So this morning I woke up to find that (according to my regular blog readings) Aussie Prime Minister Julia Gillard is under imminent threat of removal. (An opinion which, I should state right away, appears to have been watered down somewhat as the day has progressed.) This is not too surprising, given her long record of utterly fucking things up; nor is it at all surprising to find that the only reasonable contender being mentioned is former Prime Minister (and by some lights the victim of Gillardian treachery) Kevin Rudd.
This would be a big mistake, for two reasons. The first is that, theories of treacherous and unnecessary backstabbing aside, Rudd's removal was seen by many on both sides of politics as entirely justified. His position was shaky; he was warned what would happen if he failed again; he failed again. End of story, and what better thing to do than to replace him with the Deputy Prime Minister and go to an election? One was impending anyway, and Labor's fortunes were headed down the S bend, so why not put it to the people?
Why not, indeed? Knifing him had the advantage of enabling the Government to wash its hands of all the disasters that had thus far occurred, and to put them down as the horrific blunders of an incompetent megalomaniac who had been determined to do it his way. That plus the novelty value of possibly having Australia's first female Prime Minister plus Julia Gillard actually having done an OK job as acting PM in the past (just don't mention the Building the Education Revolution blunders and $16bn down the drain) plus the infamous claim (later proven to be an utter lie) that there would be no carbon tax under a government she led sufficed to give her just enough seats to form a government... with one Green and two Independents in seats which would ordinarily be Liberal/National Coalition.
Things since then have gone nowhere but downhill.
The problem with bringing Rudd back is that it reminds you (or ought to, if you still have a thinking bone left in your body) of just why it is that he isn't Prime Minister today. To wit - there are a hell of a lot of people on both sides of politics who think the man is an incompetent narcissist. But that didn't stop him from pulling out all the stops to prove that he was leadership material once again and that the people still loved him.
Except maybe they don't. And if there is anything, anything of truth at all, in the perception that Rudd scripted and stage-managed his recrudescent glory, then it must surely confirm the worst fears of those who think he is not only an incompetent narcissist but seriously mentally unstable.
And this is the man they want to bring in to "save" the Labor Party.
No. The only thing that is "saving" the Labor Party right now is Julia Gillard's ability to play the gender card whenever Tony Abbott has her political back against the wall; to get the media so distracted by the so-called "misogyny debate" that they (and a significant share of voters) forget about whatever latest thing it is that she and her Cabinet have royally fucked up. Any man - any man at all - put into her position will have his proverbial throat torn out.
There are too damn many people out there who want to see her concede on Election Night. And then the radical feminists and Emily's Listers can scream all they fucking well want, but it will be THEIR fault for putting an incompetent twit into the job when they should have waited until they had someone with talent and integrity.
Australia's first female Prime Minister has been a complete fucking disaster. Someone more like Margaret Thatcher would have been a better choice, and well worth waiting for. Unless of course you're a screeching fucking harpy or a snout-in-the-trough bottom feeder. And too fucking bad if you are. Scream all you like; your gravy train is heading for derailment.
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