Not happy, John

I borrow the title from a recent book by Margo Kingston, which I have yet to read, but it fits so appropriately. I think "not happy, ..." is also in current usage in the UK. Seems appropriate, despite the application to different sides of the political spectrum. But this heading is mainly for a perfect quote from last Saturday's Sydney Morning Herald. Alan Ramsay quotes from an email he had recently received. I read it, and blushed to think that someone had said exactly what I so often feel. I'm waiting for the true liberals to come out of the woodwork. There are issues of principle here, and power does not justify the extent ot which Australians have been misinformed and maipulated.

"Then there was the email from an old Liberal Party friend on Thursday, which read: 'Congrats on your piece on the opinion polls. I'm constantly bemused by the Canberra press gallery's laziness in its reporting and analysis. It's tribal, superficial, out-of-touch with real life. Above all it's so predictable, bogged down in the excruciating detail of daily political combat. Only a few seem to want to hold the Government to account for its deeds and words. They seem to prefer the contest - the slippery, weasel words, the insults - to actually reporting fact and separating it from propaganda. Was it always thus? I think not.

"Have not changed my mind about the outcome of this eight-month election campaign. Howard will lose, not because he's personally hated (like Keating was by many) but because normal people are getting tired of the constant fear-mongering, the lies, the over-the-top propaganda, pathetic use of flags and soldiers in uniform, the wedge attempts, kids locked up, the shrilly desperate Downer, the revolting Ruddock (he used to be a liberal), and above all the old-style poilitics of say anything, do anything, deny everything. Jesus, it looks and sounds so tawdry.

"It is eerie watching CNN or Fox cable news. Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft; it could be Howard, Costello, Ruddock. The words and symbols are identical. By Christmas it will all be over - in both countries.

"Sorry about the rant. It comes over me when I get deeply depressed.'

"Many of us know exactly what he means."

My comments? I also feel that depression. There are issues of democracy that this politics is threatening. Howard is not the first - Labour has used a good few of these tricks - but the extent to which they are used is blistering. Deceit, or at least manipulation, minimally spin. Implication, rather than explanation. See, hear, do no evil, where really the ministerial buck stops here. I don't think it's so obvious that Howard will lose, though. There are new generations out there with different concerns - not even the environment, let alone social justice. To some degree, Howard's relaxed and comfortable has been successful. Come to think of it, it's a version of that Australian classic, "don't you worry about that" [= trust me, I'm a politician]. As for Liberals mimicking US pollies, well it does make a mockery of the attempt to paint Latham as a plagiarist. Liberal politicians have been following the lead of the US republicans for years over Iraq and other issues: "cut and run" and "elites" are just two populist and effective arguments that are in my mind just now. For now, I long for some true liberals to come out of the woodwork, and let their philosophy triumph over their unprincipled desire to hold power, regardless. Be very scared where politicians tell you someone is "unAustralian" or any other un-acceptable thing. The next one could be you.