David Barnett, sometime Howard biographer, crying out in Unleashed at abc.net.au:
"The destruction of John Howard's properly earned reputation as one of the greatest prime ministers the country has ever had - perhaps the greatest - is now well underway........
Howard faces more than the prospect of loss of office and perhaps the loss of his seat. He faces oblivion at the hands of Stalinist historians. The prospect - the certainty - is that a process of rewriting history already begun will continue until the great achievements of a great government and a great prime minister will disappear from the record."
Don't you just love the absurdity of this perspective on John Winston Howard?
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2 comments:
NOT BEFORE TIME!
Sure, an announcement by little Jack Howard that federal funds will be allocated to upgrading the Pacific Highway in northern NSW http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/24b-for-horror-highway/2007/10/09/1191695910464.html is welcomed, but why have we had to wait so long for such an announcement?
That the announcement had to be made on the eve of the federal election speaks volumes about the ineffectiveness of the National Party MPs who represent the NSW coastal electorates north of Newcastle, including the Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile who has carried (or, perhaps been sheltered in) the portfolio of Transport and Communications after his numerous bungles in his previous portfolio experience in Trade.
Just what function do National Party MPs perform in the coalition government? Apart from their loose cannon, Senator Joyce, most are seen but not heard other than when they provide their obligatory Dorothy Dixers after they've had a quick game of spin-the-bottle to see who gets to grandstand in Question Time. One can easily think they are simply there to make up the numbers ... and then be rewarded handsomely with positions on government committees, or even the Deputy Speaker's position, to top up their measly backbenchers' salaries, but on the proviso that they don't rock any boats.
The mid and far north NSW coastal electorates have for too long been the very poor (perhaps Deliverance-country type) cousins of their city-based Liberal mates. Perhaps most Liberals who reside in the Sydney metropolitan area (including one JWH) have not had to experience the dangerous (sorry, often fatal) conditions that exist on the northen section of the Pacific Highway - yes, I suspect they occasionally do the dual carriageway journey to Port Macquarie for an occasional junket journey - but do they have an understanding of day-to-day conditions experienced on the highway between Port Macquarie and the turn-off to Byron Bay? Almost 400 lives have been lost on this section of the highway over the last decade - that's right, approximately 40 every year. This is a national disgrace! Government dereliction is criminal!
However, cometh an election and it's wham bam thank you ma'am ... pennies from heaven begin arriving on the scene.
To make matters worse, JWH told listeners on ABC North Coast Radio this morning (October 10) at about 9.30am that the federal funds for the upgrade had been included in monets apportioned in the last budget, but they had not previously been allocated.
Sure smells like something is burning. Could it be the bacon that's just fallen off the Government's Pork Barrel vehicle that is currently on the north coast?
that's hagiography not biography
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