That Damned Abusive Liberal!

Posted on May 7, 2012 by patriciawa

They seek him here.  They seek him there.  The media seek him everywhere.      He can’t be in heaven.  We hope he’s in hell!   That damned abusive Liberal!

We seek you here, we seek you there.
We journos seek you everywhere.
Crook?  You can’t be!  You’re never unwell!
Come off it, Tony!  Come out and tell!
You said there’d be a dissolution
Now you could pass that resolution,
Right at the start of Budget week
Before Slipper got a chance to speak.

We seek you here, we seek you there!
We journos hunt you everywhere!
The word is out. We’ll soon get a bell,
We’ll track you down. We know your smell.
Tony, call us! We need your story!
Come on! Tell it! Make sure it’s gory!
Answer our questions. Don’t cut us short.
Don’t get sulky and act spoil sport.

They seek you here, they seek you there
Those lefties seek you everywhere!
For years now you have given them hell,
Backed up by Rupert and Cardinal Pell,                                                                                   
Both too busy now with their own position
To save you from the charge – Sedition!
Yes!  We all heard your call to revolution.
Gillard can rightly seek your execution!

Okay, play dumb.  Go home to bed.
Tomorrow’s front page?   OFF  WITH  HIS  HEAD!

NOTES:

Tony Abbott’s failure to front the media even once this weekend to answer questions about the Slipper/Ashby scandal which was beginning to embroil senior Liberal Party figures like Christopher Pyne and Mal Brough was rousing comment, particularly after the latter gave a major interview to the Weekend Australian. Four days from Friday to Monday without an interview or statement for mainstream media was a record for him. When he did front this morning on stage with the Prime Minister at a Red Cross function he was clearly out of sorts and distracted.  By the end of the day even Barnaby Joyce had something to say about Brough’s intervention and the credibility of James Ashby. Other Coalition senior figures like Julie Bishop had also put out statements.

Meanwhile in the fifth estate, the blogosphere, there had been many questions about this unusually long silence from the media mad monk and questions too about why journalists weren’t smelling blood.   But perhaps they were, I thought, giving the Canberra Press Gallery the benefit of the doubt.  They could well have been out looking for him, trying to phone him to ask searching questions.  Couldn’t they?  What a lovely idea!

A jingle then came to mind from sixty years ago and my teenage reading of Baroness Orczy novels about the Scarlet Pimpernel. “They seek him here, they seek him there. Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven? Is he in hell? That demned elusive Pimpernel!”    This old brain turned that into these lines below.   Am I hoping for too much?   Probably.  When he finally appeared on our TV screens tonight it was to assume the offensive against the Prime Minister about Craig Thomson and the Health Services Union report from Fair Work Australia which has now been released.

COMMENTS:

Gravel,     07/05/12,  Your poem is just excellent as usual.

Miglo,    07/05/12,      I love it.

lukechircop,     07/05/12,   Nice poem. However, I think it says a lot about our media that going one weekend without making public comments on a non-policy related issue rouses uproar. I suppose in the world of twenty-four hour media cycles, our politicians clearly are not afforded a weekend to themselves once in a while. Maybe Tony wanted a round of golf with his mates, or just a quiet weekend with the family. Is this really a virtue he cannot be granted?

Catching up,     07/05/12,     Tomorrow should be interesting. Time is running out, and does it not show.    Will the media go with the rot, or will they address the budget.   The Senators could not get the report publish quick enough. They could not wait to read it.As they had not had a copy at the media conference. They said they could not have one until they received the report.  It was not long after, that it was on the web.  It is a very long document. Very legalistic in it;s language.  They could not have had much of a discussion.   A few seconds at the most.

Pip,     08/05/12,      Another great effort patricia. :smile:  Beginning at the top, Fairfax journo, Jessica Wright sent ten twitter messages to Mal Brough and phoned him, twice I think according to Dad Tony Wright, and he hung up on her. I’m not sure whether that was before or after he ran off to The Australian where he could be assured of a soft landing!

Jarl Ragnvold,      08/05/12,   

And of course Sir Percy, the Pimpernel, was renowned for saving the rich, and powerful French nobles and aristocrats from the wrath of the French people much the same as Abbott defends the mining barons from sharing their hideous wealth with the people of Australia. I only await those famous words to be repeated by Gina Rynehart, the Marie Antoinette of Australia’s plutocracy, “The people have no bread, then give them cake.!.”.    In this instance probably Anzac biscuits.

Jane,    08/05/12,     Another good ‘un, patricia.  lol. Although knowing the colossal cheeknof the man, he’ll probably claim to have invented Anzac biscuits!

Talk Turkey,      08/05/12,  Patricia Smokin’!   But he’s actually

That constipated Liberal!                                            

“You said there’d be a dissolution,
Now you could pass that resolution,
Right at the start of Budget week,
Before Slipper got a chance to speak.”

No, Abbortt can’t pass resolutions –
Too much trouble with ablutions!
Eighteen months to move that motion:
Windsor prescribes a laxative potion! Smile

Abbortt him one nasty Janus:
Him two-faced, each mouth an anus!
Stand well clear, but never fear:
It’s only verbal diarrhoea!

 
 
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What Is This Line Which Has Been Crossed?

Posted on May 3, 2012 by patriciawa

The PM said that a line had been crossed.
Respect for Parliament was in decline.
A dark cloud over it meant much was lost.
“I’ve made a judgement. And that judgement’s mine.”

Journalists thought that without a doubt
The Prime Minister had drawn the line!
But where and what that line was all about
None of them seem able to define.

It’s all a bit of a mystery.
There are several threads or story lines,
Like Peter Slipper’s,  back in history
To Queensland Nationals and Russ Hinze.*

With Craig Thomson there’s a union,
But no mention of a picket line.
Though he could have pinched gold bullion
With all the other crimes he’s been assigned.

But members Oakeshott and Windsor know
That Tony Abbott’s bottom line
Began the smell. There they could not go.
His offer, they felt, they must decline.

Since then the Parliament’s been hung
And used like a dirty washing line.
Not one word of praise for her’s been sung
As the media chorus, “Gillard, resign!”

But suddenly amid all the scandal
There’s something in the Coalition’s line,
Which like a faintly flickering candle
Has the PM’s chances begin to shine.

The Slipper story’s just a fairy tale
They shrug,  spun over a bottle of wine
After a few beers and perhaps an ale.
The stench is the usual POO from Chrissie Pyne.

*Hinze pronounced as in washing lines and not as in rubbish bins!

NOTES:    I’ve been reading some very good blog posts about the Prime Minister’s stand last weekend after the escalated furore over the long running saga of Craig Thomson’s alleged crimes and the very recent and over-heated scandal of Speaker Slipper’s similarly alleged crimes of fraud and sexual harassment in his treatment of a not so young staffer, James Ashby. 

Wixxy’s post,  Tainted Love,  covers the whole hypocritical nonsense of the sexual harassment claim and Tony Abbott’s ruthless betrayal of a long term political supporter and a once personal friend.   The thread has lots of links to articles and commentaries on the pros and cons of the case.  As I followed the links I noticed how few of the journalists were clear about the line the Prime Minister thought had been crossed.  For myself, I was struck by how almost enigmatic the PM’s tone and comment were about that line.  I don’t think anyone in the press gallery understood her words at all.  She was not talking about the bad behaviour of Slipper and Thomson, but referring to the appalling tactics of the Coalition with these charges against Peter Slipper which were as much an assault on the office of Speaker and Parliament itself as upon the man.

Reading Bushfire Bill’s latest post at the Political Sword with its metaphor of the sinking Titanic describing the imminent fall of the house of Murdoch I grasped what it was about our main stream media reporting and commentary in recent weeks which had been so much more biassed and negative about our good government and great Prime Minister than usual.  Yes, I agreed with him, recently they had been far worse than their usual appalling selves.  There was an almost palpable sense of urgency, even desperation, in their determination to bring Julia Gillard down.   I despaired for a few hours there.  

