In light of my last post the Labor Party should organise a 'Bob Askin / Russ Hinze' Memorial Dinner, tickets would sell like hot cakes. Corruption is not the exclusive domain of the Labor party the other dinosaur has corruption as well. Maybe they are better at hiding it.

Dear Paul,

Well, that's enough to turn anyone off our pollies
for life. So, what's the alternative? Perhaps
these corrupt so and sos are in the minority?
Or perhaps the old adage, "absolute power corrupts
absolutely," is true.

Lexi Paul is wounded, he dredges up the ancient past, names even a conservative Knight Askin, a criminal in his list.
And a man of lessor IQ also a conservative police minister from Queensland Russ Hines.
Some he brings back to life 25 years after they died.
We know of a knight there who went to prison, a Conservative Police Minister.
Few have any doubt, had a jury not had party members and supporters a QLD leader mad Joe too would have been in prison.
Lexi fear not, NSW shames my party still, but for what it was not is.
A bush fire, fire storm helped in part by a third of my party drove us in to a wilderness we EARNED!
We have suffered and will, history shows, no bias, we once had been the party of government in NSW.
We face maybe 3 or 4 terms in opposition, every action from our failed exit has seen rebuilding.
NSW has stalled Federal Labor, so very few will talk of it, but Gillard lost those percentage points, because she seems to have been advised by one of the rats who left the NSW ship he helped sink.
People did not like*the BITCHY* rudeness toward Rudd at conference.
Paul unleash your anger, but not at the facts, numbers rule.
Had the voting pool been ten, your share is 1.1.
Had it been 100 million it would have been one million one hundred thousand.
Your anger will not change the truth.
Every time 11 greens in a hundred shake the tree 89 are unhappy.

Dear Belly,

Thanks for clarifying things for me.
I'm not very familiar with some of the people Paul
mentioned. Your info helps to broaden the picture.

Paul, Lexi must be around my age, I understand his pain and his anger.
I disagree with it, his reasoning, but more than half the offenders he mentioned are Conservatives.
And from long ago.
I traveled that too left road, it was never a super hyway.
It decayed with invasions of Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
It struggled to come to terms with its leaders preaching Socialism, while living like Capitalists, and starving its people/victims
Poland, A Union called Solidarity, helped by your Brave Pope bought it down.
Thankfully.
It is true, now and forever ,voters will not, now or ever, swap the fears they hold for Greens radical intentions.
It is true self interest drives most, not dreams.
And true too, that my ALP achieving much that is good.
Confronted by true concerns the opposition has no plan, is bound for defeat.
And true too, Greens taint, is taking votes from us to conservatives.
For Paul, a good bloke I truly think, the real pain is not his 11 or 12 percent.
It is the sad but true fact about 30% actually totally dislike/distrust them.
Yesterdays crimes yesterdays Socialism dressed up lipstick and all but a pig still.

Paul, the reshuffle, on the face of it, aligns with Gillard's strongest supporters and a fast track for some of those who have been touted as future leaders. How Arbib made it in the pack as regards talent is a mystery unless keeping the NSW Right happy is a priority. It is a precarious position Gillard puts herself in with some of the discontented reportedley threatening resignation and a risky bi-election.

However, there is no real harm in re-shuffling portfolios 'if' there is benefits to the public in the changes. Afterall the Cabinet and portfolios was still more of a Rudd design than a Gillard. It is not really problematic other than all the paper shuffling and letterheads that need to be re-printed and the new process to align with the newcomers' whims.

The anti-women sentiment is out in force again in this thread. While any reference to 'patriarchy' or male bonding rituals (the boy's network, club etc) is verbotten it seems it is open slather on women in disparaging terms such as 'skirted personnel'. It is nothing but bigotry. If we are going to use such adhominem terms lets make it equal and refer to male politicians as trousered personnel or walking suits.

It might be a newsflash but women, like men are individuals first and their ethics, values, job suitability, incompetence are not gender determined.

Why are there still so many men, albeit mostly older gentlemen, who possess these sour grapes attitudes about women in roles they have ordained only be preserved for men. What is that about?