I came across this American bumper sticker.

If you are appalled, you havent been paying attention.

It summarises the lying rodent and his wall to wall lies, evasions, and buck-passing quite well.

And anyone with a heart has long been exiled from the RANK(ness) and file of the right thinking true believers. Petro Georgiou was/is an exception. And the benighted ghouls tried to get rid of him too. But his electorate (praise to them) knew better.

So too with the commentaries and opinion pieces in the OZ---the self styled "heart" of the nation which systematically misinforms everyone most of the time.
Even the Tim Man from the Wizard of Oz could have written better stuff.

To be fair the OZ does have some good writing occasionally----but the good stuff gets drowned in the deluge of toxic sludge.

That should have been;

If you are not appalled, you havent been paying attention.

The article is simply a continuation of the Liberal government myth/spin that it left the country "prouder, stronger and more prosperous than when it took office in 1996".

The reason Howard was voted out was that he had gradually been exposed as a prevaricating, dissembling bumbler with the moral code of a confidence trickster and the breadth of vision of a laboratory rat.

It is clear in hindsight that he and his cohorts - Downer, Costello, Vanstone etc. - were only in politics for what monetary gain they could squeeze out of it. As soon as the gravy train slowed down, they jumped off as quickly as they could.

Serving the Australian public? Pah!

The ground that the Liberals need to recapture is that which contains honesty, openness and a sense that they are in the service of the population as opposed to the world owing them a cushy living, plus perks.

Was this published as a serious op ed piece or is it a tongue in cheek dead parrot sketch about the Liberal party?

________________________________________________________

Customer: 'Ello, I wish to register a complaint.

(The owner does not respond.)

C: 'Ello, Miss?

Owner: What do you mean "miss"?

C: I'm sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint!

O: We're closin' for lunch.

C: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.

O: Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue...What's,uh...What's wrong with it?

C: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with it!

O: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H6DSoqZz_s

Lets face it -- this election is a portent of - or at least should be - of a move to genuine political convergence.

While it may be anathema to some - a great deal of government business can and indeed should be managed by the public service under an expanded strategic plan developed under consensual democracy.

In a minor form it exists anyway -- the processes are just muddied by political interference - thats where the lies and deception come in.

Me too ism is a banner of convenience the brain dead commentariat use for want of a real controversy between the parties. And the parties use it as they know that at their core they agree on most things... as in fact does the nation.

Like it or not we are in consensus n most matters - health education defence - the differences are miniscule - and always have been.

There is nothing for any one to re capture - the problem with out system is theparties do not want to govern - they just want the power.

“Let's not forget that millions of Australians voted for the conservative side of politics.”

Um yeah, about 99.9% of the voting public!

Why?

Because there WASN’T ANY CHOICE!

Concetta, I think you are fundamentally wrong in thinking that the brand of conservatism practiced by the Libs should continue to serve as their philosophical base….or any conservatism for that matter.

Dump the ‘conservative’ tag and embrace the ‘progressive’ tag, or some other term that indicates a new and dynamic approach.

Conservatism is old, staid and very much out-dated.