Politics Super Thread - keep it all in here

[TillLindemann]

@trentrunciman mentioned the Thucydides trap in the shipbuilding thread. It's a very interesting concept and unfortunately I think there is a certain inevitability around it with regard to the US and China. Especially with Xi Jinping, who is far more belligerent than his quiet and pragmatic predecessors.

Also for the record criticism of the Chinese government - who I detest - should not be taken as criticism of the Chinese people - who are of course no better or worse than any other people.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

MacDonald and Obeid being found guilty
🙂

Good. Corruption should never be tolerated. A few others due for their comeuppance as well.

 

[Tim Sheens]

Seeing that the thread has been bumped, is there anyone on here that thinks that Porter should still be on the front bench and/or there is the need for Gaetjens to carry out another BS investigation, this time into what Morrison's actual ministerial standards are?

I expect it will be decided officially whilst the PM is away and it gets buried beneath the major international meeting news cycle.

 

[tigger]

Seeing that the thread has been bumped, is there anyone on here that thinks that Porter should still be on the front bench and/or there is the need for Gaetjens to carry out another BS investigation, this time into what Morrison's actual ministerial standards are?

I expect it will be decided officially whilst the PM is away and it gets buried beneath the major international meeting news cycle.

In 1984 Mick Young had to stand down from the ministry because of a failure to declare and pay customs duty on a large, stuffed Paddington Bear that his wife had packed in her suitcase. That was the bar for ministerial accountability in the 80's.

Move on to the current government and we've had the sports rorts, (that was okay, nothing wrong or illegal, but the minister should have declared her membership of a club). Then we've had pork and ride (all those car parks in marginal seats - nothing wrong there, apart from the fact that they didn't even build them). we've had Robodebt (nothing to see here).Now we have Porter and the mystery donor but, as Josh Frydenberg was so quick to point out, he complied with the rules (sort of).

The PM, as usual is missing in action. Morrison reminds me of Bart Simpson in the "I Didn't Do it Boy" episode.

Ministerial accountability is at an all time low, aided and abetted by a PM who works on the basis that you get away with whatever you can.

 

[jadtiger]

Seeing that the thread has been bumped, is there anyone on here that thinks that Porter should still be on the front bench and/or there is the need for Gaetjens to carry out another BS investigation, this time into what Morrison's actual ministerial standards are?

I expect it will be decided officially whilst the PM is away and it gets buried beneath the major international meeting news cycle.

In 1984 Mick Young had to stand down from the ministry because of a failure to declare and pay customs duty on a large, stuffed Paddington Bear that his wife had packed in her suitcase. That was the bar for ministerial accountability in the 80's.

Move on to the current government and we've had the sports rorts, (that was okay, nothing wrong or illegal, but the minister should have declared her membership of a club). Then we've had pork and ride (all those car parks in marginal seats - nothing wrong there, apart from the fact that they didn't even build them). we've had Robodebt (nothing to see here).Now we have Porter and the mystery donor but, as Josh Frydenberg was so quick to point out, he complied with the rules (sort of).

The PM, as usual is missing in action. Morrison reminds me of Bart Simpson in the "I Didn't Do it Boy" episode.

Ministerial accountability is at an all time low, aided and abetted by a PM who works on the basis that you get away with whatever you can.

It used to apply to the LNP as well,in the 80s MacKeller was forced to resign over a colour TV he did not declare for customs.Malcolm Fraser had standards and maintained them as much as i didnt like him.There is no comparison to the corrupt immoral behaviour of our current government,Humphrey Appleby from "Yes minister" would be proud of these crooks.The current LNP have the same degree of honesty as a South American countries dictator

 

[Tiger5150]

This is not really a serious political issue but for me totally sums up these end times.

US Democrat Senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez goes to the most extravagant celebration of capitalism and excess in the US, the Met Gala having been gifted a US$30K ticket to hob nob with the rich, wearing a dress emblazoned "Tax the Rich". As if that wasnt demonstrating enough lack of self awareness, it turns out that the dress designer who was proudly shown off all night, is a tax cheat owing over US$130K in unpaid taxes in multiple states.

https://nypost.com/2021/09/18/aocs-tax-the-rich-dress-designer-aurora-james-is-a-tax-deadbeat/

 

[TillLindemann]

Vaguely recall there being a bit of discussion on here about the active suppression of the NY Post Hunter Biden emails / laptop story in the lead up to the US election. This was done on the grounds that it was likely 'Russian disinformation'. Well, the emails have now been verified. People will just brush it off and say well he's not his dad, so it's irrelevant, but there were repeated references to Hunter being used as a back channel to gain access to Joe, so it is very relevant.

It was a factual, relevant story suppressed on spurious grounds, and its suppresion represented meddling in an election. I doubt anybody will apologise.

