Finally the media seems to be waking up to Rudd and his endless spin.

Paul kelly is certanly changing his tune;

Transcript from the Insiders 10/12/2006

BARRIE CASSIDY: What sort of a leader do you think he'll make?

PAUL KELLY: Personal qualities kick in at this point, Barrie. I think Kevin Rudd is measured, methodical, and he does have a commitment to policy development. It's most interesting this week that there were no fireworks, there were no extravagances, and I think Kevin Rudd sees himself as a leader for the long haul. If one looks at his performance over a period of years as shadow foreign minister, one sees that he operates with tenacity. He's got a great sense of discipline, very high energy levels, and a deep commitment as a media operative. In fact, those qualities are all very similar to John Howard, and I think Rudd and Howard have a lot of overlap when it comes to their political style and qualities.

Rudd, I think, has got a reasonable chance of projecting Labor as a competent party on the economy and national security, and that's where it counts. He's an economic conservative. He's very pro-US and he has got a deep understanding of Asia. He is also a conservative and I think Rudd is comfortable and relaxed at making a pitch to conservatives. I think he will challenge Howard here front on, in terms of pitching to family values, to conservative and to Christian values. That, I think, will make him a most interesting Labor leader, and different from previous Labor leaders.

But that was before he really got to know Rudd and experiance him in government, what does Kelly think now?

 Transcript from the Insiders 24/05/2009

BARRIE CASSIDY: Now Paul, you wrote on spin as I mentioned earlier in the inquiry. And clearly you think it's reached a certain level?

PAUL KELLY: Well obviously it has Barrie. I mean if you look at the Rudd Government its got two defining features. It's a policy wonk Government and it's a political spin Government. And there's always a degree of tension between the two.

I think what happened this week was that the political spin became far too pronounced. The main example of this was clearly the Prime Minister's interview on Lateline when he was too evasive and was reluctant to put numbers on the debt and deficit figures. This looked childish; it looked demeaning; it looked as though he had something to hide. It was very much counterproductive.

And I think, you know, you can't have a serious debate about debt and deficits unless you talk about the numbers. Quite elementary I would have thought.

I think modern Labor needs to have a think about this because modern Labor's political management techniques came from state Labor governments. The requirements of a national government are different.

And I think one of the dangers here that Kevin Rudd needs to be careful of is that his Government is not branded and seen to be branded by the public as a political spin Government. That's not what Rudd wants and frankly I think he's better than that.

Bad new for you Paul, Rudds not better than that... not by a long shot.

I don't get to read Blogs as often as I would like, but occasionally you run into one that deliverers a well deserved Bitch Slaps on a stupid lefty.

Like this one on Malcolm Farr; Rudds number one fan, apologist and lick-spittle.

Nice story Malcolm but it a little saddened you didn’t do an angle on one of the Boat Peoples Cats?

Burnt paws and all, could be quite a story...no Rudd Cat of course but still Big Cheese.

“These are not people smuggling drugs or arms, these are people seeking protection. And these numbers are not enormous,” she told The Daily Telegraph.”

So why didn’t they stay in Indonesia and seek sanctuary in a Muslim country? Or indeed the many Muslim countries they bypassed on the way to here?

Indeed why not go to Australia Embassy in Jakarta seeing they were but a few hours away and apply like other would-be refugee’s?
Because everyone who arrives by boat or plane is literally jumping a queue of less well off people who can’t afford to buy their way in.

Remember folks our refugee number is limited to a specific intake range and a mighty large per-captia amount we do take in, 3rd largest in world,..... these people are added on top..... they literally take another persons slot.

Thank you Stanly of Adelaide

A reply to some numbat on Howard's cautious approach to the world;

I find it fascinating that you, and others keep returning to AGW as a basis for the removal of Howard. As if that’s the catalysts issue for the next generation. Rudd had presented himself as the man with the plan to deal with AGW (now called Climate Change) and it was a huge political winner.

Before I rant, first let me declare myself as one of the highly skeptical. But I don’t really want to get bogged down in a AGW debate, they are as fruitless as trying to convert someone to Scientology.

But I do find the similarity of how Rudd is grabbing the GFC to his grabbing of AGW as freakish. In both cases all the rational argument tells us that no government action would (or could) stop the effects of the events, the predictions of the actual outcome of these two events are really unknown, and highly speculative.

But yet the continual lines of “Must have action"/"cant sit on our hands"/"the opposition would have us do nothing” are sounded and people are eating it up. Frankly, I think the greater wisdom lies in accepting there are times when our actions should be nil, if the efforts made simply exacerbate our problems.

