Albanese's theory could be summed up as the opposite: people were sick of political conflict and wanted a government that was a quiet and effective version of the one they had just thrown out.
The one exception was The Voice, where the electorate's love for Albanese was supposed to quiet all the doubts than can always be raised about a constitutional change, particularly one without bipartisan support.
They've certainly been quiet, and probably more effective in continuing Morrison's policies than Scomo would have been. I'm not feeling any joy, I must admit
I’m not sure how to word this, but I certainly hope, though I’m nowhere near convinced, that the Democrats will be discernibly different in the sense that they’ll have much of an impact on the lower middle income rung and below.
As to Albanese, he has no story to tell other than get reelected and be a Labor Party hero for them staying in power for longer than would be expected. Achieve anything? Sorry, not on the agenda. There isn’t a social justice issue he can’t turn his back on and walk away from. I mean, how difficult would it be to have counted the LBGIQ+ community in the census, and as to any blowback from the RW media, so what. The vote for gay marriage should have shown anyone with half a brain where the community stands on this, it's so pathetic.
I just cannot fathom how he thinks, I mean to get to the top of the pile in L means you can’t be a soft @@@@, but he certainly acts like one. If he was Sylvester there’d be more mice around than you could poke a stick at.
And as to there being more transparency on how the Gov operates, forget that, this Gov is going to be as opaque as the LNP was. Have a look at their attempt to limit any FOI documents request to the present minister, fuk’n outrageous. The message from Robodebt (unless I’ve missed something) to the PS is don’t do anything different, we have you covered and there’ll be no comeback on you if anything goes wrong.
I also don’t hold any hope for the near future, because I don’t see anyone else in L being any different. L is now upper-middle income party and the attitude is those down below should be happy with the scraps they get thrown.
Thanks for the link, Tim. He wouldn’t even answer the Q about how it was divisive, just claim it was and state they’re doing it for their good. If it wasn’t a straight out lie it was condescending as hell.
No offence, but I’m finding your writing doesn’t do my BP much good; is my wife paying you?
That's Tim, brilliantly said as usual. So sad, such high hopes for a really progressive Labor term given they were coming after an utter self serving idiot, and it feels like they've muffed the chance. Sigh
Oh Joy oh joy Tim is so right…….If no joy is possible then our response is ……FEAR and Dutton war lords know that and hate JOY .Stop thé joy immediately Look at the swamps full of others ……Look at Criminal ten year olds …lock em up ….No Hope …no joy ….FEAR 👻
"The joy of participation and engagement mobilised people in a way that set the scene for a politics that reflected the diversity of the country and primed it for regeneration."
Tim, I certainly didn't watch the entire DNC party, what I did see was different to what you portray.
Far from reflecting the diversity of the nation, the DNC deliberately set out to exclude Palestinian Americans.
In protest at the months long US administrations unqualified support of, and weapons supply for the ongoing mass-killing in Gaza, Palestinian Americans combined with other American Arabs and progressives organised and returned 650,000 uncommitted votes at the democratic primaries thereby qualifying for 37 delegates to attend the DNC.
Delegates arriving at the convention had to walk through a group of uncommitted supporters, members of the party, reading out the names of Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza by American weapons delivered by Israeli forces, those who chose to watch, were treated to the edifying vision of democrat delegates blocking their ears so as not to hear the names of some of the 40,000 dead, over 17,000 of them being children.
The uncommitted delegates requested time during the convention for their delegate, Ruwa Romman, the first Muslim woman ever elected to the Georgia State House, to make a speech in support of Kamala Harris, on behalf of the uncommitted movement. The request was denied and the delegates were denied a meeting with both Harris and senior party officials. At that point some of the delegates commenced a sit in. Others smuggled a banner the size of a bed sheet into the convention which they unfurled on the floor. When the banner that read, "STOP ARMING ISRAEL" was raised during Bidens speech, party organisers arranged hand held We Love Joe signs to be held up blocking the view of the banner. Delegates behind those holding the banner began scuffles attempting to wrench it from the protesting delegates and at one point a male delegate can be seen hitting another delegate wearing a hijab with the sign he is holding.
So much for the party that wishes to govern for all, and uphold the US constitution, including the right to free speech that is guranteed in the first ammendment.
You wrote of your admiration of the joyful cheering crowd.
