SI
Ah… memories!
Remember how they moved the Budget forward so that the timetable for a DD would fit the Constitution?
Remember how important it was to “reform” the Senate so that cross-benchers couldn’t dominate it?
Remember how vital the ABCC bill was? And how the journos told us that this time Turnbull had a sure-fire election issue? Yep, the Great Reckoning of 2016 was going to be on industrial relations: unarguably a Coalition winner.
(This was after the election was also centered on States rights, income tax, education funding, negative gearing, boats, and of course, terrorism. Turnbull had shown us all “how it’s done”).
Remember how “bold”, “brilliant” and “decisive” Turnbull was? Or so we were informed, breathlessly.
The long election campaign was going to do Bill Shorten slowly. He’d run out of steam by the end of it. Not to worry that the Coalition ran out of steam instead, and Turnbull had to chip in $2 million to buy the party the last fortnight’s worth of telly. “Jobs and Growth” hammered at us from all directions, on all channels, day and night and night and day: that did the trick.
They might have used the $4 million the NSW Electoral Commission was withholding, but Baird would have had to say where their real money came from first (and with so many apartments going up all over and above Sydney, and tunnels beneath it, admissions like that might have caused embarrassment in certain circles).
Remember Mediscare? How absolutely ridiculous it was to say that Turnbull intended to hive it off, bit by bit! Another Labor lie! Geez, that’s all they do! Malcolm got the AFP onto them. But even they yawned.
And at last we’d get some sense on Climate Change! Malcolm had already shown in 2009 that he was prepared to die in a ditch for that. He was sure to do it again, just as soon as he finished slagging off South Australian windfarms, and thenVictoria for closing down dirty brown coal.
We were going to have an exciting Innovation Nation. We’d all be writing apps, or something. With the CSIRO now leaner and meaner after mass retrenchments, how could we fail? When asked by Andrew Bolt to name three things that Turnbull had done, Eric Abetz famously answered: “Innovation, Innovation, and Innovation.” That really meant something to Australians.
While it might look like nothing’s fucking happened in the over a year since Turnbull came along to turn this somnolent nation out of it antipodean torpor with pure excitement, that’s wrong. Hartcher told us Malcolm was really doing: “Simply governing”. “Governing’s” not sexy. “Governing’s” not exciting. But “governing” is what brilliant minds like Turnbull’s do best. A tactical thrust here on State income taxes, a feint there on 18C or The Plebiscite. A bold advance by massed union-bashing tanks to crash through a weak Bill Shorten, flattening a Labor party riven with factionalism. Malcolm would show them The Turnbull Method, and it wouldn’t be pretty. Kath Murphy assured us he was holding back the brilliance, all the better to deploy it with devastating effectiveness: once he’d gotten an opportunistic” and “cynical” Shorten out of the way, and dealt with the Monkey Pod in swingeing style.
“Mirror, Mirror on the wall. Malcolm was the fairest, after all.”
Malcolm has so many brilliant things to say at any one time, he occasionally appears to be tongue-tied. But that’s an illusion. He simply has trouble figuring out the very best way of putting {whatever-it-is-he-has-to-say} to the simple folk, the little guys like youse and me, so they can share in the inspiration. The hesitancy and what looks like waffling are Malcolm choosing his words carefully.
And there are so many words! There are enough thoughts, bon mots, insouciances, anecdotes and sheer inspirations inside that pumpkin head of his to keep Australia in words for 300 years. We’ll never run out of ’em. If only we could get the Chinese to buy them all, we’d wake up rich and stay that way!
Now that Australia has a sensible Senate with no crackpots, lurk merchants, incoherents, con men, thieves, sleeve-tuggers, gun nuts, tree clearers, religious cranks, CSIRO bashers, spivs, shonks, homophobes, pedophile obsessives, Hansonites, Trump supporters, refugee tragics, or unelectable slime-bags with less than 100 votes, “simply governing” has become so much easier. Now that Malcolm has his own healthy Reps majority of “1”, and every morning every one of them has to be marked off the roll by Head Prefect Christopher Pyne, can there be any doubt that The People have flocked to his side? Now that Abbott has accepted his lot in life as the Human Doorstop, we’ll have no more aggro from that poisonous little corner, thankyouverymuch. We’ll soon be rid of Gillian Triggs, too. So there.
