September is the shitest month,
especially this year. Not only do we have NRL, AFL and Super Netball finals (good
things. Time consuming though), but also a prolonged campaign to retain The
Ashes which could have been wrapped up by the third test if our batting line up,
lined up.
Couple that with Parliament sitting
for the first time after the long winter break and the threat of criminalising
and further marginalising those on welfare payments looming large. Add a Prime
Minster who believes in miracles and is still waiting to wake up in opposition
rather than producing a credible policy regarding anything. Throw in the
cluster-buggery that is Brexit and their non-elected PM intent on ruining the
country he is claiming to save by imitating the Child President who has, at
every turn, put his own country deeper into the shit he created.
One cannot be blamed for being
cautiously optimistic about a Trump presidency when he managed to open dialogue
at the highest level with North Korea, have some sit downs with China and
disappear into Putin’s debriefing chamber for a few hours. Maybe not the Russia
bit, but the first two seemed pretty good and given Special Counsel didn’t
charge him and Congress won’t impeach him the world is stuck with the Donald
until 2020, most likely 2024, he’s attained a Nixonesque aura. That of a man who
believes the status of his office elevates him above the law of the land he is
supposed to lead.
While searching for a segue to
briefly discuss Boorish and his push for a no deal Brexit, the playlist saved
me – Dropkick Murphys “First Class Loser” – nothing better than
Americans actively hanging onto their Irish heritage to sum up the British PM.
Granted, it serves for Trump as well, but the Irish angle made it gold. With
that covered, I’ll move on.
Punk music has regained prominence
regarding my current musical preference. I don’t know whether to be worried or
relieved that it will all be over in half a decade. The last time punk was my
staple ear-candy Little Johnny and Blair were in power while Dubya had just
stolen the election. That was a dark time in history, all three countries are
still stuck in wars with no foreseeable future that emanated from that trio’s
actions. Everything looked good for about five minutes when Krudd, Obama and
Cameron got their bums in their respective top seats.
Oh-Seven got knifed by Shorten for
Gillard, Obama threw more troops into the Middle East than staged basketball
buckets, and Cameron quit when he failed to get his vote out for a referendum
he never wanted in the first place. Gillard in turn got knifed by Shorten for
Rudd who lost to Abbott, only for Shorten to claim the Head Pinko Position
himself and lose not one, but two elections. Dancing Queen Tezza lost a
Parliamentary majority via an unnecessary election and dragged political
junkies the world over through three years of angst before giving up and
letting some bloke who admits having wanted to be “King of The World” move into
Number 10. Meanwhile American foreign policy has been reduced to 280 characters.
The question that needs to answered
is what’s going on with the other two ‘Eyes’? Except for Trudeau being found to
have violated Canadia’s ethics (imagine that, politicians having ethics) and
Jacinda narrowly avoiding a footwear related assassination attempt because some
bloody nitwit gave the plan away on national radio, there’s nothing. My theory
is that it’s too bloody cold year round in both of those countries that to
expect anything out of them in September is asking a lot, even though they’re
on opposite sides of the planet. It was 2⁰C when I was in Dunedin in
January, that isn’t summer weather by anyone’s measure and I once met a
Canadian electrician who had to climb power poles in -45⁰C so other people could heat
their homes.
The lunacy of people who choose to
live permanently in climates that require constant wearing of thermal underwear
and any coital activity is preceded by warming one’s genitals by the fire is
something I never expect to understand. But, because they’re stuck inside most
of the time they are pretty shit at protesting. Not that protesting has much
effect in the rest of the Anglo-Sphere or anywhere else for that matter. Hong
Kong, though, is having real crack at it and if the Brits decide to take a leaf
from their former colony, things will get very interesting in London.
Sure, they blocked a bridge a few
months back and Brisbane had similar protests stopping traffic only weeks ago
but with nothing close to the passion displayed by the Hong Kong protestors. They
know they can’t win but they’re fighting anyway and by some strange logic, they
have to. If they stop, the world’s media will leave, and the police will quietly
and methodically round up the protestors they can identify. As long as Hong
Kong is a global news story no real action will be taken against those on the
streets. Sure, they’ll be beaten and arrested, many will go to jail but with
the eyes of the world on it, Beijing will do nothing unless forced and that won’t
be pretty.
World Leaders have recently been attending
ceremonies to commemorate the start of World War Two in Europe eighty years ago
and most of them seem to have not learned the lessons of that conflict. I
specify Europe because if you include all of the major players, an argument
could be made for the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, while the Western
World was priming up for the Great Depression, as the real start date. With
Hitler’s rise to power and Chamberlain’s policy of Appeasement occupying Europe,
The Japanese were methodically moving south, and no one seemed to care. Asians
killing other Asians wasn’t headline news until the Japanese signed up with
Germany and all of a sudden Singapore fell, from apparent thin air we had a “Yellow
Peril” to our north. I’m curious as to how long it will take our current politicians
to heed the warning signals.
