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GOUGH NOT GREEN

Sound anti-environmentalist advice to the ALP from Gough Whitlam, who at 90 still knows a thing or two about mainstreaming an election campaign:

“We must target the force of the coalition government and not pander to the people who will never be in government,” he said.

“There will never be a Green prime minister or a Green treasurer or a Green foreign minister.”

With age comes wisdom.

Posted by Tim B. on 07/12/2006 at 01:54 PM
  1. Or a Green Commander-in-Chief.

    Posted by stats on 2006 07 12 at 02:15 PM • permalink

  2. Sounds like excellent advice that I hope will never enter their playbook.

    Posted by yojimbo on 2006 07 12 at 02:29 PM • permalink

  3. We must target the force of the coalition

    Target the force, Luke! Target the force!

    Posted by Rob C. on 2006 07 12 at 02:44 PM • permalink

  4. Always an exception to that rule, as is the case HERE. 62 and still doesn’t know shit. But if he did, he would be for it, BEFORE he would be against it.

    Posted by El Cid on 2006 07 12 at 02:45 PM • permalink

  5. #4, El Cid,

    Well thanks a lot for that.  Have you no respect for a person’s eyes?

    Posted by saltydog on 2006 07 12 at 03:22 PM • permalink

  6. So, according to this elder statesman, a Green has about as much chance as John Kerry’s new presidential campaign (code named, “Son of Frankenstein”; perhaps to distinguish it from Al Gore’s campaign, code named, “The Golem Project”).

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 12 at 03:34 PM • permalink

  7. saltydog

    Well thanks a lot for that.  Have you no respect for a person’s eyes?

    Ok, so we are now even up, in the spew screen competition…LOL.

    Posted by El Cid on 2006 07 12 at 03:49 PM • permalink

  8. Ok, now does THIS guy look like he knows his shit?

    Why hell no….and to boot, the boy is pointing LEFT.

    Posted by El Cid on 2006 07 12 at 03:56 PM • permalink

  9. saltydog

    Speaking of eyes, received this email from a friend, today…

    Harvey and Gladys are getting ready for bed. Gladys is standing in front of her full-length mirror, taking a long, hard look at herself.?

    “You know, Harvey, “she comments. “I stare into this mirror and I see an ancient creature. My face is all wrinkled, my boobs sag so much that they dangle to my waist, my arms and legs are as flabby as popped balloons, and…my **** looks like a sad, deflated version of the Hindenburg!”

    She turns to face her husband and says, “Dear, please tell me just one positive thing about my body so I can feel better about myself.”?

    Harvey studies Gladys critically for a moment and then says in a soft, thoughtful voice, “Well.. there’s nothing wrong with your eyesight.”

    He never heard the shot

    Posted by El Cid on 2006 07 12 at 04:08 PM • permalink

  10. No…. I…. will… never… NEVER ... agree… or .... approve… of… anything… by… The Witless Goof.

    But:
    When asked when he thought Australia would have its first female prime minister, he said “I would think it would be within half a dozen years”.

    <snip crap>

    “And on the Liberal side, Julie Bishop.

    “She’s not tried, yet. I don’t necessarily approve of her policies, but she can articulate them very effectively.”

    There’s that Julie Bishop name again.

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 12 at 04:34 PM • permalink

  11. With age comes wisdom

    No fucking way, Tim…

    Perhaps far less stupid than in ‘72-75.


    I still cringe with shame and embarrassment when I think of how I supported Gough and his band of socialist slimebucket mates 34 years ago.

    Posted by jlc on 2006 07 12 at 05:09 PM • permalink

  12. Ooooohhhh… points finger at jlc’s direction.

    Andrea!  Did you check to see if jlc has “RWDB” tatooed on his buttocks before admitting him to this blog (ie like you did for the rest of us)?

    <For USA readers, admitting to voting for Whitlam is the equivalent of admitting one voted for Ted Kennedy in the ‘70s, or worse, if that’s possible>

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 12 at 07:05 PM • permalink

  13. Stop Continental Drift!

    For USA readers, admitting to voting for Whitlam is the equivalent of admitting one voted for Ted Kennedy in the ‘70s, or worse, if that’s possible.

    Hell obviously they still do, but they try to keep the fat lush confined to Massachusetts, Washington D.C. and the family compound in Florida.

    One who has not voted him in a long while though, is Mary Jo Kopechne .

    I’m astonished that Kennedy’s liver hasn’t fallen out of his ass yet.

    Correct me if I’m wrong SCD! but your Whitlam hasn’t killed any young ladies.

    Posted by El Cid on 2006 07 12 at 07:25 PM • permalink

  14. A pity it came so late.

    Posted by mr magoo on 2006 07 12 at 07:29 PM • permalink

  15. Good god, can you believe the CIA actually had thoughts about overthrowing this guy?  Yeesh… can someone link me to one of his legendary pasta-sauce commercials?

    Posted by VegemiteLovinSeppo on 2006 07 12 at 07:38 PM • permalink

  16. Whitlam nearly got himself lynched while Prime Minister.  He was asked to open Lardner Field Days (regional farming expo) in the early 70s when farmers were leaving the farm in droves or working for the local shires to pay for the running of the farm.  [A story of the day states how one bloke sold four cows at market but didn’t have enough money from the sale to buy a pie and cuppa]  In front of an angry and vocal crowd Whitlam decided in all his wisdom to tell them they had never had it so good.  I still don’t know how he got out of there alive.

    I do agree with him on his point on Greens but if my parents and their generation find out I agreed to anything that Whitlam said I may have to change my name and leave rural Victoria forever.

