Habeen,

Perhaps it's not a matter of Mr Howard being "too" cunning - perhaps he was just cunning enough...he certainly wasn't wise.

One has to remember the he took the reins in the wake of the fabulous foot-in...um...mouth, Alexander Downer. This was at a time when leadership talent was seen as very thin on the ground in the Liberal ranks.
So it was a case of Mr Howard seeming to offer a steadying hand with young Peter in tow as the apprentice...
The Gods were finally smiling on Mr Howard and I admit one does have to give him credit for taking advantage of the gifts they bestowed ... from the extremes of Pauline Hanson to Mark Latham to George Bush and 9/11 to boat people and all the accompanying opportunities they presented

Hi there dear Poirot :)

I think Howard should have stepped down... then we could have seen what Peter C is really like.

From what I gather, Peter is more 'progressive'..and that would have been badddd for us all.

Hey.. care to join us on the 'Politics and Perception' thread ? :)

Bluey, that must be your TV watch list mate, I don't even know what you are talking about with most of those programs you mention.

By the time I've watched one news, [varied], Top Gear, Myth busters, the F1 GPs & Motto GPs, I'm running out of programs I’m interested in. I just don’t like fiction, soaps or ABC opinion. Wouldn't know about the commercial opinion programs, I've never watched them.

I find it annoying that SBS, & the dreaded ABC will put on decent documentaries at the same time, mostly at weekends. It was OK when I had my old analogy TV, & video recorder. I could watch one, & record the other. Then my kids decided I needed a new HD TV, somewhat bigger than my old one, but not one of those huge things. Now I can only watch one, & there’s no way I’m going to spend $750, [more than the TVs worth probably] for a modern gadget that will do the same old simple trick.

I really would like to do something nasty to the politicians who decided we needed HD TV or Pay TV before that.

I’m very glad I was too busy to pay too much attention to politics, when I was a younger bloke. I would have probably become all upset at their stupidity.

Who said I should have liked Hawke. That fool was too busy trying to make sure everyone loved him, to have any time to do anything useful. He cost us a PM who may have been pretty good. Hayden had done the hard yards, & was not just a glamour boy like Hawke. He might have been great.

Then Keating, street smart, cunning as a thingo rat, if only he had been working for our good, rather than Labor’s & his own.

Don’t forget, to be a hasbeen, you must have been something, at least once in your life. Are you going to make the cut?

Sorry Bluey, I missed the Turnbull answer somehow.

I'm afraid I see Turnbull as another Rudd, just as pretty, just as stupid, same personality, just with a slightly different hair cut.

I'd much rather we kept Julia than him, as I think she's less dangerous. She has already exceeded her dream, [to one day be PM} & is likely to sit gently glowing with pride, & do little. She’s shown little inclination to do anything not forced on her to acquire the job so far, fortunately.

Turnbull thinks he’s god’s gift to Oz, & wants to get out & do things. However, just because he was lucky in starting a business that suited the time once, it does not mean he’s smart. In fact I think he’s quite thick, & tends to go off half cocked. I think he’d be worse than Abbott, who would try to do what he saw as right, [some may not like what he saw as right], but would go tentatively & carefully I believe. He’d probably not do much more than Gillard in the long run.

Woohoo TBC three threads minus any religious attacks! Your posts are refreshingly interesting and intelligent! I hope you enjoyed your week!

By the way, TBC, if you had read a few more of Hasbeen's posts and threads on OLO you would realise that Hasbeen's words ring true.

In other words, Hasbeen is a highly intelligent fair person who is a long term OLO contributor. One should show a little more respect for Hasbeen, particularly in view of the fact, that he has taken a great deal of time to assist other Australians on OLO over the years.

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit/intelligence. There is an underlying cause in the use of sarcasm.