(Fatboy) Beasley. Both are skilled at using the media as weapons, and these
two have been sniping at each other on long-weekend TV. Fatboy came out with: 'Simon has had eighteen months to connect with the Australian
people, and it hasn't worked' only to have Simon quip: 'Kim had six years, and he didn't connect with the Australian
people - who is he to criticize me?' Well, Simon, the simple point is that under your leadership things have gone
backwards. And besides, Bob (each-way) Hawke has come out barracking for Fatboy. Meanwhile, the Liberal leadership has
made a smart move - they have warned their junior MPs not to taunt the ALP too
much about their leadership. Why? Fatboy has a certain common, nonthreatening
charm about him which many people like. Some voters may like the idea of having
a scoutmaster as Prime Minister. Simon Rottweiler is a weaker opponent than
Fatboy, and the Liberals would rather face a Rottweiler-led ALP than a
Fatboy-led ALP into the next election. Of course, no-one's saying Fatboy can actually win (except Fatboy himself),
but he can slow the rot, and that's as good as the ALP can hope for, pushing a
totally discredited political and economic philosophy in the 21st century.
The jury is back guys - Adam Smith: 1, Karl Marx: 0. If only the Liberal party would realize this too.
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