Far from admiration Tim, I found myself disgusted by the mob. When Harris promised that as President of the United States, she would ensure that US forces would be the most LETHAL in the world, to chants of USA! USA! USA! I could only think of the many times the USA and a few of its vassal states have set about regime change, in nations like the Congo, Cuba, Iran, Vietnam, Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvadore, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Libya, and Ukraine, and I dread what Harris, or those who run her, have in mind in the immediate future.
With regard to the supposed new economic vision of the Harris campaign, nothing has changed Tim, weapons manufacturers and fossil fuel corporations , along with AIPAC and the ADL run the nation.
AIPAC has over the past few months, proudly and publicly, spent many millions of dollars funding the campaigns of candidates prepared to do their bidding and displacing sitting representatives such as Cory Bush and Jamaal Bowman who called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Biden administration has continued the Trump administration's attack on democracy in Venezuela following recent elections that returned the Maduro government, the state department chose to recognise the oposition leader as president, despite the election being declared free and fair by international observers.
Since 2002 the USA has attacked the democratically elected, socialist governments in Venezuela, acting for corporations that wish unfettered access to Venezuelan oil and gold resources.
The USA implemented trade sanctions on Venezuela, and threatened sanctions on any nation ignoring the US sanctions. The sanctions are intended to have devastating effects on the economy of Venezuela. In fact, when the Trump administration first began considering sanctions, US treasury strongly advised against the sanctions because they would result in a massive increase in refugees fleeing poverty in Venezuela.
Trump ignored the treasury forecast and created the problem on the Mexico border.
Despite the hardship created by the trade sanctions, the citizens continue electing their socialist leaders.
There is no difference in US foreign policy between Harris and Trump, and while Trump may go in harder in Gaza and the West Bank, the current administration has overseen the total destruction and mass slaughter in Gaza and the current atrocities ocurring in the West Bank.
Harris, and those who engineered her current position, should not be rewarded by winning an election following their demonstrated total lack of humanity.
In his book Question 7, Richard Flannagan describes "US politics, or any politics as the irrational expressed as a system."
An apt description when you consider the state of the world as it is currently directed by those dedicated believers in American exceptionalism, Blinken and Sullivan.
If they avoid WWIII it will be an accident!
While Harris may engender joy in her true believers, I can't help thinking of the Lancet article that forecasts 186,000 deaths in Gaza. In her acceptance speech Harris declared that too many people have died in Gaza. They haven't been killed when an Israeli pilot drops an American 2000lb bomb into a school full of refugees, they've just died, and the crowd expressed their joy once more.
I agree that it was disgusting to exclude not just pro-Palestinian voices but those merely trying to voice an anti-Genocide view. Such actions severely undermine the democratic credentials of any party and should be opposed. They abandon people in the direst of circumstances.
The line you quote, though, was about what happened in Australia, in the "teal" seats specifically, not in the US, and I used the word "primed" on purpose. In the sense of taking a step in a more democratic direction, not in having achieved any sort of perfect outcome. My criticism of Labor is that have missed an opportunity to capitalise on this move and have doubled down on a two-party approach that continues to entrench vested interests. That they have gone backwards on diversity, kicking out Senator Payne, for instance, or abandoning trans people with the census question matter.
There's a long, ongoing conversation to be had about zero-sum games and letting the perfect be the enemy of the good and clinging to righteous indignation at the expense of messy engagement and that's fair enough. We need strong voices pushing difficult positions, to shift the centre and the terms of debate. I welcome that. But I will also take small wins, least worst options in a given environment, and the slow boring of hard boards. The idea is to try and be effective over time and not just take a position, and no-one should pretend it is easy, let alone black and white.
I'm late to respond to this article, and just wanted to add that wrt:
'Unless Labor gets their act together soon, the recent Northern Territory election is likely to be understood as preview as prelude.', I'll direct my energy to promoting 'dump the duopoly 2025'. Would be good to see a collation of theories of Albanese's/Labor's self-destructive path after May 2022: career politicians & their political careers; MSM dirt files; corporate capture & post politics jobs; perhaps this is all part of the plan to change system of govt?
Albanese's theory could be summed up as the opposite: people were sick of political conflict and wanted a government that was a quiet and effective version of the one they had just thrown out.
The one exception was The Voice, where the electorate's love for Albanese was supposed to quiet all the doubts than can always be raised about a constitutional change, particularly one without bipartisan support.
I think he misjudged what people wanted.
“Quiet and effective” could still bring joy if done right.
Would bring me joy.
They've certainly been quiet, and probably more effective in continuing Morrison's policies than Scomo would have been. I'm not feeling any joy, I must admit
I’m not sure how to word this, but I certainly hope, though I’m nowhere near convinced, that the Democrats will be discernibly different in the sense that they’ll have much of an impact on the lower middle income rung and below.