Now that the Press Gallery’s prediction has come true, and the Ship Of State sails in the right direction, we can get some wonderful, brilliant, exciting things done. Let’s not forget the scribblers were right about Tony Abbott… both times (and all the times in-between). And they were right about Malcolm Turnbull as he dazzled them with charm, brilliance and wit. It’s so so wonderful to have a policy-driven 4th Estate that eschews the temptations of ball-by-ball politics, governance as a horse race and rank partisanship in political coverage, not to say their utter rejection of hero worship. No “Labor Split!” click bait for them! Most of all it’s wonderful to have a press corps that is never wrong, by its own modest (and frequent) admission.
Malcolm is setting us up. He’s getting his ducks all in a row so he can shoot them down with one brilliant bullet. He’s feigning weakness to lull his enemies into a false sense of security. Then he’ll Strike. Etc.Etc.
Pity his enemies now appear to have been those with whom he once travelled in fellowship: gays, Climate scientists, alternative energizers, the Jews in his electorate, IT professionals, human rights advocates and leather coat manufacturers (by the way, what did happen to the leather coats?). More fool them. They fell for Malcolm, hook line and sinker. The only ones who’ve stuck with him are the Gallery and Lucy. Even the cat has left the building.
Any day now we’ll see the Master Plan, from The Master Planner.
- We’ll learn how Malcolm’s NBN is the best in the world.
- How Teh Evil Unions have been doubling construction costs so that Bob Day can not pay them even more than he not paid them before. Bludgers.
- Why 18C is threatening the very fabric of our society.
- How reducing pensions will toughen up octogenarians and make them more self-reliant.
- We’ll be ahead of the World in emissions reduction (what am I saying? We’re already out in front! Greg Hunt’s job is done, and he’s done a real job on the environment, that’s for sure).
- The gulaged in Nauru and Manus will shout with joy as “humanity breaks out” (Kath has a such a way with words, doesn’t she?).
- Gays and lesbians will fall in love with him all over again, after a peaceful, tender, informed Plebiscite debate has blessed their unions with the traditional generosity towards sexual matters commonly found in key sections of Catholic Church, the Anglicans, the Salvos, the Marists and the Yeshivas, all of whom suffered the little children to be brought to them. And boy, did the little children suffer! The $7.5 million funding to be given out to spread this calming gospel is worth every cent, but only Malcolm Turnbull saw that. After all, the Plebiscite was an election promise, and the Coalition never breaks election promises. Some things remain sacred. Even when Tony Abbott thought of them first. That’s why Malcolm got rid of him. If Labor forces Malcolm to go back on his word (but not, funnily enough, on theirs), you can bet he’ll tell us “They broke a nation’s heart”.
All Malcolm needs now is for the “opportunistic” Opposition to stop Opposing. That’s so 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 (and in the last three they weren’t even the Opposition!). Even Tony agrees. And for the Senate to stop obstructing. And (I nearly forgot) for Tony Abbott to give up the guerilla warfare habits and backstabbing proclivities of a lifetime. Should be easy. The course ahead will then be clear to all, not just the political savants in the Press Gallery. Just all of them stop disagreeing with Malcolm for Chrissake!
Sleepers wake! Our never-been-so-exciting time in the sun is upon us! Certainty has triumphed over brutishness. Civilization over anarchy. We’re playing by Point Piper Rules now. Watch – and weep, doubters – as the well-oiled wheels turn.
Malcolm, the Renaissance Man, is still on his way, but will arriving any day now. When he does, at least there’ll be no need for this type of unpleasantness…
THE PUB 
I don’t get the whole US electoral system. Everyone votes, then the state electoral colleges decide who that state elects.
It’s possible for a candidate to win a state’s popular vote but not the electoral vote. Which is what seems to be going on.
That just seems nuts to me.
Can’t see it
http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2016/results/state/WI#president
http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2016/results/state/PA#president
There’s no point making comments like ‘I can’t believe the American people would be so stupid’. Australians elected an Abbott government and then a Turnbull government. So who’s stupid?
And – there’s no pint being disappointed in whatever the eventual US outcome because It Is None Of Our Business.