    Posted by youngy on 2006 07 12 at 07:44 PM • permalink

  17. Of course Gough is too old to understand that if we had a Green Prime Minister we would be happy.  The general idea is apparently to live in a grass hut on welfare in Vanuatu.  Who knew?

    Posted by allan on 2006 07 12 at 07:49 PM • permalink

  18. When I lived in Bondi Junction, every so often I would turn (the same corner) and literally walk straight into Gough and Margaret. It was Margaret I was more scared of and I’m over 6 feet tall.

    Posted by Nic on 2006 07 12 at 07:57 PM • permalink

  19. el cid, saltydog et al… Now THIS is John Kerry the way we like to see him…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 07 12 at 08:04 PM • permalink

  20. richard mcenroe

    LOL…terrific pic, the sour pussed bastard.

    Almost looks like he’s trying, or did, cut a fart, too.

    Posted by El Cid on 2006 07 12 at 08:59 PM • permalink

  21. El Cid Perhaps the analogy wasn’t so good - best I could come up with.  Basically trying to convey that Whitlam was the darling of the progressives in the ‘70s and many people were attracted to him.  But underneath was some-one whos abilities - and associates - were well below the rhetoric.

    No, the Witless Goof didn’t kill anyone (but he did kill The Economy), but then again, Ted Kennedy wasn’t running the country!

    VegemiteLovinSeppo:
    Good god, can you believe the CIA actually had thoughts about overthrowing this guy?
    er, lets keep that “plastic turkey” canard off the shelves, shall we?

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 12 at 09:24 PM • permalink

  22. No hopeless Green leaders in power?
    I wish I could agree with Gough, but I look at how they have flourished in Germany, and I fear there are enough noodleheads here to ‘do a Gough’ again…

    Churchill once said of Sir Stafford Cripps:  ‘There but for the Grace of God goes—God!’
    Winnie didn’t know our Whitlam, for whom the phrase resonates..

    Posted by Barrie on 2006 07 12 at 09:36 PM • permalink

  23. With age comes wisdom.

    I think the saying “Even a stopped clock is right twice a day” is more appropriate in this instance.

    Posted by blandwagon on 2006 07 12 at 10:52 PM • permalink

  24. In the papers today The Green set a new policy which will ensure they remains losers.  You can’t make this stuff up. Talking about shooting yourself in the foot:

    Not one cent would be spent on new Victorian roads under a radical Greens election policy. Instead the Greens would pump a gigantic $10.5 billion into the public transport system over 10 years.

    New rail lines would be built to service Doncaster and Rowville, and trains and trams would run no more than 10 minutes apart across metropolitan Melbourne.

    Extra bus services and new train stations have also been pledged.

    The Greens’ plan includes the scrapping of VicRoads and all contracts for private train and tram operators, as well as the creation of a new transport agency.

    That is, no free/tollways, the unions running public transport, striking twice a week and welding trams to the rails. Great stuff. Bring it on. And in conclusion:

    “Victoria can have a world-class public transport system if we stop building tollways”. He said about 60% of Melburnians were dependent on a car daily.

    Posted by walterplinge on 2006 07 12 at 11:33 PM • permalink

  25. Good god, can you believe the CIA actually had thoughts about overthrowing this guy?
    er, lets keep that “plastic turkey” canard off the shelves, shall we?

    Joan Coxsedge (Labor, Victoria) wrote a book about how the CIA was infiltrating Australia to overthrow left wing governments. It was in 1982 and called ‘Rooted in Secrecy: The Clandestine Element in Australian Politics’

    Coxsedge and the book sunk without trace.

    Posted by walterplinge on 2006 07 12 at 11:43 PM • permalink

  26. walterplinge, one might say that June Coxsedge was rooted in secrecy ... well, just plain rooted anyway.

    Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 07 12 at 11:51 PM • permalink

  27. I hope the memory of Gough will live forever.
    Because while people can remember him and his crew, they will never never never make that same mistake votewise ever again.

    Posted by waussie on 2006 07 13 at 12:32 AM • permalink

  28. With age comes wisdom,
    but the years condemn.
    At the going down of the sun
    and in the morning
    We will forget him

    Posted by Whale Spinor on 2006 07 13 at 02:06 AM • permalink

  29. Always wondered who actually voted for these Greenies.


    Must be the inbred four legged four eyed Tasmanians.

    Posted by MarshallD on 2006 07 13 at 03:32 AM • permalink

  30. Take the long view; eventually, maybe, the Greens will join these in the dust bin of evolution.

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 13 at 08:24 AM • permalink

  31. #30- pity there’s not a few of those critters lurking out in the Tarkine Valley and around Cradle Mountain- we’d not only be rid of Bob Brown but they’d recycle the few dozen ferals, bongheads and bushwalking bozos who voted the flatulent, feeble, facile fern fairy into unrepresentative swilldom.

    Killer ducks also sound appealing- it’s always been a bit lacking in sport to blast daffy and his tasty poultry pals to smithereens with a chokeless riotgun loader with 10-O buckshot- it’s make it a bit of a challenge if the feathery little fuckers would go for your pineal gland if you missed.

    Posted by Habib on 2006 07 13 at 08:52 AM • permalink

  32. #31: Habib, have you ever written anything for publication? Do you have your own blog? Your prose style, sense of humor and perspicacity are irrestible, and if you’re not writing professionally, I feel that it’s almost like you’re letting down the side. However, if you ARE hiding your light under a basket, I guess I shall just have to resign myself to the enjoyment of the few golden nuggets panned out of Tim’s comment stream.

    Posted by paco on 2006 07 13 at 09:17 AM • permalink

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