Then came the news late in the evening of  May lst, (May Day!)  that Rupert Murdoch had been found not fit to run a company by the committee of the British House of Commons enquiring into phone hacking.  With hindsight I can imagine that News Ltd management had been alerted to the fears of Murdoch and Son about that looming verdict from the Brits and the word had gone out on the need to preserve the Antipodean corner of their empire.  No wonder News Ltd pulled out all the might of its 70% ownership of our print media and leaned upon its broadcasting allies to support their campaign.  “Gillard must go!” was the slogan.  “Immediately if  possible!”    

Tony Abbott would have been delighted to help out too,  with his own war of words on Julia Gillard becoming even more ruthless and blatantly untrue.  He was brazenly confident he would have few critics in the media.   And so he crossed the line.   Prime Minister Gillard did what she could  to protect her government and the two direct targets of Abbott’s villification.   At the same time behind her enigmatic reference to that line which had been crossed was almost certainly an astute awareness that her adversary had gone too far.    Time will tell. 

COMMENTS:

Catching up,     04/05/12,   Patricia, Mr. Howard had so many ministers go down, he has to remove the line.

Pip,     04/05/12,    Hi patricia, well done.  Great post.   The main stream media stand accused, in enigmatic fashion, of “wilful blindness” in this instance. :shock:

Patriciawa,     04/05/12,    Yes, Pip, and most of the MSM seem to have turned a blind eye to what JOHN HEPWORTH,  Archbiship of the TRADITIONAL ANGLICAN COMMUNION had to say to Heather Ewatt on the 7.30 Report:  There are clearly some elements of the sexual harassment claim that would make anybody with a reasonable politically astute antennae wonder about the possibility of entrapment.   Wouldn’t that make headlines in most papers the next day?

Sue,     04/05/12,    Your poetry amazes me for its depth of the issues you cover, the notes assist me in understanding your breath of reading that is involved in your political poerty. i love your passion and like you i have so much admiration for our Prime minister the Honourable Julia Gillard. thanks patriciawa as i said on the cafe get ready for a canterbury tale..

Victoria,   04/05/12,     Another great offering! Enjoyed it very much.

Gravel,     04/05/12,      Patricia,   Another great pome, well done.  Hope you recover well from your visitors.

Talk Turkey,    04/05/12,     Your verse is inspirational, it reminds me I can do that too.  Here’s a bit of an answer to your question,   What is this line which has been crossed?

I can’t show exactly the line that’s been crossed
But it’s not some line *J*U*L*I*A* casually tossed:
It has to do with respect that mob’s lost,
And She’s The Boss, – Damned if she’s going to be bossed,

Not by anyone – fat rich men, wrinkled old hags
Think they’re Queen of the Quill . . . nor effete mincing fags,
Nor screeching misogynists, bumbling buffoons,
Nor radio shock jocks – nor violent goons.

I can’t show it exactly, but that line is there:
It’s a line you must read between lines just to see;
But it divides notions of Fair and Unfair,
And whichever side *J*U*L*I*A*s on, you’ll find Me!

Bilko,     04/05/12,   Patricia I like your poems too.  This is an excellent analysis of the situation.

Wixxy,     04/05/12,    Awesome job Patricia :-)  I’m so glad someone else saw Gillards comment re “The Line” as an opinion on the tactics of the Coalition, who seem not just intent on destroying everything Labor do, but destroying peoples’ respect for parliament too.

Miglo,     04/05/12,   Bilko, I agree. Patricia’s poems and commentary are not only a joy to read but are always on the mark.

Nasking,    04/05/12,    Good stuff, Patricia!

Min,    04/05/12,   Patricia, thoroughly enjoyable. I love your addendum:   *Hinze pronounced here as in washing lines and not as in rubbish bins!

Archiearchive FCD,   04/05/12,     Great work yet again, Patriciawa. That line that Abbott cannot see is the essential part of democracy and the body politic. Cross it and we drift into the verbal and physical violence we mock in the failed democracies of the world.

lunalava,     04/05/12,    Great work Patriciawa a much clearer summary of what is going on than the fanciful stuff being published in the MSM.

jane,     04/05/12,        patricia, as always, a great pome and a damn fine post. You’ve nailed the PM’s “The Line” perfectly.

Miglo,    04/05/12,     Patricia, you can tell by the number of Facebook Shares on your posts that you are widely read. Min and I usually put up a link on Facebook and it spreads from there. Some people like what they read and Share the link on their own Facebook wall.    We can tell from the number of hits coming in from Facebook that your message is reaching an audience.

Min,    04/05/12,   I would like to add to Migs’ comment – some of the Facebook groups have memberships numbering in the thousands. Patricia, your pomes always receive HUGE interest.

 
 
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The End Of The Age Of Enlightenment

Posted on April 22, 2012 by patriciawa

Friday, April 20, 2012.

Joe Hockey travelled to London,
To make his declaration
That it was time to turn the page,
And bring to an end the age
Of what he called Entitlement.

You may well ask why didn’t he
Announce it in North Sydney
That we’re citizens of Asia,
Neighbours of Malaysia
And the Indian subcontinent.

There, he said, they are satisfied
With what their families provide
To support them when they’re old.
Now Oz could save amounts untold,
With something the equivalent.

When asked to whom the scheme applied
He hesitated and then replied,
“Oh, we’d have to have a means test
Which would eliminate the rest…….
……Of us who prove ourselves non-indigent.”

My thanks to Alan Moir for permission to use his eloquent cartoon, which appeared so promptly in the Sydney Morning Herald after Joe Hockey’s ‘entitlement’ speech.

NOTES: Joe Hockey, the Shadow Treasurer, made a speech in London on the other side of the world from here a few days ago  which included an unambiguous statement about the age of unlimited and unfunded entitlement to government services and income support being over in the Western world.   He then made the mistake of appearing on Lateline that same evening and answering very pointed questions from Tony Jones about exactly what that might mean under a Coalition government.

He repeated again his statement that “with an ageing population and an entitlement system that has seen extraordinary largesse built up over the last 50 years, Western communities, Western societies are going to have to make some very hard and unpopular decisions to wind back the involvement of the state in people’s lives.”   At the same time he talked about Australians riding on the back of significant growth in Asia and the Government,  if serious about their much vaunted “Asian Century,  should start comparing us with our Asian neighbours when it comes to understandable levels of economic growth,  inflation, employment and so on, rather than comparing us to countries in Europe and North America.”   He then agreed with Tony Jones this included “entitlements……….a significant issue.”

Having got this beautiful “Gotcha!” out of him, Jones did his best to tie Hockey down as to exactly which benefits he had in mind but got a lot of squirming and waffling in reply about it all depending and case by case issues!  It’s worth watching!  I won’t link you to the stories about it which appeared in the MSM next day but if you google ‘the age of entitlement’ you’ll be reading for hours.   He wouldn’t be pinned down as to exactly which Asian countries he’d compare us with on social benefit entitlements, but he mentioned statistics for Hong Kong, Korea and Japan.  You’ll have to forgive my poetic license in using India and Malaysia for rhyming reasons. After all,  they are our neighbours in Asia and millions of people in all of those countries and elsewhere in Asia are currently living in abject poverty.

I was appalled to hear Joe Hockey talk about how we should look to our region for a model on welfare spending!  Not so!  We need to maintain and improve our mutual support standards here so that we can be a beacon to other countries around us!  We are an example of what they can strive for!  I can’t imagine living in a modern state which hasn’t found a way to look after its weaker and poorer members.  Medical, educational and other social benefits should be fairly available to all regardless of economic status, and yes all need to make a fair contribution to their cost where they can. 

Listening to the man who could be our next Treasurer I feared for our future more than ever before.   He was talking as if he had no real understanding or appreciation of the enlightened society most of us are beginning to enjoy only now after centuries of struggle from the earliest days of organised labor in Western Europe.  Almost a thousand years ago journeymen and their craftsmen employers were striving for improvement in their lives through the Guilds.    In the 18th century ‘Scottish Enlightenment’ economist, Adam Smith noted the imbalance in the rights of workers in regards to owners or ‘masters’ in The Wealth of Nations.