As to Albanese, he has no story to tell other than get reelected and be a Labor Party hero for them staying in power for longer than would be expected. Achieve anything? Sorry, not on the agenda. There isn’t a social justice issue he can’t turn his back on and walk away from. I mean, how difficult would it be to have counted the LBGIQ+ community in the census, and as to any blowback from the RW media, so what. The vote for gay marriage should have shown anyone with half a brain where the community stands on this, it's so pathetic.
I just cannot fathom how he thinks, I mean to get to the top of the pile in L means you can’t be a soft @@@@, but he certainly acts like one. If he was Sylvester there’d be more mice around than you could poke a stick at.
And as to there being more transparency on how the Gov operates, forget that, this Gov is going to be as opaque as the LNP was. Have a look at their attempt to limit any FOI documents request to the present minister, fuk’n outrageous. The message from Robodebt (unless I’ve missed something) to the PS is don’t do anything different, we have you covered and there’ll be no comeback on you if anything goes wrong.
I also don’t hold any hope for the near future, because I don’t see anyone else in L being any different. L is now upper-middle income party and the attitude is those down below should be happy with the scraps they get thrown.
This longer version of the LGBQT+ explanation has shown up, from Richard Marles:
https://twitter.com/RonniSalt/status/1828703130491715764
Just makes it worse, imho. As you say, it was low-hanging fruit.
Thanks for the link, Tim. He wouldn’t even answer the Q about how it was divisive, just claim it was and state they’re doing it for their good. If it wasn’t a straight out lie it was condescending as hell.
No offence, but I’m finding your writing doesn’t do my BP much good; is my wife paying you?
I get that a lot! None taken.
I mean the subject matter, not your actual writing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iq6WotVhNg
None the less given that 42% of Americans still support Trump this story from 1953 is curiously prophetic.
What a name! Lol.
That's Tim, brilliantly said as usual. So sad, such high hopes for a really progressive Labor term given they were coming after an utter self serving idiot, and it feels like they've muffed the chance. Sigh
Deb
"the government shied away from the change partly to avoid a possible backlash from the Coalition" explains way too much of what Albo has done.
Yep, trying to get him to commit on anything is like trying to stand on quicksand.
Oh Joy oh joy Tim is so right…….If no joy is possible then our response is ……FEAR and Dutton war lords know that and hate JOY .Stop thé joy immediately Look at the swamps full of others ……Look at Criminal ten year olds …lock em up ….No Hope …no joy ….FEAR 👻
The NT upshot is just sickening, isn't it?
And so counter productive.
This article is spot on. Joy is everything!
Who are the Country Liberals and how did we get them instead of Aboriginal people ? What needs to be done next time if mining hasn’t sunk NT anyway 😩
Labor aren't who we thought, who they TOLD us, they were. They could not have been more of a disappointment.
OMG, Elbow has just thrown 6 ministers under the bus. This is just a brilliant example of his integrity.
"The joy of participation and engagement mobilised people in a way that set the scene for a politics that reflected the diversity of the country and primed it for regeneration."
Tim, I certainly didn't watch the entire DNC party, what I did see was different to what you portray.
Far from reflecting the diversity of the nation, the DNC deliberately set out to exclude Palestinian Americans.
In protest at the months long US administrations unqualified support of, and weapons supply for the ongoing mass-killing in Gaza, Palestinian Americans combined with other American Arabs and progressives organised and returned 650,000 uncommitted votes at the democratic primaries thereby qualifying for 37 delegates to attend the DNC.
Delegates arriving at the convention had to walk through a group of uncommitted supporters, members of the party, reading out the names of Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza by American weapons delivered by Israeli forces, those who chose to watch, were treated to the edifying vision of democrat delegates blocking their ears so as not to hear the names of some of the 40,000 dead, over 17,000 of them being children.
The uncommitted delegates requested time during the convention for their delegate, Ruwa Romman, the first Muslim woman ever elected to the Georgia State House, to make a speech in support of Kamala Harris, on behalf of the uncommitted movement. The request was denied and the delegates were denied a meeting with both Harris and senior party officials. At that point some of the delegates commenced a sit in. Others smuggled a banner the size of a bed sheet into the convention which they unfurled on the floor. When the banner that read, "STOP ARMING ISRAEL" was raised during Bidens speech, party organisers arranged hand held We Love Joe signs to be held up blocking the view of the banner. Delegates behind those holding the banner began scuffles attempting to wrench it from the protesting delegates and at one point a male delegate can be seen hitting another delegate wearing a hijab with the sign he is holding.
