It appears that most big businesses that run the
country, and the Liberal Party, are run by
middle-aged men, who eventually get into difficulties,
lose elections, and are responsible for financial
meltdowns.

This is the impression created by the media.

Your thoughts please?

There is a side of the Liberal Party that many of us cannot stand... smug rich boys like Malcom Turnbull and Alexander Downer. Whatever his faults, John Howard at least knew enough to try and look like he was a little down to earth.

Why diminish the sterling (not!) efforts of the Hon Julie Bishop and others?

However it is not only the Liberal Party that has its dead weights. What about Anna Bligh, the Premier of Queensland who removes her foot from her mouth only to shoot it and she has plenty of senior Grrls in politics and the public service who are similarly inclined to help the government look worse than the rag tag opposition.

Going back to the Liberals, the party name was always a joke and a misnomer for the rather poor colonial copy of the British Tories that Ming so adored. So really the Liberals, every man and woman, act as they should, like Tories and as everyone knows they can be more than a little flakey and dotty.

It appears that our former elderly Prime Minister led us into the greatest economic boom in history. More Aussies prospered in this period than at any other time. Unfortunately our current incompetent middle aged men and women in the Labour party have managed to squander much of our gains in a very short period of time. The actual meltdown was largely brought about by Bill Clinton whose socialist policies many are paying for now. I seem to remember it was only a few years ago that Labour appointed Mark Latham (Gough's disciple) who was about to create mayhem on Australia to even greater extent than Mr Rudd has managed to do. IN saying that it seems middle aged men are a far greater choice than most middle aged woman many of whom have climbed the ladder by charm and manipulation rather than talent. I will give Ms Gillard some credit in that she has played the political game quite well as she awaits Mr Rudd's cult popularity to decline. It seems the Americans are quicker to see through spin as Mr Obama's popularity plummeting to lows very rapidly.

You may recall, benk, that Howard lost his Prime Ministership and his seat when the electorate realised that the humility was a sham.

Howard played the modest everyman, but is really just a standard-issue ageing Tory. His love of cricket and racial supremacism is genuine, but successfully hid his class-driven, born-to-rule mentality until he tried to shaft us all with WorkChoices.

Runner, while flagellating yourself for your sins, you may not have noticed that Howard rode a minerals boom, squandered the lot, then helped wreck the global economy through fiscal fundamentalism.

Rudd took the hospital pass and is doing a bloody good job of cleaning up after Howard's 12-year-long party.

As to the OP, the media create that impression because it's largely accurate.

Ming always looked and sounded so dismayed to be back in Australia. It was a great pity for him (and Australia) that there was no way he could ever have become the British PM, which he would have given his and every other Australian soul to get.

He was an absolute cr@p PM of Australia - always absent - and was most fortunate to be PM in the days when Australia rode on the sheep's back and seasons were kind. Of course the Liberals are obliged to laud him as their founder but Menzies was always at his best when out of Australia and ingratiating himself with the British blue bloods.

Of all of Menzies' many ingratiating quotes the most cringe worthy was for the young Queen Elizabeth II:

"I did but see her passing by and yet I love her 'til I die"

What a pompous ass he was!