Lech Blaine
Teoksen The Larrikin Myth, Masculinity and Politics: Quarterly Essay 83 tekijä
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Leaves one longing for the politics of a past age. Modern politics has become relentlessly narrowed into the acquisition of power and the deception of the electorate. Dutton is the latest manifestation of that trend.
I read Lech Blaine’s Quarterly Essay, Top Blokes in one sitting. So, I was attracted to Car Crash because I wanted to spend more time with him. After the car crash, which was riveting, I put the book down for a few days. Not sure why? I think it felt complete. I didn’t want more. But when I returned, I found a quiet, brutally honest voice that suddenly struck me as uniquely Australian. By this I mean real; intelligently observant, self-deprecating, loaded with doubt and ready to laugh.
… (lisätietoja)
I planted the boot upside-down on my head and blew the residue from the bong hit towards the starlit sky.
‘What do we think of Blainey? He’s all right!’
This was the bleak paradox of fame: my popularity and loneliness reached a peak at the same moment.
Read in one sitting so 5 stars. I laughed and shook my head at the mediocrity of our political representatives who feel the need to fabricate their persona. By way of an in-joke, "er... how good is the Quarterly Essay?"
Lech Blaine's essay is a sustained and virtuosic piece of vitriol in the larrikin tradition about which he writes - so convincingly. Anyone with any doubt about the writing-on-the-wall for the failed man from marketing would enjoy this essay. The thought that we might not have to see his smug smirk again is very attractive.
A pity Lech left out any insightful analysis of Barnaby Joyce the ex-Riverview accountant financed by water thieves to become a sexually predacious and corrupt politician. He then masquerades as a larrikin farmer by putting on a wide-brimmed hat. Maybe there was just too much material available. But within the context of the duplicity of so many PMs (Barnaby is currently acting PM) it could have been fascinating.
I'm with you John, bring on Penny Wong.
Before reading this, and as I'm just as average as the next Australian who loathes and laments our broken system of Government, the only light in a very dark tunnel was the 2013 Henry Parkes Oration by Ted Mack (RIP) who discovered just how broken it was and was one of the few to proposed a new model.… (lisätietoja)
Lech Blaine's essay is a sustained and virtuosic piece of vitriol in the larrikin tradition about which he writes - so convincingly. Anyone with any doubt about the writing-on-the-wall for the failed man from marketing would enjoy this essay. The thought that we might not have to see his smug smirk again is very attractive.
A pity Lech left out any insightful analysis of Barnaby Joyce the ex-Riverview accountant financed by water thieves to become a sexually predacious and corrupt politician. He then masquerades as a larrikin farmer by putting on a wide-brimmed hat. Maybe there was just too much material available. But within the context of the duplicity of so many PMs (Barnaby is currently acting PM) it could have been fascinating.
Australia...has been hijacked by a pack of fabricated larrikins and bona fide bullshit artists.
The straw that will break the camel's back among voters of both genders is the creeping realisation that Morrison is incompetent and shirks responsibility.
I'm with you John, bring on Penny Wong.
Australians are crying out for a sober statesman, not a beer -breathed bloke bellowing "Go Sharks!"
Before reading this, and as I'm just as average as the next Australian who loathes and laments our broken system of Government, the only light in a very dark tunnel was the 2013 Henry Parkes Oration by Ted Mack (RIP) who discovered just how broken it was and was one of the few to proposed a new model.… (lisätietoja)
Palkinnot
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Dutton has been in politics since his late teens, though not holding office until a failed stint at university, a short career in the Queensland police force as well as, with his father, a property developer. The Liberal Party of which he is a member, has seen a reversal of fortunes in recent decades. Indeed one thesis espoused by the author is that the positions of both the current government led by the Labor Party has captured the once Liberal heartland of small and large business whereas the Liberals, and Dutton in particular believe the way back is to appeal to the battlers, and certainly not the TEALS/Greens who have arisen in recent years in particular in inner capital cities.
Dutton is portrayed as almost one dimensional, ruthless (or at least devoted) in his pursuit of winning Government, a 'strong man' and possibly a difficult leader to follow (in the sense that it is not immediately clear that all members of his party believe in his vision).
The implication is that Dutton is perhaps more pragmatic (to use a somewhat neutral) word that his opponents, and it is not the author's remit in a short essay like this to also address in any depth the corresponding approach of the Labor Party. But the essay is far from the 'hatchet job' that a review in The Weekend Australian (13-14 April 2024) made it out to be. Indeed that review was less a review of this essay and more a lament that Quarterly Essay more generally had descended into a partisan- leftist series.
An worthwhile read in order to get a different perspective on Dutton and some speculation as to how he might approach the next election.
Big Ship
23 April 2024… (lisätietoja)