Gosh, dlowan ... (re the South Australian report) ... I'd thought, till now, that the SA government was squeaky clean, beyond reproach, compared to the rest.
Good grief, governments can be SOOOOO depressing, can't they? (We know all about that in Victoria!
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Well, I confess I am inclined to think Rann, who I have known for years, IS clean - BUT - I think he is not sufficiently engaged and hands on - I think he is cultivating a distance thing - and Ashbourne (who must be seen as innocent until proven guilty) is a real operator and has possibly been acting as a "fixit".
Sigh. I must say I think almostanything is worth it to get rid of the MP involved! Yikes! What a man!
I think it is dirty Labor Party apparatchik mess coming home to roost - you know, the factional deals etc. BUT - the question is, with people, how do you get things DONE politically?
I think there is little corruption at government level here - but this is a kindy government - only Rann has ever been a Minister in a serving government before- there was such a bloodletting when the Libs got in - what with the bank and all.....this is a very inexperienced lot.
Yes, I can relate to that, dlowan. The same happened here when the Kennett government (ultra right wing, privatisation fixated, anti-union & quite heartless, for those of you who might be wondering ...) was voted out. The new Labor government was virtually in shock, quite unprepared for the task. Definitely not ready to form a government. BUT ... it is extremely sad & depressing how quickly they've adopted very similar policies & practices to the previous lot. It's enough to make a person downright cynical & disheartened ...
Yes - but the realities of power and the possible are very harsh these days, Msolga. Sigh.......
More so here, than for you guys - you have a stronger economy now.
The thing is, it is so weird when your FRIENDS are running the place! I mean - only a few are good friends - but you realise just how seat of your pants and HARD governing is.... I would not do it for the world.
What do your friends say about it, dlowan?
Who sees the poor bastards? They work, work, work, work, work.......when I see them they say it is horribly hard. They are getting a bit more used to it, though.
Frustration is a key, I think - how to get some things happening in such a complex system, with so little money.
Our Parliament is potentially hung- they need to keep Independents on side. My best friend is very good at this - she has a long career as a unionist and is renowned at being able to get factions together.
Never having any time to yourself - the weekends are for electoral work - nights for that as well, and reading your Ministerial briefings and such. The press start calling at 5.00 am.
Never a dull moment, though - except maybe electoral dinners and such......
That's interesting, dlowan. They were most likely very idealistic prior to the shock of finding themselves as the bosses of the state!
Now they have to figure out how to balance the books AND provide positive programs for the people they represent. Wow.
And it must be quite strange for you, with friends & former colleagues in these positions, too. Puts a whole new perspective on complaining about the bloody government, doesn't it?
They were pretty realistic, I think - but realism sure hits you in the gut when you are what everyone whinges about, as you say...
Yes, it must be causing them some conflict ... probably always identified with the workers, the unemployed, the under-privileged, etc .... Quite a culture shock they're experiencing, I'd think. And it would put an entirely different perspective on the state news for you, dlowan.
I felt a little bit the same when many of my close union friends became the union leaders. (I had been a VERY committed rank & file unionist & remained so ..) It was very difficult seeing these former colleagues espouse views that I personally knew they'd never held before, because of the new understanding they'd acquired as leaders. It was personally very difficult for me to have to disagree with them on a number of issues that were very important to me. Hard. Lost quite a few friends in the process.
Being responsible for things certainly concentrates the mind wonderfully - realpolitik and all - and all on the knife-edge of knowing the media can attack like bull terriers any day.
I suspect union leaders are as unpopular as pollies - only they are unpopular with the union leaders too!
Sorry you lost friends over it all - I just try to seaparate out the friend thing.
My friends haven't changed - though I can see the whole Minister thing tending to make people a bit isolated and such - the drivers, the fawning that people do over you and so forth.
The first party we went to after the elections, and the announcement of the Ministries, was an eye-opener! Here were people we KNEW making moves on the baby-pollies, chatting in their ears, trying to finesse them! Yikes!
Yikes, indeed!
I hope you do manage to keep your friends, dlowan. Many of the issues that caused the conflict between me & my former friends are now long forgotten. But I still regret the loss of the friends keenly. We are just on totally different paths now.
You know, the politician is a sine qua non for the social contract, and deal-making and -brokering is essential to the politicians task. Americans can wax righteously indignant at politicians who lie, but they usually do so toward those whose policies they oppose. Our governor in Ohio is a Republican, Robert Taft, and is descended from an old-line Republican family (his greatgranddaddy, William Howard Taft, was President 1909-1913). When he was elected to replace a Democrat, the conservatives were grinning so hard, it must have given them facial cramps. Well, the economy was booming then, and that lasted long enough to get him re-elected. Now, the bottom has fallen out, he's obliged to make hard choices (he had established a "rainy day" fund, and that's gone, because his Republican colleagues in the Assembly have been fiscally irresponsilbe), and he's raised taxes. The conservatives are howling, and calling him liar.
I understand that politicians will lie, dissemble and duck the hard questions. Negotiation and compromise are at the heart of their profession. I get upset when they do it badly, or continue to stonewall when they've been caught out. I despise the Shrub and his crew in Washington because they've lied, they've done it badly, they've been all too easily caught, and they won't even offer a sacrificial official to quiet the mob howling after them. That kind of arrogance, that hubris, is what offends me most. Taft, in fact, has not lied about anything significant, to my knowledge. I didn't vote for him, but i might now, if the Democrats don't come up with somebody trustworthy. He's been faced with hard choices, and he's made decisions which take true courage for a politician--a group who usually succumb to the fear of electoral revenge.
We all expect them to lie. It's when they continue with the same lie after they've been caught out that it becomes particularly offensive.
Any particular Oz politicians in mind, Wilso? :wink:
Little Johnny comes to mind.
Actually the puppetry guys did 2 excellent impressions-of Princess John and King George Dubya.
Little John was a frame around you-know-what with a pair of glasses on. "Check out those eyebrows"
King George was a frame around absolutely nothing!!!
Well, in my little corner of Oz (bottom in the middle), Spring is springing. 23C tomorrow (74 F) rising to 27C on Saturday (81 F) - yikes! One walks around with jasmine and freesias and such tickling the nose. Many trees are in almost full leaf - others barely budding. WHY are trees so different, both in terms of species, and individually, in this regard? The oaks to the north are bare - the street trees to the south are in full leaf.
The third Bali bomber has just been sentenced to life imprisonment - one to go. I wonder if it is different for us, having trials and such, than it is for you guys, with nothing - well, unless you count a war...or two...sigh.
The year is beginning to have that winding up feeling - at work, we are all weary and pathetic - and looking forward to the commencement of the silly season feeling, which somehow gives a sense of psychological release and relaxation - perhaps because it is combined with the return of the sun, and the commencement of more of a feeling of a spacious life outside work, which comes from having light to go and do things with at the end of the day. I love my evening walks, for instance...
Re: the trees. Maybe it depends on location. Sun exposure, wind/cold exposure...?
Don't you have sun all year round? Are you talking of wrmth alone, or does your sky get grey during the winter?