On the other hand, exaggerated, debunked conspiracy theories about Russian collusion continue to freely circulate.

The media and tech giants like google, facebook, twitter are critical gatekeepers of information, they should never be picking sides.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Vaguely recall there being a bit of discussion on here about the active suppression of the NY Post Hunter Biden emails / laptop story in the lead up to the US election. This was done on the grounds that it was likely 'Russian disinformation'. Well, the emails have now been verified. People will just brush it off and say well he's not his dad, so it's irrelevant, but there were repeated references to Hunter being used as a back channel to gain access to Joe, so it is very relevant.

It was a factual, relevant story suppressed on spurious grounds, and its suppresion represented meddling in an election. I doubt anybody will apologise.

On the other hand, exaggerated, debunked conspiracy theories about Russian collusion continue to freely circulate.

The media and tech giants like google, facebook, twitter are critical gatekeepers of information, they should never be picking sides.

They'll pick the sides that further their goals.

Like NewsCorp and the GOP/LNP.

 

[TillLindemann]

Vaguely recall there being a bit of discussion on here about the active suppression of the NY Post Hunter Biden emails / laptop story in the lead up to the US election. This was done on the grounds that it was likely 'Russian disinformation'. Well, the emails have now been verified. People will just brush it off and say well he's not his dad, so it's irrelevant, but there were repeated references to Hunter being used as a back channel to gain access to Joe, so it is very relevant.

It was a factual, relevant story suppressed on spurious grounds, and its suppresion represented meddling in an election. I doubt anybody will apologise.

On the other hand, exaggerated, debunked conspiracy theories about Russian collusion continue to freely circulate.

The media and tech giants like google, facebook, twitter are critical gatekeepers of information, they should never be picking sides.

They'll pick the sides that further their goals.

Like NewsCorp and the GOP/LNP.

Yes I agree that NewsCorp definitely picks its side too. Maybe I have an exaggerated sense of 'the good old days' (and I'm not even that old lol) but it seems like news just gets more and more partisan / adversarial with every year.

 

[tigger]

Vaguely recall there being a bit of discussion on here about the active suppression of the NY Post Hunter Biden emails / laptop story in the lead up to the US election. This was done on the grounds that it was likely 'Russian disinformation'. Well, the emails have now been verified. People will just brush it off and say well he's not his dad, so it's irrelevant, but there were repeated references to Hunter being used as a back channel to gain access to Joe, so it is very relevant.

It was a factual, relevant story suppressed on spurious grounds, and its suppresion represented meddling in an election. I doubt anybody will apologise.

On the other hand, exaggerated, debunked conspiracy theories about Russian collusion continue to freely circulate.

The media and tech giants like google, facebook, twitter are critical gatekeepers of information, they should never be picking sides.

This was a real life example of the little boy who cried wolf.

If it hadn't come from Giuliani, on behalf of Trump, who is a convicted Rapist and Felon, it may have been treated more seriously.

You reap what you sow.

In any event it all falls extremely short of showing any actual wrongdoing by Biden senior and Biden junior is well known to have his issues.

Google, facebook and Twitter are between a rock and a hard place. If they don't take a stand on false and misleading information they are heavily criticised for being part of the problem. If they do, they are heavily criticised for impeding free speech. And on either account, whether they take action or not, if they get it wrong, they are absolutely pilloried.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Vaguely recall there being a bit of discussion on here about the active suppression of the NY Post Hunter Biden emails / laptop story in the lead up to the US election. This was done on the grounds that it was likely 'Russian disinformation'. Well, the emails have now been verified. People will just brush it off and say well he's not his dad, so it's irrelevant, but there were repeated references to Hunter being used as a back channel to gain access to Joe, so it is very relevant.

It was a factual, relevant story suppressed on spurious grounds, and its suppresion represented meddling in an election. I doubt anybody will apologise.

On the other hand, exaggerated, debunked conspiracy theories about Russian collusion continue to freely circulate.

The media and tech giants like google, facebook, twitter are critical gatekeepers of information, they should never be picking sides.

They'll pick the sides that further their goals.

Like NewsCorp and the GOP/LNP.

Yes I agree that NewsCorp definitely picks its side too. Maybe I have an exaggerated sense of 'the good old days' (and I'm not even that old lol) but it seems like news just gets more and more partisan / adversarial with every year.

Yeah I know it comes across as a bit of a whataboutism, but that's the reality. These companies will align with whomever furthers their interests.

 

[Jedi_Tiger]

Vaguely recall there being a bit of discussion on here about the active suppression of the NY Post Hunter Biden emails / laptop story in the lead up to the US election. This was done on the grounds that it was likely 'Russian disinformation'. Well, the emails have now been verified. People will just brush it off and say well he's not his dad, so it's irrelevant, but there were repeated references to Hunter being used as a back channel to gain access to Joe, so it is very relevant.

