Mood:  hug me

 

We are busy drafting our invoice (!). Should it go to Mark Arbib? Or maybe Senator John Faulkner? Both are well known machine men. About $5,000 for good community media service would be my guess.

A donation of course, not for actual cash for comment. But a valuable contribution to the  ALP federal election win all the same:

Who can forget that 'Uh oh Rudd's vote goes up' headline of ours at 6.30 am one Sunday morning after the strip club front page blowtorch, backfired through courage under fire before Laurie Oakes some 3 hours later?

 [Posted by editor at 6:26 AM 19th August 2007]

Uh oh Rudd vote goes up after NY strip club scandal from Sept 2003
Mood:  cool
Topic: election Oz 2007

Well I'll be horn swoggled as the yankees would say. The Big Meeja have switched to vaudeville at Ruddy's expense, from a Costello barracker in the Press Gallery no less, feral News Ltd journo Glenn Milne in today's Sunday Telegraph who ever regards his role as a player not just reporter:

But here's the kicker - Rudd's vote will actually go up. Eh, how so?

There's one thing about the Christian evangelical vote - it's all about redemption of the sinner. So as long as Kevvy the Silly Lad can grovel and confess and plead human frailty and isolated lapse of judgement, well then he's one of us brothers and sisters in Christ. Even my old man DLP and father of 9 used to watch Alvin Purple, I could hear him chortling across the hall as I drifted off to sleep suffering serious envy.

On the other hand the red neck hard drinking hard working blokes in the back blocks will give a sigh of relief, thank heavens (there is the religion aspect again) he has actually got red blood in his veins. Drinks and likes women. Therese (his loyal wife) get him in the dog house, woof.

The ALP proper will see the ghost of reformed hard drinking Bob Hawke who won his big election star turn in 1983.

The Costello backers will see Rudd's polling go up and get the leadership yet, in a draft from aging sinking but wily battling PM John Howard? Greater good and all that.

The balance of the Right of politics will shake their head knowingly about those free thinking lascivous Democrat towns like New York (the blue (!) ones, or is that red on their electoral maps?).

As for the rest of mainstream society. Well, we all think about such places even if we haven't been there on a 'fact finding tour' as the parliamentary jargon goes.

So we will all have a damn good laugh at his expense but not in a censorious way which is against our Convict heritage of calling a spade a shovel. Sex is another management issue in Australia, not an impeachment crusade. Just as long as he didn't do anything or catch anything to hurt anyone including himself or his sainted wife.

We always said grog was a real problem in society so mitigate your folly Ruddy and do something about the grotesque influence of those clubs & pub lobbyists as per front page of the Sydney Fairfax press same day (story about $150M alcohol driven project for Sydney's CBD).

And for God sake win the election, sooner rather than later too, we are all getting bored senseless (as per Mike Carlton column), and as Max Walsh formerly of The Bulletin stated on Breakfast RN with Doogue yesterday, the polls have stabilised for the ALP. Which probably explains the lurid attack story. Or maybe it comes from malcontented ALP types of the Lathamesque pursuasion annoyed by Rudd's success - a bit of tickle up as the burly crew coiffured one might say.

Our traverse of Sunday political free to air tv talkies later today should be a quite a doozy. Never done a prequel before either.

.............

Or the psychological insight that whatever kernels of grief, genetic id, or emotional confusion of the boy in the man from his farmer dad's sad death in a DUI, Big Kev actually defines his own adult professional character now. Not his father RIP. Not his DLP mother RIP. But this ALP PM in a new chapter of his life. That 80 hours of watching the West Wing straight was quite useful, especially this one when Jed, err Kev, can't sleep combined with some of this writer's own hard won lessons in life.

Picture: 3 snapshots of PM elect Kevin Rudd's victory speech last night with our interpretations for what they are worth:

1. checking his speech notes on the next topic - the terminal illness of Bernie Banton in hospital and his praise of the loyal and effective trade union movement on toxic asbestos. A moment of deep emotion like the impending death of his father all those years ago? Notice Therese also on track with the script over his shoulder.

2. A moment of pause at the rousing sincere loyal trade unionist cheer at this acknowledgement of their successful honourable role of support to dying Banton. Looks like an "I do" organisational consolidation moment of leader and formidable ranks.