For AGW the ETS will place a strain on our energy dependent economy during a time of severe tightening. While any reduction we make will account for nothing on a world scale.

For the GFC the Stimulus packages will simply place Australia in a massive debt position while jobs are lost. Rudd may as well be throwing lit matches at a massive wave in an effort to stop what’s happening now.

Maybe Rudd just reflects the Hubris of people today. It’s a tough thing to acknowledge powerlessness.

No reply to date.

Just like those wonderful Dodgy Brothers commercials from the 80's only frighteningly real;

A DISAPPOINTING thing happened last week. A couple of unlicensed share spruikers went on television imploring Australian mums and dads to invest in a company yet to be formed, with no business case, no feasibility study and whose viability is extremely doubtful.

The same guys paid no attention to the financial needs or risk profiles of their audience but simply asserted this was an investment not to be missed. They probably broke three or four critical sections of the Corporations Act, some of them carrying jail terms. Just the sort of corporate cowboys that our Prime Minister has condemned in his moral sermons about corporate excess.

The names of these chaps? Kevin Rudd, Wayne Swan and Lindsay Tanner, all talking about the company that will run their national broadband project.

If there is a concerted effort by Journalists to see who can crawl up Kevin Rudds Arse the furtherest, Mr Malcolm Farr has just won hands down.

Here are some excerpts from his fawning piece in which he finally emerges from the closet as a confirmed Dudd Lover;

Keeping up with Kevin Rudd - a day in the life of the PM

The sleek feline - ask for his breed and you will be told "black" - is very much the Prime Minister's pet and won't let others pat him. He considers the study at The Lodge to be part of a realm he shares with only one other.

As Jasper purred, Mr Rudd finished off a day - and prepared for another - devoted to the issues of Australia's climbing unemployment rate and the nation's broadband future.

Farr's Man Love Translation: He commands the respect of nature itself... he can stroke my pussy anytime.

When Mr Rudd woke at 5am for breakfast and a sprint through the morning news reports and official advice he found a range of problems hadn't disappeared overnight:

* A NSW MP accused of using official credit cards on escort agency services when he was a trade union leader;

* DEFENCE Minister Joel Fitzgibbon still being asked to explain his links to a Chinese-born businesswoman; and

* BIG banks, the consistent beneficiaries of government policies on the global financial crisis, refusing to pass on all or any of the interest rate cut announced on Tuesday.

But while taking these in, the Prime Minister had one central issue on his mind. As Liberal Leader Malcolm Turnbull might put it, that issue was jobs, jobs, jobs.

Farr's Man Love Translation: Everyone else around him is causing the trouble, the basterds... But he wont be distracted from saving Australia... What a Man!! (wipes tear from eye)

Rudd uses sport as a means of communicating with staff. He visits the cramped network of their cubbyhole offices chatting about events and issues of the day.

Then he will recruit teams - men and women - for 15 to 20 minutes of sport in the corridors or in the PM's courtyard. Occasionally he will apply his shiny RM Williams to a football, but he prefers cricket. And he prefers to bowl because, he has told staff, "batting is more embarrassing".

Farr's Man Love Translation: Big Kev is such a "Mans Man" able to play all manner of sport and still be humble with a touch of self deprication... *Sniff*.. If only I could be under that great man. Quick put in the photo that proves Animals love Kevin...

Malcolm Farr has just put Australian Journalism into a place where it no longer deserves to be called journalism... He has, without a doubt, just created the most overt piece of propaganda ever produced by an Australian Journalist in the modern day.

First ALP De fence Minister Joel Fizgibbon was caught lying about free flights to China, now another ALP liar is caught out, and still no action to sack the dirty scumbags;

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has expressed full confidence in press secretary Lachlan Harris, despite Mr Harris having been caught out lying last week.

Mr Harris denied Mr Rudd had reduced a 23-year-old flight attendant to tears by verbally abusing her for serving him the wrong meal on his VIP plane.

He was later forced to admit the story was correct, and Mr Rudd apologised for his behaviour.
Mr Rudd's chief of staff, Alister Jordan, said yesterday: "The Prime Minister and I have full confidence in Mr Harris.''

He declined to comment on whether the press secretary had been disciplined

Of course not, he was just following standard procedure. Just like before;

Mr Harris denied that Mr Rudd had planned a "false dawn'' on Anzac Day - and was left red-faced when emails detailing the plans were leaked to the media.

A media adviser also denied that Mr Rudd had hired a stylist to improve his image. The strategy of the Rudd Government's media office has been described as "suffocation'', whereby Mr Harris's team attempts to "kill'' a story by denying it.