It was a factual, relevant story suppressed on spurious grounds, and its suppresion represented meddling in an election. I doubt anybody will apologise.

On the other hand, exaggerated, debunked conspiracy theories about Russian collusion continue to freely circulate.

The media and tech giants like google, facebook, twitter are critical gatekeepers of information, they should never be picking sides.

They'll pick the sides that further their goals.

Like NewsCorp and the GOP/LNP.

ABC taxpayer funded also picks a side too don't forget that

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Vaguely recall there being a bit of discussion on here about the active suppression of the NY Post Hunter Biden emails / laptop story in the lead up to the US election. This was done on the grounds that it was likely 'Russian disinformation'. Well, the emails have now been verified. People will just brush it off and say well he's not his dad, so it's irrelevant, but there were repeated references to Hunter being used as a back channel to gain access to Joe, so it is very relevant.

It was a factual, relevant story suppressed on spurious grounds, and its suppresion represented meddling in an election. I doubt anybody will apologise.

On the other hand, exaggerated, debunked conspiracy theories about Russian collusion continue to freely circulate.

The media and tech giants like google, facebook, twitter are critical gatekeepers of information, they should never be picking sides.

They'll pick the sides that further their goals.

Like NewsCorp and the GOP/LNP.

ABC taxpayer funded also picks a side too don't forget that

Depends on the broadcast audience. ABC Sydney & Melbourne will likely cater to latte sipping leftie artist types because that's their audience. ABC regional networks are certainly are not aimed at leftists.

 

[TillLindemann]

Vaguely recall there being a bit of discussion on here about the active suppression of the NY Post Hunter Biden emails / laptop story in the lead up to the US election. This was done on the grounds that it was likely 'Russian disinformation'. Well, the emails have now been verified. People will just brush it off and say well he's not his dad, so it's irrelevant, but there were repeated references to Hunter being used as a back channel to gain access to Joe, so it is very relevant.

It was a factual, relevant story suppressed on spurious grounds, and its suppresion represented meddling in an election. I doubt anybody will apologise.

On the other hand, exaggerated, debunked conspiracy theories about Russian collusion continue to freely circulate.

The media and tech giants like google, facebook, twitter are critical gatekeepers of information, they should never be picking sides.

They'll pick the sides that further their goals.

Like NewsCorp and the GOP/LNP.

ABC taxpayer funded also picks a side too don't forget that

Depends on the broadcast audience. ABC Sydney & Melbourne will likely cater to latte sipping leftie artist types because that's their audience. ABC regional networks are certainly are not aimed at leftists.

I think there is a certain geographical/socio-economic divide that is more important than the consciously political divide, though it can often play out in politics too. I distinctly remember a comment made when Mark Latham was sacked from the Financial Review (was it ten years ago?) that with him gone there was not a single columnist at any major Australian newspaper that did not live in the inner city. I would expect this would remain fairly true. We hear all the time about the need for diversity in politics, media and business, but these people who might be diverse on race/gender/sexuality are startlingly uniform in other ways - they all attend the same prestigious schools, they all go on to the same prestigious universities, and they all live in the same posh suburbs.

Other than for token appearances, people who get paid to spout their opinion on politics never come from outer-suburban or regional areas. (ironically, the very commentators who rail against 'inner city elites' tend also to be inner city elites themselves)

 

[coivtny]

This is not really a serious political issue but for me totally sums up these end times.

US Democrat Senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez goes to the most extravagant celebration of capitalism and excess in the US, the Met Gala having been gifted a US$30K ticket to hob nob with the rich, wearing a dress emblazoned "Tax the Rich". As if that wasnt demonstrating enough lack of self awareness, it turns out that the dress designer who was proudly shown off all night, is a tax cheat owing over US$130K in unpaid taxes in multiple states.

https://nypost.com/2021/09/18/aocs-tax-the-rich-dress-designer-aurora-james-is-a-tax-deadbeat/

AOC is an idiot. Both sides of politics have got them but she'd just about win the award as the biggest idiot on the Democrat side.

 

[InBenjiWeTrust]

"Nobody is equal to anybody. Even the same man is not equal to himself on different days." Thomas Sowell

 

[happy_tiger]

So you can pray your beer is cold @70% but you can't pray to God until 80% .....

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

So you can pray your beer is cold @70% but you can't pray to God until 80% .....

It'll be closer to 80% than 70% when the 11th rolls around anyway.

I'd wager more people in NSW care about a schooner than sitting on a wooden bench for an hour on Sunday anyway (unless the wooden bench is in a beer garden.)

 

[mike]

Gladys Berejiklian resigns ahead of ICAC investigation