3.  A monkey off his back, carried for 40 years? The big break through personally and professionally for the brilliant Kevin? Just prior to this is a  light hearted reference to the death of his father. 'He would be surprised being in the Country Party' was the gist. This shot is a bare moment of reverie. And then what we call the Jed Bartlet stance as Mrs Landringham might say : "You know what? Without family we are nothing". And on he goes like a politician version of Bob Dylan in the sense of a constant work in progress - maybe left, maybe right, maybe green, maybe brown. Sui generis (ie one of a kind). A lonely reality in many ways but the only one he's got so do your best.

During the victory speech if you watched carefully at one point Rudd looks down and we imagine travels back decades, maybe even to his father's hospital bedside. And returns instantly by teleporter and on with the Kevin Rudd Story. Indeed this could be the strong cup of tea reference to avoid the booze on big occasions because it's not for you Kev, just as it's not for me, worse luck. We did like our booze, past tense.

As the senior journos have been noting these last few days: The guy is starting to grow bigger as a personality and indeed grow into the job. In this sense he is ready, just as he calmed the exuberance of the crowd at the set piece victory speech to the ALP faithful with an understated authority.

We might have been happier for the PM (!) except for a few things. Certainly we felt the history of the moment as did no doubt Tanya Plibersek quoting Vaclav Havel. Classy comment.

And Julia Gillard moved to deep emotion before the camera on one station (as all 5 free to air SBS, ABC, 7, 9 and 10 and the ABC radio took the live feed, but not thankfully TVS Ch31) and yes admiration for Rudd her leader, no doubt about that.

Yes even Arbib seemed to evidence some boyish charm with his brash grin over powered by a greater stellar force. Shades of the "f*cked by Keating" glow of pink cheeked lobbyists who lose their script close to the throne.

Nothing exceeds like success but Rudd even seems to get that concern with ironic references to "a strong cup of tea" as a heady extravagance. Which reminds being tea total this last 18 months is just another line item on "the invoice". With the attached credit card statement at $3,972 in the red on a $4,000 overdraft, and underpaying the last monthly rent, no outgoing mobile calls for the last 2 weeks.

Yep we would have felt happy for Kevin, Therese, kids and Aussie Chinese son in law Albert if we weren't so worried about the environment and just so bugg*red since starting this non aligned micro news and political website on January 3rd 2007, writing every day, slowly getting better at it. Re-learning our editing and grammar skills, with plenty more to go.

Only we got called in to Plybers' (aka Flubbers') seat of Sydney at 10.30 am. The AEC had "lost our expression of interest" - unlikely as it mentioned this website in relation to the declaration of neutrality. Seems they had 'a situation' and could I go to the Redfern booth in Albert St pronto. Yep a queue of 150 and a watchful police eye in this humble area.

I wore my "Globalise Love" T-shirt, a bit threadbare now, printed by veteran greenie Peter Schnelbogl (!). They threw me in as queue monitor. Gee thanks. We got it down from 20 minutes to walk through, from chaos to kindness imbued by the democratic buzz like some down market concierge:

"sir, come through please, 2nd from the end lady in the pink top/ black top/ black singlet/ 3rd from the end/ just here/ right at the end on the right".

By 5.30pm it was quiet on a booth of about 2,000. Soon it was down to counting and after a nerve jarring exhausting grovel, leavened by the marvellous provisions via the Greens scrutineer to all the booth workers gratis,  and the working class grace of Jackie of Fairfield uncanny resemblance to Helen Santos character in the West Wing. Cute and smart, 2 kids both with red hair. "It's alll go with the kids" she says with dignity, been doing this since 2001, training to be a nurse. The stern Islander lady Nas with the sharp wit, classy international studies student Ivy, the highly efficient Thai Aussie guy, 'Newtown' Jill and range of others on the absentee table ably led by Cary.

By the wrap at 10.30 pm my teeth hurt. Really hurt. The 30 year old cap punched out by the school bully. The collapsed molar in the upper right for lack of dental care. I'd already spent the AEC cheque in my head. The only question which dentist and how soon I could get there. 6 months of Listerine and sugar free had got me over the line, but only just as we crashed to our bed with an aching headache. [A prescient form of solidarity, read following post.]

We might have been happy for Kevin but we had other things on our mind.

Posted by editor at 6:40 AM EADT

Updated: Monday, 26 November 2007 9:50 AM EADT

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