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Re: Blog Thread IIIa : Look Who's Blogging Now

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Lines:
Pat, maybe a bit of both of B and C. If you really do want to do something, maybe say that, "Hey, I'm still adjusting from customs from the other country I used to live in, so if I'm weird when we hang out, I'm sorry," and then go hang out and try to forget about why it's awkward. Maybe that might help?

Tom:
As you guys have probably heard (or haven't) Mr. Abbott said something to the effect of shit happens in response to the unpreventable death of an Australian soldier in combat. The comment was insensitive and demonstrated again Mr. Abbott's clear inability to be an adequate state person. It's not really worth 7 and 9's big media brouhaha but it has demonstrated a clear divide between some of Australia's largest media outlets or, more precisely, just between 2GB and everyone else.

Now, this is where shit gets personal. My eldest youngest brother wants to join the army so, by the time I found out about this event he'd already formed his own (extreme) opinion on the matter deciding that Mr. Abbott should go "hang himself" for his comment and that his was no more than "1/8 of the man that soldier was." He posted this on facebook and was then promptly told to remove it by admins. When I found out about this I told him that his comment was just as, if not more insensitive than Mr. Abbott's and that one cannot take the high ground via the low road.

When Mum found out she was furious for a different reason. William had taken issue with dearest Tony where he had done no wrong of any kind and was thus above criticism and that he had done so on facebook/in public, of all places. I told her that I'd talked to William about it and had given him my reasons, I also so said that this was another example of how Mr Abbott lacks the political clout or able statespersonship to be head of a major political party let alone Australia's PM. I was then blamed for putting these thoughts into William's head and that I too was a victim of the left leaning press. I then told her to lay of off 2GB for a little while, this offended her a great deal and though cutting was a most likely in poor form.

Mum also told me that I don't like Abbott because he's Catholic and his stance on abortion. In response I said: I don't like Abbott because he has shown himself incapable of keeping his beliefs out of politics and has racist, classist and and misogynistic leanings. Her response was that I don't like the Liberal party so of course I said: I don't like the Liberal party under Mr. Abbott and neither does the Liberal Party.

David_Dovey:
Thank you for making me feel slightly relieved that no matter how crazy conservative my family gets, they still have the good sense to see that Tony Abbot is fucking bonkers. Sorry about yr family issues, though.

Inlander:
I absolutely despise Tony Abbott and as far as I'm concerned the sooner he retires from public life the better it'll be for Australia.

But I also absolutely despise media beat-ups that take the place of real news.

Here's the video of Abbott's "shit happens" comment for those who haven't seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv7KjYFqxgA#t=1m50s. Abbott says that the comment's been taken out of context, and he's absolutely right. The problem is that, as with so much else in the English language, the phrase "shit happens" is ambiguous and heavily context-dependant: it can mean either "get over it", or it can be a pithy, weary observation of the utter powerlessness of humanity in the face of the vastness and complexity of the universe. It's clear that the latter is what Abbott meant: he'd gone to Afghanistan under the impression that the Australian soldier had died because of a fatal lack of equipment and support, something which could have been easily avoided, but once on the ground he'd been told that that was not in fact the case. That in fact sometimes people die in war, and there's nothing that can be done about it. That sometimes shit just happens regardless of how well equipped or prepared people are for it.

Eris:
See, that is how i felt about his comment. But then there was the fact that when a journalist asked him about it and he just stared at them in silence for what, 45 seconds? Staring and nodding slightly before finally saying he has said all he wanted to on the situation. That is not how the leader of the opposition should be acting. He could have at least cut the person off after he made his statement. What if he does get into power, is he going to freeze like that every time someone asks him a hard question?

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