So much for the party that wishes to govern for all, and uphold the US constitution, including the right to free speech that is guranteed in the first ammendment.
You wrote of your admiration of the joyful cheering crowd.
Far from admiration Tim, I found myself disgusted by the mob. When Harris promised that as President of the United States, she would ensure that US forces would be the most LETHAL in the world, to chants of USA! USA! USA! I could only think of the many times the USA and a few of its vassal states have set about regime change, in nations like the Congo, Cuba, Iran, Vietnam, Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvadore, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Libya, and Ukraine, and I dread what Harris, or those who run her, have in mind in the immediate future.
With regard to the supposed new economic vision of the Harris campaign, nothing has changed Tim, weapons manufacturers and fossil fuel corporations , along with AIPAC and the ADL run the nation.
AIPAC has over the past few months, proudly and publicly, spent many millions of dollars funding the campaigns of candidates prepared to do their bidding and displacing sitting representatives such as Cory Bush and Jamaal Bowman who called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Biden administration has continued the Trump administration's attack on democracy in Venezuela following recent elections that returned the Maduro government, the state department chose to recognise the oposition leader as president, despite the election being declared free and fair by international observers.
Since 2002 the USA has attacked the democratically elected, socialist governments in Venezuela, acting for corporations that wish unfettered access to Venezuelan oil and gold resources.
The USA implemented trade sanctions on Venezuela, and threatened sanctions on any nation ignoring the US sanctions. The sanctions are intended to have devastating effects on the economy of Venezuela. In fact, when the Trump administration first began considering sanctions, US treasury strongly advised against the sanctions because they would result in a massive increase in refugees fleeing poverty in Venezuela.
Trump ignored the treasury forecast and created the problem on the Mexico border.
Despite the hardship created by the trade sanctions, the citizens continue electing their socialist leaders.
There is no difference in US foreign policy between Harris and Trump, and while Trump may go in harder in Gaza and the West Bank, the current administration has overseen the total destruction and mass slaughter in Gaza and the current atrocities ocurring in the West Bank.
Harris, and those who engineered her current position, should not be rewarded by winning an election following their demonstrated total lack of humanity.
In his book Question 7, Richard Flannagan describes "US politics, or any politics as the irrational expressed as a system."
An apt description when you consider the state of the world as it is currently directed by those dedicated believers in American exceptionalism, Blinken and Sullivan.
If they avoid WWIII it will be an accident!
While Harris may engender joy in her true believers, I can't help thinking of the Lancet article that forecasts 186,000 deaths in Gaza. In her acceptance speech Harris declared that too many people have died in Gaza. They haven't been killed when an Israeli pilot drops an American 2000lb bomb into a school full of refugees, they've just died, and the crowd expressed their joy once more.
THAT is weird!
I agree that it was disgusting to exclude not just pro-Palestinian voices but those merely trying to voice an anti-Genocide view. Such actions severely undermine the democratic credentials of any party and should be opposed. They abandon people in the direst of circumstances.
The line you quote, though, was about what happened in Australia, in the "teal" seats specifically, not in the US, and I used the word "primed" on purpose. In the sense of taking a step in a more democratic direction, not in having achieved any sort of perfect outcome. My criticism of Labor is that have missed an opportunity to capitalise on this move and have doubled down on a two-party approach that continues to entrench vested interests. That they have gone backwards on diversity, kicking out Senator Payne, for instance, or abandoning trans people with the census question matter.
There's a long, ongoing conversation to be had about zero-sum games and letting the perfect be the enemy of the good and clinging to righteous indignation at the expense of messy engagement and that's fair enough. We need strong voices pushing difficult positions, to shift the centre and the terms of debate. I welcome that. But I will also take small wins, least worst options in a given environment, and the slow boring of hard boards. The idea is to try and be effective over time and not just take a position, and no-one should pretend it is easy, let alone black and white.
I'm late to respond to this article, and just wanted to add that wrt:
'Unless Labor gets their act together soon, the recent Northern Territory election is likely to be understood as preview as prelude.', I'll direct my energy to promoting 'dump the duopoly 2025'. Would be good to see a collation of theories of Albanese's/Labor's self-destructive path after May 2022: career politicians & their political careers; MSM dirt files; corporate capture & post politics jobs; perhaps this is all part of the plan to change system of govt?