Spots and Stripes - National Social/Political

The well-paid private consultancies utilised by the conservative government are adept at devising political strategies. In the aftermath of the London bombings the possibility of a terrorist strike on Australian soil became a reality. The focus was on Howard, not the least reason being his complicity in the (illegal) Iraq military intervention, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians. The eyes of the Australian population were fixed firmly on Howard. Strategists for the conservatives immediately advised that numerous Islamic extremists be interviewed on the local media to distract and shift the focus from Howard to the demonised ‘bogeyman’. The public was exposed to the inane rants of these imbeciles for approximately two weeks, after which time the airwaves (talkback radio etc) had been saturated with every manner of racist diatribe imaginable.

Stage one of the strategy to shift the public’s attention from Howard (the guilty party) to an innocent local ethnic minority was a complete success. It should never be forgotten that Australia has a history as one of the most racist nations in the western world; ‘scratch’ a conservative in Australia and you find a racist; and Howard knows his electorate well.

Not content with his initial success at distraction, Howard continued with the now proven formula and took it to its logical conclusion. Australia now endures laws and regulatory social codes usually associated with totalitarian regimes! Howard has once again skilfully shifted the focus of the population away from himself as the obvious cause of any terrorist strike. Furthermore, he has stolen the political debate and set the agenda to the extent that opposition State Premiers have unanimously agreed with his new draconian laws! This was a remarkable achievement – the State Premiers only argued secondary issues, they were all duped by exaggerated claims of terrorist bogeymen under the bed.

Howard should never be underestimated as a politician; his skills in that regard are consummate. He surrounds himself with advisers and the best private consultants available, however, nothing ever disguises hard reality for long. The simple facts are as follows:

1. It is almost impossible to prevent a terrorist strike in today’s world – the formation of the nation of Israel is testimony to the success of terrorist strategies.

2. Howard will never erase from history his complicity in the illegal invasion of Iraq; there exists a group of professionals, retired and active, dedicated to bringing Howard to the Hague to answer for his crimes – the innocent blood of women and children cries loudest and longest.

3. The new anti-terrorist laws allow for the abuse of innocent Australians; zealous policing will no doubt create a nightmare legal scenario from which the government will not recover. It should also be noted that the Australian legal fraternity is against these new laws.

There are numerous other reasons why these laws will backfire on the government, the principal reason is they are a manipulative overkill strategy not appropriate for the situation.

We are liable to forget, due to the hype that surrounds the word “terrorism”, that Australia has faced violent political extremists in the recent past. In the sixties and seventies there were numerous bombings in the main streets of Sydney (George St.) by Croatian fanatics who also conducted illegal military training camps in the Australian bush. Standard policing, monitoring techniques and ‘problem isolation’ – without any negative impact on the population – dealt with these extremists very effectively.

The regulatory authorities were dealing with a criminal element, terrorists are murderers pure and simple – various methods of surveillance were utilised at the time to counter the threat against the Australian public and way of life. The then prime minister, Gough Whitlam, put an end to the activities of these fanatics decisively and permanently without any adverse effects on society at large.

In contrast, Howard and others in the conservative right attempt to create hysteria over the term ‘terrorism’ in order to facilitate the implementation of ultra-right-wing policies that would otherwise be flatly rejected by the public. Notwithstanding his personality profile as cringing coward, lackey and liar, Howard is nevertheless an astute little sewer rat, but is he really the leader Australia wishes to present to the world? I think not, he maintains his power due to the lack of an effective opposition – the public is crying for an alternative to Howard. If opposition does not come from other political parties it will come from the Australian people who have had enough of this despicable weevil. Perhaps this is the principal reason for the new laws, to label as terrorists those who would actively exercise their democratic right to protest and oppose.

Australians have historically opposed governments that veer too far to the right; the point at which today's public reacts remains to be seen. At present the government shows no sign of adopting moderate policies.

We are One.

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