After my five minutes maximum of looking at Twitter and Sky News I have worked it all out and pretty much confirmed what I have been thinking for months.
Pundits said there had been a lot of new voter registrations. They assumed they were Democrat voters. They were wrong. It has always been obvious that the stupid, the red-necked, the idiots, the racists and the bigots were going to come out of the woodwork in swarms of stupid to vote for Trump.
There. That’s me done.
Not quite done.
There’s this.
You’re right, Leone. We’ve already been down that track. I place a fair bit of the blame on the poisonous influence of the Murdoch media in the English-speaking world.
But it needs to be shared around. Our politicians have too often taken the easy way out of spinning to the media instead of delivering policy to the people they represent. As voters we need to accept some responsibility for not getting greater accountability from the parties and the people we vote for.
Bit early to count your morons.
North Carolina called for Trump. Going to be very hard for Clinton Now
NY Times giving Trump a 94% chance of winning.
Markets Crashing
Meanwhile, in the real world –
Gabrielle Chan.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2016/nov/09/labor-says-george-brandis-lying-about-lying-over-gleeson-affair-politics-live
There is the thought going around that MPs and senators are trying to get thrown out so they can go back to That Election.
Some are a bit more blatant.
If Trump wins the pink states he will have 284.
The Guardian has just called Florida for Trump. but there is little indication of how many polling stations have actually been counted.
*starting to feel unwell*
Michigan and Washington look much better for Clinton now and she’ll probably win them both. The only state left I’m a little worried about is Wisconsin.
As long as Nevada, Pennsylvania and Maine hold, she’d win if only Wisconsin can turn back around.
Maybe Trump is what the USA deserves. He will destroy the joint of course.
With other countries as collateral damage!
BK
Exactly.
I’m hopeful that Wisconsin can be turned around, mainly because the polls had Clinton leading there by 7%.
Hopefully there’s a lot of Clinton votes still waiting to come in. If not, then there’s a lot of questions that need to be answered.
I despair:
Kirsdarke
Yes, I think Wisconsin does offer the main lifeline for Hillary at the moment, with some prospect of holding Michigan also. Either keeps her in it, both will take her over.
It does seem like voter discontent with the establishment. You have to wonder whether Bernie would have done it better. Although you couldn’t mention it in the US (where Reagan is actually regarded as one of the “great” presidents), the decline started with the Deregulation forces that Reagan unleashed. Oliver Stone’s movie “Wall Street” covers it brilliantly. They let greed take over.
Guy Rundle for Crikey –
https://www.crikey.com.au/live/2016-us-election-live-blog/
Says it all –
A lot of questions will be asked about the polling companies.
Brexit
Us elections
Aust. Elections.
Looks like they have got it very wrong every time.
Clinton represented more of the ‘same’.
It looks to me that what has been underestimated is the US voters wanting change. Even to the extent they become ‘hostages to fortune’ for a time.
Glad I’ll be watching from here rather than there.
16,000 kms is a good distance.
Has Canadia started building their wall yet..?
Seems appropriate
Now Pennsylvania is worrying me.
In Wisconsin, 492,000 people voted in Milwaukee in 2012. 331,000 votes have been counted there so far.
I think turnout in the midwest is probably what’s caused this.
Bruce B. is right. And it’s happening here.
They have indeed, Joe. Nate Silver still forecast Hillary, but at a much higher risk level than other pollsters. He copped some ridicule for it, but it looks like he was a bit closer to how people were to vote.
In the past voters generally have been dissatisfied, but have usually settled for the ‘least worst’ option. Since the least worsts have also failed to deliver, people have had enough of soft options.
The main trouble is that there’s no coherent alternative. Corbyn and Sanders offer some hope, but the problem is how to bring along the power-brokers with them. Democracy is wobbling. It’s hard to accept that it’s failed, but it may be that another system might do it better without allowing demagogues and racists to divide the country.
This is getting a bit like “ambulance chasing”….I have to myself confess to a kind of morbid interest in where such a disaster goes from here…I have often quoted Mommsen, and it seems to suit the occasion again,,: “The house of the Julian clan taught us the peril of trying to contain fire and water in the same vessel”
Trump cannot deliver on his ‘Make USA great again’ promise. When he does not deliver, THAT is when it is going to get interesting.
