Sunday 5 October 2008

Open letter to Kevin Rudd

I wonder how hard it would be for Australians to demand a new election?  I thought I liked what K-Rudd stood for, initially, until I realised how little he carries in the way of testicular fortitude.  But right at this point, I'm less for a re-election and more for a taking down of the existing government.  It needs to be dismantled - to remind it that it's the representative of the people, not the lord and liege thereof.  That went out in Middle Ages England and is no longer appropriate here.

What other country has as much budget surplus, as much raw income, as many resources - and lets its old folks live on cat food?  What other country has so many people working and bringing in foreign trade dollars - but lets the banks and petrol companies run amok amongst them and rob them of their share of the wealth they helped create?

Mr Rudd - right now, you truly suck at everything, you are Teh Fail.

You might be doing wonderful things overseas, and I don't begrudge that overseas travel which the Libs try to tar you with, because we need a good foreign diplomat after the dismal pond slime that was John Howard.  At least you've taken a few firm stands against some issues, and have not been the obsequious  kiss-ass that he was.

I'm glad that you said you'd take the environmental issues bull by the horns, too.

I'm just not too pleased that you then patted said bull on the head and then (in Army parlance) retreated to a safe distance.  Because, waiting for the rest of the world to reduce their greenhouse footprint first may be all well and anal retentive, and may ensure that our precious producers are not "disadvantaged" in the short term, but in the long term it means we'll all be that much more stuffed.

You see - saying you're going to do something commendable and then only half doing it, that falls short of even being halfway competent.  Competent people don't fail or falter.

I'm a pensioner myself so the pensions issue does weigh on me.  But then, so does your decision not to put the boot into the banks and "strongly encourage" them to pass on that rate cut, because at this pension rate and without that interest rate cut, I can't afford both my rent and my food...

Also I find that your handling of your government in regards to the petrol price and excise issues has been less than I'd expect from someone who's supposed to be the head of the country and thus have some control over the political process.  Because that directly impacts how often I can drive to get my shopping and how many times I have to walk my emphysemic ass to the shops and then gasp and pant my way back with two shopping bags.

I realise that you have a lot of issues to sort out - but that's why we elected you.  You seemed to be a member of the PDA set, able to prioritise and multitask and deal with multiple issues.  The trouble seem to be that you've set yourself the goal of just coasting at each of the multiple tasks.  Right now, Australia has shown that despite your less than strenuous efforts at home, we can weather a global economic disaster better than almost everywhere else.  That's not thanks to you, that's despite you and your predecessors.  Australia is better than you and JWH have been.

We've for decades shown that we have brilliant ideas and technologies, which then end up overseas because of restrictions and funding shortfalls here at home.  That's something that has been due to lack of government support as much as it has been due to all other factors combined.

We have some of the world's most plentiful sunshine, making Australia an ideal place to harness clean solar energy.  Yet our solar rebates, while extremely good, could be much better.  And our subsidies for electric vehicles that could use that clean solar energy, are so poor as to be absent.  Our incentives to develop solar/electric vehicles are non-existent, the assistance for these technologies is poor, and even more poorly policed when given out.

We're now in an economic climate when faith in stock markets and banks and high finance has been shaken to the point where world economics will never be the same again.  A political climate where the United States is plummeting down the political top ten chart, where political power will soon boil down to what a country truly has in the way of resources, intelligent innovators, and a population willing to sacrifice in order to ensure that we have a world to pass on to our children and grandchildren.

In this climate, Australia could so easily become a respected world leader in every aspect.  Australia could be the example which other countries aspire to become.  Our technology could power nations.   Our policies could become the blueprint for a new world with a healthy future.  But it needs to start here, now.  Not all this stalling and pandering to the very organisations that precipitated the economic crisis, that caused the ecological crisis, and which stand behind every war or atrocity ever committed.

For all those reasons, Kevin, I'm asking you as a favour to me and the Australian people to either start acting in our interests or else resign and let's have another election.

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