Joe Hockey has it right;

"What was more alarming out of that entire incident, not just going off the handle at the RAAF staff, but the fact that his office was lying to the Australian people about what actually happened," he said.

"This illustrates a pattern of behaviour out of his office that they are prepared to mislead the Australian people as to the truth of the matter."

How do you know if an ALP flunky is lying?

Their lips are moving.

Just recently I had a go at George Megalogenis for being a labor luvvie.

Simon
Thu 05 Mar 09 (02:54pm)
“Jesus George Don’t you ever get sick of apologising for the Rudd Government. Or are you lining up a safe seat?  How about a piece on the reduction of debt, and Rudd’s capacity to pay it all off, after the recession. Maybe you could do some research circa post Keating.”  

Much to Georges credit he has posted an article to attempt to explain the debt position, but I don't think he got my point.

Now, I really like Georges writings and have a great respect for his opinion, so don't read animosity in this reply. I'm just simply frustrated that the MSM are not being focused on the impacts that are looming on our horizon.

My Reply to Georges article below (as posted on his blog);

Hey George,

Thanks for the post. Sorry I couldn't reply until today, I was on the road.

If you would indulge me, I don't believe you've addressed my question, my question was "How will the Labor Party repay the debt?". Not how did it occur and who was to blame. We know that already.

The reason I asked this is because it forces some examination of ALP decisions and Policies. Follys that have just been made, or looming like imminent festering sores on the Australian economy. I can guess at the effects of these monsters but I would rather hear your thoughts;

1. The ETS, leaving the AGW theology aside, as far as I can see this is just another Taxation method for the Government. But a Tax system that targets Energy, Energy up = Production Costs up = Prices up = less consumption = less revenue = less growth = less jobs. Or like any sensible Corporate, you take your Production to the place that is of least cost (away from Australia). There is a Hit to our GDP and capacity to pay off debt.

2. Fair work. Unions and the ALP as the watchdogs of the workplaces. Never worked before, wont work now. Hard to measure the impact, but the smart businesses wont be placing any workforce into such an environment. There is a Hit to our GDP and capacity to pay off debt.

3. ALP States borrowings guarantee. Well kiss our National AAA rating good bye. Queensland unrepentantly lost theirs, NSW is under close watch, and SA have indicated they wont protect theirs. Yeah, lets give them a blank cheque!! Lets just assume, for the sake of the argument, that we loose our AAA rating. Our interest rates rocket on a huge pile of debt. What percent do you think our very reduced budget in may 2010-11 will be swallowed by debt repayment? Have a stab.

 

4. Bank Guarantees - your colleague, David Uren, nearly gave me a heart attack when he exposed Australia's current debt exposure;
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/currentaccount/index.php/theaustralian/comments/counting_the_cost_of_a_guarantee/
 The banks are lending cash, that if defaulted in such a way that would impact on the savings invested in that bank, the government becomes liable for that default (because it guarantees the savings) and at the moment there is a potential $102.2 Billion in debt that could go wrong. Of course this is just so much worse now we guarantee states borrowing.

5. Selling the farm to China. Hopefully I'm wrong on this, but I think the Chinalco deal will proceed (ACCC gave its green light). Now call me simple but if we "give" our mineral wealth to China, how do we make a recovery on the back of mineral exports. Do we really think a Chinese Government owned company will act with our best interests at heart?? Nope we will see prices moved to suit the Chinese. Go to Barnaby Joyce's website to learn more. Sign the Petition.

6. Our own Sub-prime housing crisis is looming. I don't think Australia is yet suffering the unemployment levels it will reach. Many, many, young people will loose jobs as business contracts, stimulus's run out, and this government has been running a first home buyers scheme to place these people in a disgustingly vulnerable situation. With calls to continue it. I know you mentioned household debt as a key factor... So why not mention the scheme that saddles a young couple with a grossly over-inflated asset. I didn't like the scheme under the good times of Howard... It is sheer madness today.

There you have just six factors that will massively impact on the fiscal position of Australia, we know there are more, get a focus on them, give us some insight on the impact of these things and how should be handled, what risks are we facing due to them, and in this instance how will they impact on our capability to retire debt. 

But mostly old bean, your article outlines the real problem. No Australian mainstream journos are speaking out over the idiotic policies of Saint Kevin and the catastrophic impact they will have on our very vulnerable situation. I haven't watched insiders yet (I'll check it on-line later today), but so long as its only the bloke in the far right chair that has a go at Rudd and Co's policies, while everyone else makes excuses for the position our country lands in, we are doing our kids a disservice 

As usual I will probably get very cranky. :-P

Forget analyzing how we got the $200 billion+ Debt burden, sadly its a done deal, and this nonsense of Howard / Rudd blames is crap too...