Today more than ever in Australia working people at all wage and salary levels need to join together in their unions and professional organisations to work with and within all political parties.  They must make sure that the well-being of our society,  its economy and its environment,  is such that the fair entitlements of all its citizens are protected.  This Coalition team led by the likes of Tony Abbott,  Joe Hockey and Andrew Robb must not come to power.

COMMENTS:

archiearchive,     23/04/12,    The shorter version of Hockey’s speech is, “It is better for the poor and disadvantaged to fall off the perch earlier. That way they do not waste the wealth which rightfully belongs in the pockets of the rich. It is Work Choices taken back to the time of the birth of Democracy in Athens where only important people voted and the slaves worked until they dropped!

Gypsy,    23/04/12,     This is excellent.  I loved the cartoon.

Kerry,    23/04/12,     Very good, though I had to look up ‘indigent’ I must say.

Janice,     23/04/12,    Moir’s cartoon is a perfect accompaniment as well!

Patriciawa,     23/04/12,   Not just the accompaniment, Janice.     It was the inspiration for it!   It gave me a real lift when Alan wrote back very promptly and okayed my using it.

Gravel,     23/04/12,  Patricia, well done again, and I remember Abbott saying quite a while ago, wtte,the poor will always be with us, people choose to be homeless,
so maybe Hockey has let the cat out of the bag on real policy of Nopposition.

Miglo,     23/04/12,  Hi Patricia,    That’s a great post and we’d love to have it at the Café.

Lyn,     23/04/12,     I love it!  the cartoon is a brilliant choice.

martha, 08/04/13, Are you planning to put this on PB, Patricia?

Patriciawa, 08/04/13, No Martha, things move too quickly over there for pomes. I think the Pub may not be a good spot either. The topic made this one a good fit, but apart from your good self it’s gone unnoticed.

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Tony Abbott Defends His Magic Pudding Budget Plan

Posted on April 18, 2012 by patriciawa

Tony Abbott has been brooding!
His budget plan’s been dissed! He can’t see why!
He’d billed it as a Magic Pudding!
Claims it’s better than Labor’s flat square pie!

“I’ll safely manage Oz finances.
My team Catholic,  church-going,  good!
With atheist Gillard you’re taking chances.
Where’s her faith in a magic pud?

Childless herself, she’ll never learn,
Like we dads have, as parents would,
When bedtime story pages turn,
To love our Aussie magic pud.

How could a single woman know,
As married fathers surely would,
What pregnant professionals undergo
Without a wage from the magic pud?

That’s why too I’ll pay for nannies
To nurse at home through babyhood
Infants whose ever-loving grannies
Will get to share in this magic pud.

The Liberal Party faces facts.
Business and miners never should
Have to pay Resource or Carbon Tax!
It’s they who bake our magic pud!

Gillard’s been captive to the Greens
Who see only trees, not the wood!
Now Bob Brown’s gone, they’re just has-beens
Who are sure to want a magic pud.

Don’t believe Julia’s last big lie,
Listing all the good things she’s putting
In each slice of her ‘fair share’ pie.
Trust me!  Have faith in my Magic Pudding!”

NOTES:  First I must acknowledge the artwork of my grandson Daniel who,  luckily for me,  was on school holidays and had time to Photoshop Norman Lindsay’s famous illustration to his timeless Australian children’s story, The Magic Pudding.  I think he,  with input from brother Jacob,  did a great job.  

They have exactly caught my sense of how Tony Abbott, in his penguin fitting red budgie smugglers,  seems to think there are endless dollars to spend on his brain waves.    I don’t think Shadow Finance Minister,  Andrew Robb  (Barnacle Bill),  is keen on the Liberal Party being tied to a  Magic Pudding budget plan.  Nor is tubby  Shadow Treasurer,  Joe Hockey (Koala),  though he doesn’t see eye to eye with Robb either on how to proceed with Coalition  budget proposals.   I’m not sure how relevant their all being Catholic really is,  even to their Assistant Shadow Treasurer, Matthias Corman, but they surely need to have faith and believe in the power of prayer if they hope to balance a Budget while cutting taxes and retaining all current services and introducing expensive new ones. 

More than one commentator has referred to Abbott’s apparent belief in a magic pudding which amused me and set me rhyming.   There’s plenty of other MSM speculation on both Government and Opposition budget proposals and I won’t add to it here except to marvel at the near miracle of Tony Abbott’s sudden concern for the wealthier working woman to the point of levying a tax on business for his highly expensive paid parental leave scheme which is likely to be an impost on many more companies than the Carbon Tax which he claims will ruin the country’s economy.   Samantha Maiden says   “Abbott’s tax levy would hit an estimated 3300 businesses with a 1.5 per cent levy.    Isn’t that a great, big, new tax coincidence, to deploy Abbott’s favourite mantra ?”   

Easy  to understand the disquiet of Coalition senior figures,  particularly Shadow Treasurer Hockey and Finance Minister Robb.    Though with or without Abbott’s grand policy proposals designed to win over women voters even Hockey sometimes seems to believe in a magic pudding sort of budget plan.   Last month he said,  “a Coalition government will deliver surpluses while reducing the tax burden on Australians and businesses………..We will run a surplus in our first term and every term after that, based on the information available at the moment.”    However, his very latest Lateline comments  about cutting welfare benefits to offset income tax cuts are more specific, particularly the one about the end of the the age of entitlement in our western world. He seems to want to reduce most working Australians to the living standards of Asia!   No magic pudding faith there.

Andrew Robb is less sanguine and probably more practical than either Hockey or Abbott about a Coalition government being able to deliver a surplus budget,  or at least he was just over a month ago.  “Bear in mind that if we have an election in October 2013 we’re still two budgets away, and who knows what the state of the books will be at that stage.”  Although often confused and confusing,  Robb was right about predictions.  

No one can predict with any certainty about how the economy will be travelling in future,  though I should think Treasury are being assisted by the best advice and up to date information available.   I prefer therefore to rely on their recommendations to the Prime Minister and our current Treasurer,  Wayne Swann, who is after all the world’s best!    

I also trust Julia Gillard and her government,  judging by the reformist legislation they have passed to date,  the policies they have published and the programs they have planned,  to produce a budget which endeavours to share our national wealth with some fairness and an eye to the national well-being.   Abbott won’t accept that of course, and will do his best to attack Julia Gillard’s credibility and that of Wayne Swann, as he did today,  decrying Australia’s economic record in the face of praise from the International Monetary Fund. 

 

COMMENTS:

Jane,           19/04/12,   Good post patricia and as always excellent pome…..I love your grandsons’ photoshopping. Can I borrow them?

Janice,     19/04/12,    Ten stars for Daniel’s effort,  Patricia – A boy of whom you can be most proud…………………………..the pome can now be placed in your usual brilliant category.  Well done.

Gravel,     19/04/12,     Your grandsons did great work.   If only a lot of adults in Australia could use their brains like your grandchildren.     Again a brilliant pome Patricia,  now I can’t wait to see what you come up with after Hockey’s latest stunt to cut pensions and give tax cut to his mining mates.

Pip,     19/04/12,    Excellent pome patricia and well done to your grandsons. :smile:

Miglo,    19/04/12,     Patricia, have you noticed that your post has already notched up 51 Facebook Shares? In simple terms, that’s phenonamal and indicates that the pome/post is reaching an incredibly wide audience.  Well done!

Talk Turkey,    19/04/12,       The Magic Pudding theme,  cut-and-come-again-from-nothing,  is a compelling image and a splendid taunt to the NOposition…………………and your grandson done real good with the caricaturization in Pollipomes.   Well done,  young man. 

Nasking,     19/04/12,     Patricia,     Excellent work by you…and your grandson Daniel.

Michael,    19/04/12,    Min put a link up to your pome  on a couple of Facebook pages.  From there a heap of people copied it to their own Facebook pages. It went crazy.   One group that really took a liking to it was  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tony-Abbott-will-never-be-prime-minister/274330505796     Great stuff.  

