Monday, April 23, 2007
HERO STOOD UP TO FOREIGNERS
Writing in praise of the ABC telemovie Curtin, antiwar leftist Kim asks:
Can anyone imagine today’s men of steel straw facing the sorts of challenges our WW2 pollies met?
Hmmm. That’s a tough one, Kim. Based on form, though, I’d have to guess Bush, Howard, and Blair might have met those challenges militarily, in much the same manner as did John Curtin. It’s much easier to imagine today’s antiwar left during WWII … wailing about Curtin’s introduction of conscription, smearing him as a drunk, protesting over Curtin’s “politics of fear” before the 1943 election, and painting him as MacArthur’s lapdog. Oh, and there might also be the occasional complaint about Jews and foreign wars, and – following the bombing of Darwin – claims that our closeness to the US and UK had “made us a target”.
Curtin was a brilliant wartime leader. In comments, Kim’s leftoid readers agree – but not for reasons you might expect, such as doing his utmost to defeat fascism. Instead, we get this:
Curtin was no South Pacific poodle. He stood up to America during a real World War.
Forget the Japs; Curtin took on the US! (He didn’t, of course. But the Left can’t tolerate the notion of a pro-US hero.) Here’s another champion commenter:
Yeah, with Tojo in place of GWB2 think of the arselicking and signing up to the Australian-Japanese Greater Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Astonishing. But nothing beats this:
The Australian people know in their bones (and the polls) that we are about to face another almighty challenge to our existence as a nation, with the onset and acceleration of …
Islamic terrorism? It’s got to be Islamic terrorism, right? I mean, what else could it be?
… global warming. And when the going gets tough, they will vote Labor, just like they did in the war years.
Actor Geoff Morrell, who plays Ben Chifley in the program, is nearly as stupid:
"There’s an interesting parallel to present-day politics. At that time we really were just the providers of fodder for the protection of the Empire. To have a prime minister who stood up to these foreign leaders and who genuinely had the interests of the people at heart, that really does bring into perspective some of the stuff going on today."
There is also the small matter of Curtin standing up to the Japanese, which might possibly be a better demonstration of his concern for Australia – but to celebrate that might, I don’t know, be racist or something. Better to hype perceptions of Curtin as some kind of anti-US, anti-UK peacemonk.