Alas, we have no statesmen in politics.
The parties would never allow it.
We also have God lurking around the current crop of politicians...always bad for the sanity of folks who cannot limit their world to fit.
Straight talking is shunned in business these days too, where "soft skills" are seen as more important than "hard skills".
Ever wonder why Telstra cannot get a billing system to work after hundreds of millions of dollars? Even MyKi...Would we have allowed such incompetence if resources were scarce and survival an issue? Straight talkers are the enemy to stacked "team" environments where 1 techie makes 10 managers look good.
Rudd is annoying, but at least he isn't a disgusting divisive pig like Howard.

Dear ozandy,
clear concise speaking & clarity of thought seem to have disappeared from use. Unfortunately it appears that you cannot distinguish rational discussion of verbose politicians and technocrats with your personal political prejudices.

Dear sweet Renaissance,

Or perhaps sometimes time is limited and stream of thought prose is more appropriate Hmm? I also note that this site is for opinion. I'm sorry you see this as "prejudice"...could it be that you too have some prejudice in making this judgement? Could it be I like trolling a bit?
Thanks for the wonderful discussion about comment style.
In the absence of any real thought about the article I guess it will have to do.

Why would a politician want to talk straight when the masses so obviously are more impressed when he/she talks in circles ?