Nasking,    19/04/12,   Glad Daniel will have an opportunity to read the comments. The young need useful motivators…be given credit where credit is due. A top job on his part…working as part of a team/duo.

George,     20/04/12,      Patriciawa, great job by Daniel! Tell him he has a talent worth developing.  :)  

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Tony Abbott’s Easter Address From The Opposition’s Ship Of State.

Posted on April 9, 2012 by patriciawa

Monday, April 9, 2012.

I’m Popeye the Sailor Man,
I’m a big tough palooka,
Who hates all gazookas……….
And here is my master plan.

I’ll push conservation
So most of this nation
Has clear new contour lines
To protect precious mines.

So it’s cheerio,  NBN!
I’ll start it over again,
Making sure it employs
All our special good boys.

My parental leave dream
Is a great part of my scheme.
Soon gals won’t get chosen
For jobs with promotion.

I’ll remove the vexation
Of all Labor’s taxation
To ensure that the wealthy
Stay happy and healthy.

Then with hospitals empty
There will be beds aplenty,
So the poor near old age
Need no pension or wage.

Though I am happy to say
That my dear sister is gay,
I agree with George Pell;
Real queers all go to hell.

Same for that witch Julia!
She’s got no right to rule yer!
Get her out!  Let’s shove’er!
And her live-in lover!

What’s up, Robb?  ‘Course we can’t sink!
My policies do not stink!
And this boat’s got no holes!
Just read the bloody polls!

NOTES:     As is pretty obvious this pome, well jingle really,  was inspired by Alan Moir again!   His Popeye,  rolling out that jingle, with its immediately recognisable beat,  is so obviously Tony Abbott!       I think my pome or jingle, fanciful as it is,  makes as much sense as Tony Abbott would if he were indeed to outline the Coalition’s current policies.  In fact, Alan’s brilliant cartoon says it all and I won’t waste any more words explaining my reasons for this post,  except to say that I found his jingle irresistable and I just had to carry on with it.   But I’m sure he understands and will forgive my slight modification of his rhyme!  Tony Abbott is indeed a big Palooka,  and he probably does hate all gazookas,  but he’s all washed up ashore,  on an unsailable boat full of holes and he is so punch drunk on his ‘spin’ that he doesn’t know what he’s saying!

For those who may not know,  a gazooka is another word for a kazoo,  a flute sized tin whistle type instrument which adds a “buzzing” timbral quality to a player’s voice when the player talks or sings into it.  The flute shape perhaps explains how the term being gazooka’d came to mean having a “torpedo like” object shoved in your anus forcefully!!!!   It has the additional colourful connotation of things like big hooters or big titties,  e.g. “Look at those huge gazookas!”

Whether Alan Moir wanted us to think Tony hates big busted women or the thought of a big sharp instrument shoved up his arse is unclear,  but I  think we all understand his allusion to palookas who are incompetent or easily defeated athletes,  especially prizefighters.   The name derives from Joe Palooka a one time comic strip figure.   The word “palooka” has now become somewhat of a negative term usually preceded by the word “big” and it  describes a large man,  a clumsy man,  an oaf,  a fighter,  a bully,  a brawler.

Having explained that,  as I said in my first para,  I think the cartoon and the pome speak for themselves!

COMMENTS:

Catching up,     09/04/12,    Perfect. I do not know how we missed this cartoon. Cannot think of a better representation than Popeye.     Once again you have cheered us up.

Ad Astra.     09/04/12.     Nice verse, so apt.

Alan Moir,    09/04/12,     Very nice, Patricia!

Talk Turkey,    10/04/12,    Funny Poopeye, the label on the tin he’s guzzling from says SPIN before it curves out of sight, clevv-verrr!

He might manage to play a gazooka*
But he likes to play with a bazooka!*
Let’s not sully the name
Of that boxer of fame,
The decent, if dumb, Joe Palooka!

Patricia, * & * is an example of where 2 words rhyme almost too well, and you have to lean on the syllable 3 back from the terminal one in each line to differentiate them. There must somewhere be an authority on ‘rules’ of rhyme, like you shouldn’t rhyme homophones, like e.g. pare pair pere and pear, that is horrid when you come across it. Those rules become obvious, on an intuitive aesthetic basis, only when they are broken, but they are harder to round up than feral cats.

Patriciawa,     10/04/12,     TT,   Bazooka!    How could I have missed that rhyme in relation to Abbott.   I think I’ll have to re-write this some time anyway.   The jingle effect doesn’t seem to have gone down too well.  So I’ve missed the mark.  Though they seem to work just a few lines at a time,   e.g.   Victoria over at a frank view liked these few lines from it enough to repost them at the Poll Bludger, so perhaps it’s just a bit long.

Victoria,    10/04/12,       Great poem! PB is running at a slower pace these days.  I too still pop over here everyday.    Posted  same day at The Poll Bludger Permalink    –  “Another gem from PatriciaWA.”

Tony’s happy to say
That his sister is gay,
But agrees with George Pell –
Real queers go to hell.

archiearchive,     11/04/12,    Back when one Geo Pell was made a Cardinal, I forced a rhyme near the end of a limerick.

“I don’t want to sound trite and snippy
But John Paul has gone strange and dippy
He’s named old George Pell
A new Cardinal*
In line to be made the Pope Skippy.”

*Ærchie School of Rhyme   (other limericks about the same gentleman to be found here )

Gravel,     15/04/12,     Excellent again Patricia and what a great cartoon, no wonder it inspired you.  

   
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Tony Abbott! What An Arse!

Posted on March 31, 2012 by patriciawa

“Julia Gillard’s got a big arse!”
Said Germaine,  with a lack of class.
The media couldn’t let that pass!
Had women’s lib become a farce?

Editors became quite rabid
Seeking comment……. As per habit
They got the nod from Tony Abbott.
He’d seen a headline;  had to grab it.

He’d forgot the enormous frame
Of Gina Rinehart whose other name,
The Big Australian,  only came
To mind too late to him.  Oh, the shame!

Her fortune being so gigantic
He’d become quite sycophantic;
Talked to her in terms romantic,
Which,  now recalled,  sent him quite frantic.

He took little time to agonise
But hurried out to apologise
And tell a load of PR lies,
Cos something else had made him wise.

He’s heard,  big arse and all,  no breeder,
Labor love Gillard and heed her.
But Robb et al are grumbling,  “Do they need a
Great big arse like him for leader?”

NOTES:    I saw this comment at A Frank View by blogger,  Jaeger:  “It’s better to have a leader with “a big arse” than a big arse for a “leader.”      It was the perfect response to Tony Abbott’s rush to agree with Germaine Greer’s tasteless comment about our Prime Minister’s body image and fashion sense.  I could see no use for poetic, or even funny,  images here!    Instead  I think these two photos I’ve chosen do serve to illustrate how ridiculous is Germaine Greer’s,  Tony Abbott’s or anyone’s comment on the the appearance of our Prime Minister.   She is hardly large,  much less huge or uncomely, even alongside the slim and elegant Governor General and among the many suited men of her cabinet.  Talking of suits,  her jackets which Germaine Greer criticised along with her body shape,  work well in all her filmed images.   For a politician, or any woman in the public sphere,  our Prime Minister is remarkably well presented and photogenic as our TV screens tell us every day and as the stills recorded here also confirm.   She compares very well indeed with Germaine Greer!

Tony Abbott’s echoing of Germaine Greer’s criticism of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s appearance has told against him amongst many women voters as I’m sure internal party polling has informed him.   But I like to think there was another reason why he came scurrying out to apologise for his ill advised comments.   After all , one of the major donors to Liberal Party funds is that Big Australian,  Gina Rinehart!     Interestingly too, when appearing before TV crews and journalists Abbott,  while still on his annual Pollie Pedal,  was careful to change out of his lycra cycling gear into a suit and tie.  

Miglo, blogmaster at Cafe Whispers,  loved this pome and post to this point, so we have copied it over there.   I’ve considerably expanded it with some paras on how often Tony Abbott has needed to or should have apologised for his thoughtless comments. 