Land, and the resources contained
in them, is becoming more valuable, as are the world’s water sources. Arbitrary
seizures of territory such as Crimea and the South China Sea that receive
nothing more than cursory criticism from the rest of the world are indicative of
the misplaced complacency that exists in current world leadership. The disgrace
in trading a key suspect in the downing of MH-17 by Ukraine without even a
whisper of protest from Australia demonstrates how weak the Morrison Government
is. As does the failure to commit to freedom of navigation exercises with Viet
Nam.
The argument that China is our largest
export market has some weight until you consider that most of what we export as
raw materials is returned as manufactured products, yet successive governments
of both sides have allowed for the manufacturing industry in Australia to
disappear. This kind of near-sightedness is common in modern liberal
democracies obsessed with winning the next election and nothing more. When one
hears a western politician claim they are initiating some policy or infrastructure
project two elections hence for “our children and grandchildren” they are not
only lying but have no idea what real long term policy looks like. An authoritarian
state does not have these problems, when they say they will build something in
20 years, they will. Excluding an overthrow of the government, war or some
other unexpected development they do whatever they said they were going to do
and to hell with the consequences, people believe them because odds are, they’ll
still be in power when the event comes to pass.
Compare China and Russia to
Australia and Britain. The former two have Presidents’ who will hang on to
power until they are usurped or die, whereas the latter have had three Prime
Ministers apiece in about as many years. The utter shambles that democracy has
become makes it understandable for some people to espouse Single State policies,
but one only need consider the calibre of democratically elected leaders to recognise
the folly in such an endeavour. Nixon bent the rules to breaking point in his
desperate attempt for a second term, he got it but had to quit as soon as he
found some dozy bloke from Nebraska to give him a free ride. Imagine if he’d
have been able to run the US for life. Trump wants that and has said so. Admittedly
he’s old as his wife’s grandmother but modern medicine can extend the life of
the truly evil almost indefinitely. Look at Mugabe, he made 95 thanks to
Singaporean hospitals while the median age of his former subjects is 18. A
number which in itself is relevant as I type this around the eighteenth anniversary
of a bunch of Saudis’ flying a few planes into some American buildings. I’m not
being dismissive, just pointing out that Saudi Arabia has, at the least, been
complicit if not actively involved in acts perpetrated to undermine the global
dominance of the US.
The House of Saud knows how to play
the long game and are probably a more natural ally to China than the US given
the authoritarian rule in both countries. Only problem is that the Chinese are
godless heathens with a particular bent against Muslims, put that to one side
and you would have marriage of unholy consequences. Then, when you chuck in
Iran being so cosy with Russia, you can see why they stick with the Stars and Stripes.
Perversely, by fostering anti US sentiment, Saudi Arabia guarantees the Yanks continued
investment in the military that they will depend on to save them when the time
comes. It would be interesting to poll Trump’s base and see how many of them support
their adored military being little more than glorified mercenaries. Probably
says more about Australia though, we do it for free.
Morrison’s decision to assist Trump
in The Strait of Hormuz because the orange idiot decided to start a fight that
didn’t need to be started demonstrates our Prime Minister’s ignorance regarding
Australia’s place in the world. Not only our standing as a middle power but
geographically. Sure, a decent whack of our oil has to come through there, but
we are only one of a few Western nations with an embassy in Tehran. It is
plausible that the PM could have politely suggested that we assist the US in
Freedom of Navigation exercises in The South China Sea and got our Ambassador
working hard to ensure that Iran knew we were keen on the deal that was in
place and Trump is a fool. Instead we are just blindly following another
egotistical, corrupt, lunatic into another unnecessary War.
While not War, twenty years ago saw
the ADF leading INTERFET to help secure independence for Timor Leste, this
received widespread support, even The Greens didn’t make much noise over it.
Afghanistan was similar. Iraq is what Iran is shaping up to be, no one wants it
except Trump. Meanwhile, on our doorstep West Papua is screaming out for
self-determination. Indonesia’s “Father of Democracy” Habibi has recently died
and is remembered for allowing free elections that cost him his job and the
Timorese independence vote. A little diplomatic whispering in Widodo’s ear
could go some way to ending fifty-seven years of occupation and establish a
legacy for leaders of both countries. I’m not trying to help Morrison get a positive
legacy started but Howard gets gun control thanks to Fischer so I may as well
throw him a bone.
Not that he doesn’t have several
fresh carcasses in front of him already. If he could kick the right wing of his
coalition off them he might be able to deal with some domestic issues like Reconciliation
and a climate policy more mature than ‘dig shit up and burn it’. But he’s too
busy trying to work out if Gladys Liu is a spy or not. She probably isn’t, more
likely just an asset, as they say. It’s hilarious though, ASIO warns Trumbull
that she hangs out with dubious people and SloMo backs her into parliament. A
convenient lull in the bushfires on the East Coast have allowed the media ample
opportunity to concentrate on this latest controversy and we’re not even half-way
through the month.
At least we’ve kept The Ashes.