We already have that. it’s called ‘One Nation’.
Hillary closing in PA. Stuff from the big towns to come.
Ditto MI.
I wonder, if the repugs are going to win the Senate and Congress (as i understand it), if this is a good election to lose. Making the best of burnt toast, i know.
It may be that there will not be a woman president until this generation of uneducated white angry men die out.
Blues doing OK in the Senate. Picking up seats in the House but not enough.
Trump predicted to win Pennsylvania and Arizona.
accurate
Well, it’s over. Pauline has called it.
What, only her door?
Congratulations Donald.
That’s pretty much the same thing I was thinking.
If it is a Trump win. Who will we get as the US Ambassador? To me, it’s an anachronism of the US election system that the Prez (who ever they are) gets to make so many patronage appointments.
What do the homeless think?
Indeed. Bit Like Collingwood winning a rare grand final. About a billion people in China don’t care.
In this case, I was reminded by a quote I read yesterday in some of the SEA English Press. (In relation to China to China and the US). Probably not authentic, but a bit of fun anyway. “We thought we could rule the world in 20 years. After this election, It looks like the date will be brought forward to Monday”
There will be violence, I predict.
Donald Trump’s Inaugural Address to America..: “If you all had but one neck!”
Suckers!
This is one way for usa citizens to tolerate the next four years.
“Approved: California voters have approved recreational marijuana, a huge victory in the fight for cannabis legalization, paving the way for the largest commercial pot market in the US.
Approved: Massachusetts also voted for recreational pot, extending legal weed from coast to coast.
Approved: Nevada became the third state to approve a recreational cannabis law, making the west an even stronger region for marijuana sales.
Approved: Earlier in the night, Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana, the first victory in a string of high-profile cannabis measures on Tuesday’s state ballots.
Approved: North Dakota was the second state to approve medical weed, with the approval of Measure 5, which approves the use of marijuana to treat a number of diseases, including cancer, Aids, epilepsy and hepatitis C.
Election day: the key points as they happen with the votes being tallied
Read more
Approved: Arkansas also passed a medical cannabis measure that would allow patients with specific conditions to buy medicine from dispensaries licensed by the government.
Advocates and opponents agree that California’s Proposition 64 is the most important cannabis measure America has seen and could be an international game-changer for marijuana policy in the US.
California, which recently overtook the UK to have the fifth largest economy in the world, is expected to have a recreational marijuana market greater than Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska combined, said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance.
“When I talk to everybody from allies to government officials in Mexico and I ask them what’s it going to take to transform the debate,” he said, “the response to me is when California legalizes marijuana.”
Arizona and Maine are also voting on measures to approve recreational marijuana, which would allow adults 21 and older to possess small amounts of marijuana and grow up to six plants in their homes. Voters in Montana are also voting on a medical marijuana measure.
Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012, paving the way for Oregon, and Alaska to follow suit.
As medical and retail cannabis operations have spread across the US, legal marijuana has become the fastest growing industry in the US, with some analysts projecting sales to reach $22bn by 2020.
“
No thanks.
Guess what I’m re-reading at the moment . . .
I’m just speechless. How the hell did Pennsylvania fall so suddenly?
Well, America got what it wanted. If only it could leave Earth and never return.
Faced With A Trump Presidency, Could A State Actually Secede?
How “united” are the states of America, really?
In the face of a surprisingly close presidential election one tech mogul has promised to fund “a legitimate campaign for California to become its own nation.”
https://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/faced-with-a-trump-presidency-could-a-state-actually-secede?utm_term=.nyn6vqdZk#.rjqQ4nqRo
Consolation prize..
Charming:
Hillary has refused to concede. A spokesman was sent out to make a statement. Poor from on Hillary’s part, she should have done it herself.
Wtte nothing to see here tonight folks, just go home, votes are still being counted, see you all tomorrow …..
We all know this willnend in tears…poporn.
I’m just happy to live in a country with no bigotry, no racism, no misogyny, not run by an arsehole and one not run by the rich for the rich.
So – not you’re not in Australia, then …..
We have a big storm and a lot of rain. It means my planned trip to the movies has been postponed until next week. Driving down the Pacific Highway in a storm (30 minute drive to get there) is not fun.