I thought here I’d confine myself to my sense of outrage on behalf of Julia Gillard who with her usual aplomb has ignored this latest slur.   Oddly,  after so many sneers and insults which she has managed to ignore,   sail on regardless and seem always focussed on the job of leading the country,  this time I’m wondering if she isn’t feeling some pain!  Not that she’s shown it,  but I think Nicola Roxon was onto something in her response and shows how well she understands her own sex.   We are all sensitive about how our bums look in whatever we wear!    If Tony Abbott doesn’t know that fact,  or if he does and chooses to ignore it,  what does it say about his ability to handle simple human relationships,  much less represent our country in the councils of the world.   

Perhaps he has done Julia Gillard a favor.  There’s not an Australian woman of any sensitivity who wouldn’t be feeling compassion for their Prime Minister this week and acknowledging her intestinal fortitude!   It will probably add more to the thousands who are confessing to each other and to the world at large how much they admire her.   As Nicki Gemmell has written in the Weekend Australian there are thousands of Australian women joining the Real Julia Gillard Fan Club and talking about her courage and how the real Julia is entirely different from the one they’re being fed by the media.    What they see is

…..a woman getting things done. In a man’s world. Quietly, differently, effectively. Amid the great roar of vitriol, and not flinching. They think it’s extraordinary. Because usually, as women, we flinch. It’s just too hard. We bleat our vulnerability. Gabble too much about our personal lives and the toll it’s taking, make excuses, give up, bow out. She doesn’t play the victim, just keeps on going, audaciously blindsiding the media now and then – Peter Slipper, Bob Carr – and for these women it’s becoming an exhilarating sport to witness. “She’s such a strong role model for our daughters,” said one of them.

COMMENTS: 

NormanK,     01/04/12,     Good on you! From a male point of view, I can safely say that I believe we have far fewer physical attributes that can be mocked and belittled. Apart from a balding head or a perceived lack of taste in ties there is no comparison between men and women in terms of their vulnerability to personal attacks. Make-up, hair (Conroy’s tonsure has yet to make headlines), breasts, bum, shoes, jewellery, clothes and any other physical feature that might make them distinctive. Julia Gillard, true reformist that she is, has added earlobes to the national conversation.    There are different ways to attack a man – disparaging comments about his virility for instance – but the list of superficial attributes open to mocking is much shorter for men than women.
I love your poems Patricia, I just struggle to find new ways of expressing my admiration so please take it as read that your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Ad Astra.    01/04/12,     Your poem captured the sentiment of so many of us, disgusted with Germaine Greer’s stupid remarks, and Tony Abbott’s opportunistic use of it.  But we know poor Tony can’t help himself.  Anyway he can always say he shouldn’t have said what he did. The MSM will say no more, certainly not ask if such a man is fit to lead the country.

NormanK,  Your observations are germane.  Women still have to endure much more scrutiny about appearance than men.  As a so-called enlightened society we have a long way to go to achieve gender equality.  And we have a LOTO who inhibits our progress towards that goal. 

Gravel,    01/04/12,    Patricia, you sure know how to put words into your pome’s.  As I have said I do like the way you explain where you inspiration comes from. Like NormanK above, all I can say is bravo!

Clarence Girl,   01/04/12,    Bravo,  Pat!

Kevin Rennie,     01/04/12,    Great pome! Germaine is a media performer who diminishes her other contributions with headline catching oneliners that reflect badly on both herself and her causes.    Suppose that’s how you get on Q&A and other sit-down comedy shows like The Drum where they sit on their collective arses and badmouth whomever they wish. Satire without substance!

Catching up,  01/04/12,   The puppet mistress. Tony is sure attentive.  Well done again.

Sue,     02/04/12,  Congratulations patriciawa.   It amazed me that 10days after a program the ABC took every opportunity to denigrate the PM of Australia, with comments about her appearance. Every time they aired the GGreer bit from Q&A they showed some stupid woman guffawing. I don’t know who she is as I never watched the program. The tasteless piece would have died except for the intervention of Tony Abbott, so every news program from then on decided to make an issue of it. And of course it could not be “discussed” unless the program showed it in full, Capital Hill, The Drum, Local News programs.     On Capital Hill, the labor representative Andrew Leigh decided not to play, Lyndal Curtis was left open mouthed trying to elicit just that a bit more, she was as bad as that guffawing idiot on Q& A.     Thanks again patriciawa

Jaeger,     02/04/12,    Patricia,     rmn1953 is correct:  I was responding to their earlier comment, but the quotes were intended as  “air quotes”, not direct quotes (though “a big arse” from rmn1953′s post was I believe quoting Germaine Greer.)  Apologies for the delay in clearing up this confusion; my rounds of the various forums are intermittent at best, and I didn’t realise an off-the-cuff remark would spawn a pome!

P.S. Your photo at 12 explains a lot about Abbott – Gina ate his brain.

Patriciawa,     02/04/12,     Now there’s an idea!    She wasn’t just nibbling his ear!

Sue,     25/04/12,    Tony Abbott what an arse now has another laughable play about it.
This week we have tony abbott betraying his friend peter slipper. oh dear, i better stop now.

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Barnaby Barmy? Surely That’s Not Fair!

Posted on March 27, 2012 by patriciawa

Barnaby barmy? That’s unfair!                                                                                                           To suggest that he’s not quite all there!                                                                                Barnaby is not irrational.                                                                                                                        He is the very best of Nationals.

The Coalition resurrection                                                                                                             Owes so much to his selection                                                                                                           To lead his party in the Senate                                                                                                       And explain their every tenet.

The media love our Barnaby                                                                                                            Cos he’s the man who’s gunnabe                                                                                              Deputy PM soon for sure.                                                                                                                  What reporter could ask for more?

One day there could be a story,                                                                                                        By-lines,  journalistic glory,                                                                                                  Headlines and acclamation,                                                                                                         When Barnaby stands in to lead our nation!

<em>Illustration: John Shakespeare</em>

The cartoon added 31/03/12  is by John Shakespeare and was used by Mike Carlton in the SMH.  http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/barnabys-big-move–be-very-afraid-20120330-1w3b8.html !  which confirms everything  in the notes and comments below about Barnaby Joyce! It’s great to know one is in good company.  A pity Mike Carlton doesn’t have a feed-back line.  He’d be inundated with supportive correspondence every Saturday.

NOTES:     Last night (26/03/12)  Barnaby Joyce made another memorable appearance on Lateline, leading Ad Astra of the Politicial Sword to describe him as ‘barmy’ and inspiring  this pome.   The recent overwhelming victory of the Liberal National Party in the Queensland state election must have encouraged the members of the Coalition shadow cabinet to think that victory for them at the next federal election was certain,  had they not been almost convinced of it before.   Did that push Barnaby Joyce into once again trying to place himself in line for leadership of his party in the House of Reps by talking of challenging fellow National  Bruce Scott for the lower house seat of Maranoa or failing that,  the New England seat of Independent Tony Windsor.  One sensed that Emma Alberici thoroughly enjoyed baiting Barnaby Joyce in the Lateline interview to make wilder and wilder statements.   He on the other hand seemed off his rocker,  trying to browbeat her into agreeing with him and ridiculing her questions,  giving rise to this sort of comment from psyclaw at the TPS blog,  further confirming Ad Astra’s opinion,  and mine,  that Joyce is indeed barmy.

Joyces’ aggression to Ms Alberici last night was quite ignorant and all over the place. He seemed to be not in control of his faculties. Fruit of the vine????? Whatever, he showed what a huge embarrassment he would be as a deppity PM, not to mention how dangerous for the nation any of his flat earth decisions would be if he had opportunity to make them. The class and competence of the alternate cabinet is a farce.

POST SCRIPT  15/06/15  Loved this image which turned up last night, but I must research more for detail on what he actually said about killing wild dogs who eating pets in suburbia. Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce is launching new resources to tackle wild dogs which are eating pets in suburban areas.

Agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce launches a new website on invasive pests in the mural hall of parliament house in Canberra this morning, Tuesday 16th June 2015.

