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| A nose for political opportunity | |
We all like to explore our feminine sides occasionally .. getting
pampered when we are sick, watching the occasional chick flick, employing
that Asian lady with the big boots and the whip .. But most of us have no interest in exploring our feminist side. Surely
only the most retarded spineless gender apologist would want to to explore total
self-loathing. Which brings us to Tony (Sluggo) Abattoir. It all started with Sluggo playing to the conservatives, and insisting that a
Sluggo-led government wouldn't raise any taxes, or to introduce new ones. Good
move Sluggo, and self respecting rednecks raised a glass to you. Or at least a
cold can. But then he let his teenage daughters talk him around, and convince him to
force the taxpayer to finance their reproductive ambitions. Suddenly he was in
favor of paying middle class women up to $75,000.00 to pop out a baby - paid
for by a great big new tax on big business. Then he got cornered by Kerry O'Brien on everyone's ABC and admitted that the
two were 'not entirely consistent', and said that he was 'not always entirely
accurate' in the heat of verbal combat, that his words couldn't be taken as
'gospel truth' unless they were in writing. What was Sluggo thinking? Maybe telling a lie is okay if you say it
quickly enough? ABC journalists do present themselves as the high priests of of
democratic thought. Maybe Sluggo thought he was back in confessional or
something? Sluggo is perhaps the first politician honest enough to admit lying. Thanks for
your honesty, Tony, but it's a bit hard to sing your praises for this. It's a
bit like the partner who loves you enough to admit to having an affair. 'thanks
for your honesty you deceiving b...'. But enough about the ex- .. Normally it's easy to tell when a politician is lying - his lips move. But Tony
(Sluggo) Abattoir has proven to be the exception to the rule. A
politician telling you that he is a liar, is clearly telling the truth. Sluggo is, of course, not the first politician to break promises. Bob Hawke had
his 'no child in poverty' mandate, Paul Keating had his 'L.A.W. law' tax cuts,
Howard had his 'core promises', Kev's ETS commitments are now on hold
indefinitely, and of course there was George Bush Senior's classic: 'Read my lips. No
new taxes'. But broken promises are not the same as lies. Sluggo, admitting you are lying
doesn't make you seem more trustworthy. And that's the gospel truth.
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