Why do politicians now seem so untrustworthy or fainthearted? Where are the Lincoln's, the Washington's, the Churchill's, the Thatcher's of old? Where are the politicians who are willing to die for their country, to stand up for what is right and to lead from the front so that we, as a people, want to follow where they go? Where is the God that inspired them, the morals which guided them and on what vacation island is the moral discipline to do what is right because it is right, however unpopular?

I think that our poor politicians are just a mirror for who we are as a people, and that we need to stop swaying back and forth with whatever opinion we hear, but stand strong in the right and look out for each other. Selfishness is the breaking ice beneath a leader, and a peoples feet. I feel for our politicians because we aren't helping them lead us. They surely are kings and queens of the losers.

its the times we live in
in time of war..peace talk seems insane

its told well in a story
im looking for it here
http://www.youtube.com/user/oneundergod?feature=mhee

but youtube has changed its format again
it could be here
http://www.youtube.com/user/oneundergod1
but it sems empty

the old way i just searched friends
and went to the new channel as the old ones filled up
now it seems all that work was wasted

it was the first vidio i ever posted
based on a un record...of native tales

loyalty in a time of treason...is in that time treason
the kids story said it so much better

but you tube cleverly has shut all that down
just like yahoo before them...and many since

we know there are no leaders
such is the time..[after the time leaders got bumped off]
but heck they still bumping them off..[bin larden..gadaffi.kim el sun]

the assinations without trial;
that breeds..the loyalty to treason..[party line]..we now got

[will ron paul be next]
the [my]..latest attempt..at a new topic..that failed

Times make the man some of those mentioned may have looked ordinary in other times.
But right now Australia has good leaders on both sides.
Just not the ones holding that job now,wait changes soon.

Leaders can no longer lead from the front and make the hard choices needed for fear of being voted out.

Anyone can vote.

You can keep your leadership thanks, I'll do without it.

My favourite PM John Howard only stuffed up when he ventured into leadership. Gun control, industrial relations were total stuff ups. Most of the time he concentrated on the management of the place & economy, & did a pretty good job.

This current lot have wanted to lead, but they have, they have no idea where they want to lead too. Like bad cavalry, they have exhausted the horses galloping all over the place, bankrupted the treasury, spending like drunken sailors, & like grass hoppers, they don't land anywhere long enough to get anything worthwhile done.

You can tell where they've been, because like a swarm of locasts, they leave only disaster in their wake. I suppose this is what you have to expect of a bunch of twits, with no management experience, not even of themselves.

So Random, you can keep your leadership. I know where I want to go thanks. All I need is a competant manager to mind the store for me, while I'm busy

My thoughts are that the endless polls, focus groups and the media's short attention span force our leaders to become our followers.
Part of the problem is, i think, that the message our leaders receive via these mediums, is not the message many, maybe most, Australians would like to send them.
Moreover, newspapers unashamedly set out to support one side or the other. They spin stories to suit their particular objectives and so we are willfully lied to.
Politicians are sensitive to that and it makes them excessively cautious.
But I take Belly's point. There are strong leaders, (as strong as the current landscape allows them to be), on both sides, and I reckon their turns will come as the pendulum swings.
I'm a bit Left oriented and so lean towards Labor, but I will say that I have huge regard for Malcolm Turnbull and I do expect to see him become an outstanding PM down the track.