COMMENTS:

Casablanca,     27/03/12,     Patricia WA      Spot on: another feisty pome. That last para scares me – hopefully many on his own side of politics will also be scared.    Both Abbort and Bananaby are unstable characters.

jane,   27/03/12,      Patricia, loved the pome!

Sue,     27/03/12,   barmy barnaby is the friend of clive and a family counsellor to gina.  I do enjoy your pomes.

Gravel,    29/03/12,    Well done again Patricia, it is a very scary thought with both A and B in charge.

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Stop The Guns!

Posted on March 14, 2012 by patriciawa

His Coalition colleagues say
Their party boss is ‘toujours gai’ –
‘So happy’ – if he can portray
Himself armed for any affray
With words like guns,  shoot,  ricochet.

If Tony Abbott had his way
He’d mix with armed men every day.
Policemen in their blue and gray,
Khaki clad soldiers far away,
With lots of weapons on display.

So why the passion for gun play?
He wasn’t raised in the USA
Where being armed has such cachet.
No young,  leftist hero held sway
With him like martyr soldier,  Che.

But maybe he found Pinochet,
Rightist gunman who saved Chile.
Does he dream of his own ‘V’ day?
Aussies shouting,  “Tony!”  “Hooray!”
Cannons roaring!   A band to play!

But how can he hope for victory?
He’s still in the 19th century
With his  ‘gun/boat’  mentality!

NOTES:     Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott was able to get on to a different hobby horse today.   He turned from boats to guns.    He was still able to talk about the Federal Government’s border protection policies though and to blame them now for what he described as a “reign of terror”‘ on Sydney’s streets.     He interrupted Question Time to accuse the Government of not doing enough to stop illegal guns hitting the streets.

He is convinced that as Sydneysiders dive for cover from drive-by shooters they should now not only blame the crime gangs and the police but they should also blame our Prime Minister.  He told the House of Reps today that Julia Gillard’s  “failures on border protection have materially contributed to this particular social disaster.”

He joined the complaints of NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell that our Customs Officials were failing to stop the importation of increased numbers of illegal guns into Australia.   After recently making much of his election promise to cut some twelve thousand public servants Mr. Abbott in Question Time today complained that Julia Gillard’s government had cut several hundred positions from our postal and customs services.

George did a brilliant photo-shop on his favorite blog  of A Frank View which brilliantly encapsulated Tony Abbott’s mentality – so often three word slogans.   Stop The Boats and now Stop The Guns!       I could not resist the opportunity to revise an earlier pome which focussed on Abbott’s obsession with guns!    The idea of a nexus between guns and boats in his mind made it fairly obvious to think of him as having  a  ‘gunboat mentality!’

COMMENTS:

George,      14/03/12,   PatriciaWA,  use any image you like, no need to ask :) – great poem!

Victoria,     14/03/12,    I posted your latest poem at the other place. Another gem

Catching up,    14/03/12,    Well maybe the 20th but definitely not the 21st.    What a boring place to be trapped.

Talk Turkey,   14/03/12,   Patricia I think you should do a rap dance routine to your Pollie pome above, put it on video and post it on Polliepomes with links everywhere! Smile

Gravel,     15/03/12,      Patricia, I can’t think of a bigger word than excellent, and that doesn’t even come near to describing your wonderful pome’s.

Miglo,     15/03/12,    You are a marvel, Patricia.

Airport Made Simple,     15/03/12,      Hi Patricia – yes, work, work, work! 🙂   And a huge fan of coffee.  I also find your poetry/blog to have a very unique perspective. Have a great day.       AirportsMadeSimple.com   Email:  airportsmadesimple@gmail.com  UNSIGNED LETTER  RESPONDING TO PATRICIA att.  (Nice to see your logo when I woke very early this morning!  I hope that someone there is enjoying a good coffee!  Nice to think of bringing a smile to someone working through the night!  Cheers,   Patricia)

 

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Starting Wars Is Not Swan’s Way

Posted on March 12, 2012 by patriciawa

Wayne Swan did not declare this war
It was Clive Palmer crying poor
On Lateline not two years ago
When Kevin Rudd was all aglow,
Insisting miners pay more tax.
That night Clive said he’d get the axe;
Promised a miners’ revolution
To bring about Rudd’s execution.

So it was.    Twiggy and Gina
Came charging into the arena.
They roused the citizens of Perth
To claim states’ rights to sell their earth.
Well known Aussie mining magnates,
Victorious,  this band of mates,
Then refused negotiations
And Gillard’s terms with corporations.

Billionaires on the back of trucks
Got Tony Abbott thinking,  “Shucks!
We’ll have a nationwide revolt!
Bring carbon pricing to a halt!”
But somehow his People’s Rising,
Urged on by his catastrophizing,
Flopped.   It did not eventuate
He’d get what he thought his ‘due’ estate.

Abbott couldn’t make the distance,
So Clive now has to lead resistance.
The manpower of a footie team,
Plus  ‘National Treasure’  title,  seem
To enlarge him,  make him bigger,
Into a massive public figure.
Ally Twiggy gets his jollies
In Canberra,  nagging pollies.

It wasn’t hard to find a part
Ideally played by Ms Rinehart.
In charge of all their propaganda,
She made sure their memoranda
Were written up, had wide report
In her media outlets newly bought.
That’s when Swannie sounded the alarm!
“Oz beware! Our democracy could come to harm!”

NB   Ms. Rinehart’s often pictured image standing on the back of that truck seems to have  disappeared from every story featuring it on the web and been replaced by more flattering portraits.   Or is that my imagination?   Andrew Forrest chatting up the Deputy Leader of the Opposition will have to do!

NOTES:     The response by members of the Opposition to Wayne Swan’s recent address to the National Press Club has stirred up a hornet’s nest of criticism.  Joe Hockey accused Treasurer Swan of encouraging the ‘politics of envy’  and declaring war on people who were ambitious.     Swan’s comments were delivered in a newly feisty style and seemed to reflect a more aggressive mood than his earlier wont,  though he had written extensively about the subject earlier.    One wonders if Hockey, Abbott et al  bothered to read his observations in his essay in ‘The Monthly”:  The 0.01 Per Cent: The Rising Influence of Vested Interests in Australia  in whichSwan had said the rising power of the rich – including mining magnates Clive Palmer,  Andrew Forrest and Gina Rinehart – was threatening Australia’s  “fair go”  mentality.   He made a reasoned argument to justify his view that

“A handful of vested interests that have pocketed a disproportionate share of the nation’s economic success now feel they have a right to shape Australia’s future to satisfy their own self-interests.”

There has been plenty of interesting comment and commentary on the comment about Swan’s argument.   I was sufficiently stirred up by the thoughts of  Ad Astra,  of The Political Sword,  to write the pome above.   I agreed with his argument that politicians on the right were too quick to defend the three billionaires and accuse Swan of class warfare rather than addressing his real issue of the growing gap between rich and poor.

Isn’t it a pity that no sooner had Wayne Swan introduced a debate on the growing disparity between the affluent and the rest of the community, it degenerated into mindless slogan-slinging. ‘Class warfare’, ‘the politics of envy’ were the predictable responses from those defending those specifically targeted: Gina Rinehart, Clive Palmer and Twiggy Forrest.

The more I read of other commentary the more  I realized there was indeed a war going on and it was a media war I had  myself  watched being declared by Clive Palmer on Lateline on May 7th, 2010,  just after Swan,  with the then PM Kevin Rudd,  had first introduced the mining resources profits tax.  He was joined in the battle almost immediately by fellow mining magnate,   Andrew Forrest.     Their good friend,  Gina Rinehart,  joined them soon after in the miners revolt that was  promised by Palmer a few weeks before.

It began with a very well organised protest meeting on June 9th in the streets of Perth with a parade of thousands of supporters from all walks of life who had been speedily convinced they were vitally affected by this new tax.   Gina Rinehart and Twiggy Forrest,  both standing on the back of a truck,  led them enthusiastically chanting,  “Axe The Tax!”    with Gina in her signature pearls and Twiggy in his trademark working man’s gear.  As I mentioned above I just can’t trace that image of Gina in pearls,  hair flying,  mike in hand, yelling her guts out.   Can anyone help?

