Two days ago I was reasonably comfortable that the Australian Government was trying pretty hard to do the right thing. Now I just don’t know anymore. So many mixed messages and a PM who has almost no patience to answer questions. You can see it in his face. He’s irritated almost at the thought of anybody not clearly understanding even his unspoken thoughts, let alone his uttered phrases.
This quote from Shane Warne’s Twitter account (quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald) about says it all:
“Listening to the PM like everyone here in Australia and what I understood was: ‘It’s essential. Unless it’s not. Then it’s essentially not essential. I can’t be clearer.'”
That last sentence – “I can’t be clearer” appears to say “You are a bunch of fools. Don’t you get it?”. But when you dissect it more carefully you begin to wonder whether it actually says “I have no idea what the hell I’m doing so just leave me alone and go away. These questions are impossible.”
Certainly, being PM right now is no enviable task. But old Miracle Boy was pretty keen on himself last May so I don’t feel too sorry for him. And, as yet, I don’t feel too sorry for us. Australians are notoriously bad at doing what we’re told. We prefer to test all boundaries and find all loop holes before finally accepting that a law is a law. In this case, the social distancing measures are perhaps not quite considered laws. Or people are oblivious. Or they think it’s all a load of hokum. I don’t know. But in any case “recommending” Australians to social distance is about as effective as putting a “No flies allowed” sign on your forehead in the desert in spring. So the government has sort of tried to be gentle with us and we (or really just a percentage of us) have sort of gently just given the government the bird. In this case, it’s a stupid thing to do, quite frankly. But it’s not surprising. If the government wants social distancing, they have to put in measures that are easily enforceable. And having people hanging out in shopping centres and having hair cuts does not make it easily enforceable.
But I am not too upset. Mainly because we’re not America. America, it seems, is at risk of annihilation because their president appears to have no idea. And even when good things try to happen, incredibly self centred fools in the senate block the way. When this is over, I seriously hope that a bunch of Republicans get done for war crimes. I am simply appalled. Gobsmacked. Disbelieving.
Yes, ScoMo. You win against Trump. That much is conclusive.
Out of the Cave 