Start focusing on how this, and any other government, will retire the debt for our kids. And for gods sake, get stuck in if they don't even try.

 What happens if the ABC detects a news article about Kevin Rudd that doesn't quite capture their Great Leaders struggle for Australia? 

They change the headline of course.

Here is an example. These news items below are both from http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/22/2522910.htm 

The first is reported much the same as every other news source has during the day.

But the Laborites at The Lefts ABC felt this failed to properly appreciate Kevin and his Churchillian war against the Recession.

Within an hour the title is changed.

ABC Bias applied.

I was going to ignore the dirty, cheap, anti-Hanson spin recently in the press, why give it oxygen? Unless it turned out that the real perpetrator was a ALP supporter/plot (still not out of contention).

Its a shame Pauline Hanson needs to hand the Press their facts, seems no one checks then prior to publishing any old trash in the MSM these days; 

The photos were allegedly taken by a former boyfriend, army veteran Jack Johnson.

Mr Johnson said they were taken at the Pelican Bay Resort near Coffs Harbour some time between 1975 and 1977. But there is no Pelican Bay Resort, and Coffs Harbour's Pelican Beach Resort did not open until 1986.

Ms Hanson flatly denies she knew him - and insists the pictures are not of her.

"I was married and I had my second child in February of 1975,'' she said.

"I was living on the Gold Coast. I have never worked in a grocery shop north of Brisbane.

"Apparently, the Pelican Beach Resort was not opened until 1986."

"This guy has indicated he is 52 - that makes him between two to three years younger than me and if I was 19 and that would have put him at around about 16 or 17."

"I've never known a person named Jack, what's his name, Jack Johnson. So there are your facts,''

..."I knew it wasn't me, but I feel sorry for this girl,'' she said.

'' ... No, it's definitely not me, and that's why I've started legal proceedings and I will fight it,'' Ms Hanson said.

I hope she makes a hefty motza that teaches the Australian media a well needed lesson.

“(Legal) papers have already been served on News Limited, Channel Seven and Channel Nine,” she said.

“I am also targeting others who have reported this wrongly and discredited me.”

Turnbull is definitely at his best when he doesn't wallow in his extensive knowledge of markets, and instead concentrates on the politics at hand;

...the politics is transparent. He sees the reality of the global financial crisis as an opportunity to strike a blow against his political opponents.

Like a bent copper, he wants to fit up he Liberal Party with the crime of causing the crisis. Similarly, he wants to take aim at me as the leader of the Liberal Party, point to my career in business and investment banking and thereby link me with the downturn in the US.

There is no word in English adequate to describe Rudd's audacity here -- but it is certainly covered by chutzpah, a wonderful Yiddish word that describes bare-faced, shameless behaviour.

A classic definition is a man who kills his parents and then seeks clemency from the court because he is an orphan.

It is bad enough to have Rudd trying to turn himself, in the blink of an eye, from an adherent of the cautious, responsible economic conservatism of Howard into a slightly more genteel version of a foaming-at-the-mouth radical such as Hugo Chavez.

But to add to that effrontery, we see him every day in the parliament denouncing neo-liberal extremism as he describes me as "the member for Goldman Sachs".

All the while, he knows there is not one person in the parliament who has been delivered greater affluence and personal benefits through neo-liberal policies than himself.

Remember, Rudd defines the difference between Labor and the Liberals as Labor's commitment to "a central role for government in the regulation of markets and the provision of public goods".

One of those public goods is the provision of job placement services for the unemployed. In 1998, the Howard government closed the Commonwealth Employment Service and outsourced its functions to the private sector, and one of the private firms that benefited conspicuously from this deregulation was the Rudd family business.

I congratulate the Rudds, especially Therese Rein, on their success. Their business grew into a very substantial one in Australia and as other countries followed the Australian approach, grew there as well exporting the expertise developed by them when they seized the opportunity created by Howard's decision in 1998.

But what are we to think of the wealthiest Prime Minister Australia has ever had, a man greatly enriched by the privatisation and outsourcing of government services, standing up again and again to denounce the very policies from which he and his family have profited so extensively.

It is more than a bit rich. It is as hypocritical, as chutzpadik, as his essay is absurd.

The Departure of Sol from Telstra is not necessarily a bad thing. But i cant help but shake the feeling that the Rudd Government has somehow made it clear that no deal could possibly be struck over national broadband while he was in the top job.

Telstra’s exclusion from the federal Government’s $15 billion National Broadband Network project savaged the company’s market value, knocking out over $6 billion worth of value.

So was he pushed, urged, or after 4 years, was it simply time. A secret that will never out.