Of course that was only the beginning.   In the less than two years since then Kevin Rudd has lost his job,  as Palmer promised,  and these three mining giants have continued in a determined and very public campaign to bring down his successor,  Julia Gillard,  and her government,  having been promised by Tony Abbott that the Coalition will repeal the mining tax.   Swan’s article and his address to the Press Club look to me like the response of a man who feels he has held his peace long enough.

UPDATE 26/04/13, Clive Palmer has been very active in politics since 2010 but his engagement with public life has resulted in the development of his own political party, the United Australia Party. Today the the Australian published what I thought was an ironic report about a comment from Joe Hockey that Clive Palmer needed to show voters his policies. It looks like the UAP could be more of a threat to Joe Hockey and Tony Abbott than Wayne Swan and Julia Gillard.

COMMENTS:

Pip,     12,03/12,     Brilliant patricia

Miglo,     12/03/12,     Another gem Patricia. And here’s me, I can’t even find a word to rhyme with ‘heard’.     Perhaps I’ll try another word.     Hey, that rhymed. :D

Lyn,     12/03/12,   Hi Patricia.  You are brilliant, a brilliant shining light, shining on TPS.

Nasking,     12/03/12,   Patricia,   what a beaut poem. Brill!

 Ad Astra,     12/03/12,     That is great verse.  Rhythmic and true.    The billionaires have declared war.  War is a dangerous game.  There are always losers – big losers and lesser ones – all lose.  And fair play and democracy is always a casualty.

Talk Turkey,    12/03/12,   Patricia  I think you have excelled yourself this time, what think you?    You are certainly answering Ad astra’s call! Sounds pretty lyrical to me.  What your pome says between the lines is,   The phoney war is over. We are properly embattled now.     More power to Stephen Smith, Wayne Swan and *J*U*L*I*A*, may our writings and links on the Sword encourage them and stiffen their resolve. It is a fight we dare not lose.

Catching up,     13/03/12,    We need to understand and protect our democracy/ Wealth and power does not give one any more rights than the tramp on the street.

“A good democratic conversation should always remind us of the different views and different circumstances of the other citizens of this country.If public debate is dominated by the interests of a few – and by this I mean the wealthy and big business – then the closed nature of that debate will drag down our democracy.”

Victoria,     13/03/12,    I had to post your poem at PB.   Very enjoyable

George,    13/03/12,    PatriciaWA, brilliant poem!

Catching up,     13/03/12,   We all have the right to put our point of view across. But I think it’s fair enough to ask about the influence of people who are able to fund major advertising campaigns at the drop of a hat, and whether this is conducive to a healthy democracy. I see it as part of a pervasive attempt to convince the pub.    http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/unions-represent-millions-mining-giants-only-a-few/

Leone,     13/03/12    Patriciawa  Here’s a very unflattering one taken at the Axe the Tax rally – http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/2366838-3×2-700×467.jpg   There are photos around  but you are right – the major media sites seem to have replaced the uglies with studio portraits. I  won’t say more flattering because it’s been about 30 years since Gina had anything taken that made her look decent.    I can’t find any actually showing the truck.   Love the poem.

Gravel,    13/03/12,     Patricia, what a great memory you have of that interview a couple of years ago. As for your pome, you have again out done yourself with your clever and witty way with words. thank you

Patriciawa,    09/08/12,    Hi Janice, I’m sorry to hear about your indisposition, and very sad to think that it’s not going to improve in future. I imagine the the long term prognosis for a crumbling spine is not that good. But isn’t that laptop a treasure for keeping one in touch with the world!    My own time out was limited but having my think pad made even those few days bearable.  Being hospitalised after the accident made me very aware of how blessed I am and have been, not having been near a hospital in the almost half a century since my children were delivered in maternity wards.  Like you, I’m really pleased to know that TT is out of pain and on the mend.

PS  Thanks for your lovely comments on my latest pomes.  You have have been a loyal follower.  I’m not sure if you saw this one, but Ad Astra’s post makes it relevant again.  So this is for you!

Ad Astra,    09/08/12,     Patriciawa,     How appropriate that you should post your telling pome about Wayne Swan.  Thank you.

Talk Turkey,     09/08/12,    Oh Patricia!   I reckon this is your very best, it has real punch, and it’s clear that you have cracked the Rhyming Barrier, something I claim for myself too, perhaps a little vainly, but isn’t it FUN, English, when you KNOW you are going to find the onomatopoeia and the alliteration, the rhymes and the nuances you need to put together a delight like yours above.   Do you read your pomes to little Tacker? Do your own rhymes ever make you cry? Dam, some of mine do that to me! Smile

Ad astra,    I LOVE The Political Sword. The way it summons up the blood might well be the critical factor in our eventual win.    Oh and I feel GOOD tonight! Smiling, well, and confident. Yea!

Truth  Seeker,    10/08/12,    TT, good to see you are well on the way back to your passionate best.    Patricia, the pen is as sharp as the sword in the cut and thrust of political discourse.   Nice one.   Cheers!

Janice,     10.08/12,     Good morning all Swordians.    PatriciaWA – thank you for your pome – that is one of your best in my opinion.  I have no illusions about my crumbling spine but am a bit miffed that it suddenly and inexplicably grounded me for no good reason – anyway, whatever shifted and got into the nerve channel has eased its pressure and I have passed the ‘acute’ stage so that the pain is now manageable. I am always careful not to provoke such events by doing stupid things!  

Gravel,     10/0/8/12,     Another brilliant pome, I really enjoyed it.

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Something To Celebrate?

Posted on March 8, 2012 by patriciawa

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-08/gillard27s-performance-as-female-pm/3875502

On International Women’s Day
Finally we’ve had someone say
Our Prime Minister is Okay!
She’s been assessed as Triple A!

She’s always admired overseas
For how easily she shoots the breeze
With little folk and the big cheese.
At last she is the Oz bees knees!

Our own experts,  who ought to know,
Have told us that she’s all the go
With public servants. They’re aglow.
Now here’s a report which confirms it’s so.

She alarms the Coalition,
Our hysterical Opposition,
Who share mad Tony’s premonition
That she’s done for his ambition.

That’s why she’s praised by Independents,
Not just her ALP attendants.
In future times our descendants
Will read of the glorious Gillard ascendance!

NOTES:   Oh Dear!  I’ve had to change that exclamation point in the title to a question mark!      Returning to the ABC story with this unusually complimentary  report praising our Prime Minister,  I see that since I first read it this morning and rushed into enthusiastic rhyme this disclaimer has been added

 Editor’s note: This article originally referred to a report released by the AGSM, when in fact the statements came from Rosemary Howard.

Let’s hope this does not mean that the board of the Australian Graduate School of Management wishes to resile from the comments made by Ms. Rosemary Howard, who is  Executive Director,  of the Australian Graduate School of Management’s Executive Programs!  Or perhaps it’s just that someone in the ABC news room,  in the euphoria of this special day,  forgot to follow the usual Australian media method for downplaying any reference to the woman who runs this country.

Why is it that praise for Australia’s first woman Prime Minister, Julia Gillard,  is rarely reported in our main stream media?  Even this seemingly unqualified praise of her from a senior management expert has been modified within a few hours!    From the very beginning of her new government in September, 2010,  once those initial long and intricate negotiations with Independents and the Greens had been completed,  the media seemed to show us less and less of our Prime Minister and  more and more of the Leader of the Opposition!   And less and less respect for her too!

I was complaining of the limited news to be found about her very early the following year, while  Tony Abbott managed to get widespread coverage of  himself in media stunts  almost every day.   News Ltd,  in an openly proclaimed push for an election and a new government  began as the prime offender here.    Fairfax and then theABC have followed suit.   Such mention as the Prime Minister received in their stories and commentary was of a negative,   derogatory,   even derisive nature doubting her government’s effectiveness and her  leadership skills.   This was in the face of clear evidence proving otherwise,   with a sound economy and very impressive program of reforming legislation achieved.   Stories apparently praising her still talked down her chances of survival as Prime Minister and only reported in passing her many and solid achievements.

Despite the Prime Minister’s decisive win over Kevin Rudd by a two third’s majority some in the media have  continued their determined efforts to discredit her and bring about her downfall,   if not of the government.    Within a day of that leadership ballot stories appeared about her likely replacement by a Third Man.    Soon after followed the great media circus of the Cabinet Reshuffle and supposedly botched appointment of Bob Carr  as her new Minister for Foreign Affairs.   That culminated in her press conference introducing him to the media  which,   although a triumph,  did not impress many journalists!   Though what was described as a  reverse wedgie  did earn her some praise from Michael Gordon of the Age who thought that “she showed this week that she might just have what it takes.”

And that almost grudging note is very much in the same vein as other commentary on our remarkable Prime Minister who has already performed a miracle of tenacity in holding together her Caucus team far longer than thought possible;  who has negotiated with Independents and Greens the passage of hundreds of pieces of  legislation through a hung parliament,  most of it for significant reform relating to climate change,  industry,  health and the economy.   Have these journalists not noticed that inside Parliament Julia Gillard always gets “Ayes”  no matter how many “Noes!” Tony Abbott has uttered?

These are the same journalists who a week ago sat in the National Press Club and listened, over a good lunch,  while Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor gave their report card on their experience of Julia Gillard’s government.   Both men were fulsome in their enthusiasm for what had been achieved in their regions and in their praise for Julia Gillard’s personal skills and her commitment to the pledges she had made to win their support.   I have seen no TV reports or newspaper stories of these speeches which told of the achievements in our regions.   Nor have I seen direct quotes about our Prime Minister’s able contribution to it all from these two very reliable and honorable Members of Parliament.   Or were they there and I somehow missed them?

I guess that’s why I got all excited about this one big tick the ABC finally gave Julia Gillard on International Women’s Day in their featured report from the ASGM.  But it turns out it wasn’t really from that organisation,  was it?   It was just something some woman said,  after all.

Some woman!!  Executive Director!!   Well done,  Rosemary Howard!  And well said!   It’s true that “Julia Gillard is being judged more harshly than her male peers.”   There are indeed double standards by which women in leadership are judged.

But I don’t agree with Rosemary Howard about one thing she said,  i.e.  that our PM  “lost voters’ trust over the mining tax and carbon tax.”     I think our Prime Minister has been alienated from voters by media and mining interests with deliberate distortions and misreporting of the mining tax and carbon tax.   As well there has been a determined campaign to diminish her person and reputation in the eyes of the public through limiting her media exposure unless constantly deriding her and doubting her achievements and the likely survival of her government.

Nonetheless she has survived.   She has overcome.    I stand by my pome!

COMMENTS:

Patriciawa,   08/03/12,   Postscript to the above –  I checked  with Lyn whose links at the Political Sword cover most significant Oz political commentary and she agrees that my rage is justified about the non reporting of the National Press Club appearance of Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott.  Without putting words to her pen I wouldn’t be surprised if in her wide coverage of our media she hasn’t formed a similar opinion to my own, though her role does a require an objectivity and restraint I don’t have to show.

LOVO,     08/03/12,     ‘Howard Backs Gillard!’….. now there’s a headline!   

Pia Robinson,    08/03/12,   Wonderful!

Nimue,    08/03/12     Hello to all. It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted, but I thought to drop by on this special occasion to say thank you Patricia for your wonderful poems.

In many ways International Women’s Day is not only a day for celebration, but an occasion for reflection. We should be thinking of those many millions of women still struggling for the things which we take for granted, control over our own lives.    Again, thank you.

Victoria,     08/03/12,     I love your pomes.   I love your latest one too.   Can I post it at PB. There are still many regulars over there who appreciate your efforts?

myk42,    08/03/12,    Congrats on the ‘national archive / award’ thingy Patricia :)

Lyn,    08/03/12,       Hi Patricia.    Your Pome is a tribute to Julia, superb work, A tribute to you.     I see you used the picture of Julia from the ABC article. I really loved that picture as soon as I saw it.      You are never going to be able to give up writing, so you may as well accept that and keep on writing it’s your calling, your forte.

Catching up,     08/03/12,    Nice to see some nice, positives things said about our PM for once.

Roswell,     08/03/12,    Yes Pia. Wonderful. Patricia is a rare talent.

Jane,      08/03/12,     Great pome post patricia.

I’m glad that the double standard applied to the PM is being exposed.  When you think that Liealot isn’t held to any standards whatever, it makes you want to spit chips!   I don’t think even the Rodent had as much vitriol directed at him for such a prolonged period. She must be a truly remarkable person to have come through.

Casablanca,      08/03/12,    Something To Celebrate! Another delightful poem. I hope that you are getting plenty of hits.

Lyn,      09/03/12,     Hi Patricia    Congratulations on your magnificent work. You deserve to be honoured and acclaimed for your  memorable pomes. Your work in building your own blog Polliepomes, using self discipline & determination, all the while striving for excellence is admired by all.

An honour for Patricia in recognition of her brilliant work:  Certification from the National Library:  I am delighted to inform you that your publication is now publicly available in the PANDORA Archive at http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-132006   Polliepomes is listed on the PANDORA Archive at http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-132006 Best Wishes from Lyn

Patriciawa,    09/03/12,    Thank you, Lyn.   This is just the spot to celebrate that!   And to think the greatest excitement in my lately discovered writing life has been the listings I get in your daily Links at The Political Sword.    That’s an honor too, but now I’ll be in your company forever,  since you and Ad Astra  in The Political Sword are also listed by PANDORA along with other good friends of yours like Grog and Mr. Denmore.

Gravel,    09/03/12,     Patricia, another excellent pome.  It is wonderful when we can read other people praise our Prime Minister.  I understand your fury finding that an Edit note had been attached.  It  is as if it’s wrong to allow anything positive be said without a kick in the belly as well.

Talk Turkey,    09/03/12     Patricia, who cares about the Media’s Opinions anyway?

Dumb and tedious!
I’ve thought of *J*U*L*I*A* ever since as
Boadicea, our Warrior Princess! Smile

No man could do the things she’s done,
Nor win the wondrous wins she’s won:
Firm, determined, smart, commanding,
Gender bias notwithstanding,

Julia Gillard, Hail to Thee!
Lead us on to Victory!
Ad Astra,      09/03/12     Patricia WA, TT,    What an asset you are to TPS with your verse.   PM Gillard deserves our admiration and commendation.  The slagging of her by the media is looking more and more what it really is – unconscionable behaviour against a competent PM to unseat her with lies, distortions and disingenuous reporting.

Min,    09/03/12,    Patricia and your comment at your site: Nonetheless she has survived. She has overcome. I stand by my pome!

Well done Patricia! And this goes for all the feisty fems, our PM included.

Miglo,    09/03/ 12,     Patricia, I see your pome is attracting a lot of positive comments around Facebook. So far twelve people have shared it on their Facebook pages, which no doubt contributed significantly to the large number of Facebook visitors to the Cafe yesterday.

Tom R,   09/03/12,  Morning Patriciawa.   Not sure there is much to that update on the ANC story. Just setting the facts straight really. Imagine if the oo got hold of it first, and turned the whole thing into another ‘lefty ABC’ rant.    At least the correction is in the open and for all to see, and not just done silently on the fly.

Patriciawa,   09/03/12,   Id’ve agreed with you Tom R,  had they done ‘Rosemary Howard’ the courtesy of referring to her by her full title, Executive Director, of the Australian Graduate School of Management’s Executive Programs!

Nimue,    09/03/12,   Patricia, thank you again for sharing. Yours is indeed a rare talent.

Miglo,    09/03/12,   Rarer than rare. Endangered.     Patricia, the public servants were aglow as soon as the 2007 election results were known. I couldn’t help but notice while walking through the city on the way to work the following Monday morning that people again had a smile on their faces and a spring in their step.

   
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