The Left Is Soft On Tyranny
November 13th 2006 14:50
On October 3rd, John Howard made a speech in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the conservative magazine Quadrant. Behaviour like this – such as his ringing endorsement of Andrew Bolt's new book – should ring alarm bells in the mind of anyone who believes in the importance of a free press, but that's a long story for another day.
The content of this speech was the real kicker here. He warned ominously that the Left “still has fangs”, a statement which carries a not-so-subtle implication: “We haven't won yet”. This sort of sentiment came as an enormous relief to citizens who were concerned that Australia was still labouring along under the burden of a political system based on diversity of ideas, that whole “democracy” fad.
Is anyone else concerned that our esteemed leader sees any viewpoint opposed to his own as a “threat”? Apparently he feels that the Left's views so dangerously “fashionable” that they require heavy scrutiny from a few nonconformist radical free-thinkers to keep them in line.
This is, of course, in spite of his constant chipping away at media monopoly laws, furiously scratching backs as Packer and Murdoch purr in feline contentment. The latest bout of these draconian laws has finally enabled News Corp. (an organisation about as “fashionably Left” as Ghengis Kahn) to gain a share of Fairfax media, publisher of the Melbourne Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. While its full effects have not yet been felt, it's hard to be optimistic about where this road could lead: every major Australian daily owned by a total of two men, business rivals holding hands under the conference table and giving a not-so-subtle leg-up to the Liberal government and all its foreign policy allies throughout the world.
But I digress.
Howard praised Quadrant and publications of its ilk for keeping certain left-wing intellectual forces in their rightful boxes. Australian communists of decades past, he said, were not merely naiive idealists caught up in the hippie movement. They were appeasers of brutal dictators, evil regimes that placed Australian values and way of life in serious jeopardy. Only due to the tireless efforts of culture warriors like Quadrant, he said, were these appeasers kept in check and prevented from subverting the populace into welcoming oppression with open arms. The Left, he says, have always been “soft on tyranny”.
Yes, it's a good thing that there are still publications like Quadrant out there – islands of sanity in the overwhelmingly left-leaning mainstream press, the last bastion battling the appeasement of commies and terrorists. A duality of ideas in politics is dangerous: before you know it, people will get the idea that they are able to choose their own leaders and hold whatever beliefs they wish.
The topsy-turvy weirdness of the speech didn't stop there. Howard singled out several people, examples to demonstrate the dangerous follies of the Left and their flirtations with communist dictatorships. Of these, this one was my personal favourite:
“John Burton, the former head of the external affairs department, arguing that Mao's China provided a model for the transformation of Australia...“
In unrelated news, Howard's FTA and uranium sales agreements with the Mao-worshiping communist dictatorship of China continue apace. Relations between the two nations are at an all-time high. Tibet, Shmibet. Tianenmen, Shmianenmen.
Also interesting was his disdain for outspoken critics of the Vietnam war. Most people had to face facts at least 30 years ago that Vietnam wasn't such a fabulous venture, but apparently not Howard. I will certainly concede that point: the idea that the Vietnam War was a good move is definitely not fashionable.
The PM's attack on the Left as “soft on tyranny” seems quite rich when you look at his foreign policies. He is an outspoken supporter of:
- The USA* (constant contravention of Geneva Conventions and international law in its conduct of the War On Terror and treatment of detainees; invasion of Iraq in defiance of UN Security Council and possibly international law)
- China (Occupation of Tibet, exile of the Dalai Lama, brutal suppression of Tibetan nationalism; failure to recant of or atone for the Tianenmen Square massacre; constant violation of human rights against its own citizens; business dealings with African dictators such as Robert Mugabe)
- Indonesia (30-year forcible occupation of East Timor, approx. 300,000 civilian deaths, widespread institutionalised rape, looting & corruption, “scorched earth” policy destroying 99% of East Timorese infrastructure; continuing human rights violations in Papua New Guinea)
- Israel (Widespread death of Palestinian citizens in anti-insurgency actions in Gaza; 20-year Lebanese occupation; army under then-Defence Minister Ariel Sharon allowed or ordered Lebanese Phalangist Christian militias into Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982, resulting in the massacre of over 700 refugees; overwhelming civilian death toll in anti-Hezbollah incursion into Lebanon in July, civilian infrastructure used as military targets in defiance of Geneva Conventions, use of white phosphorous weapons & cluster bombs in civilian areas, also in defiance of Geneva Conventions)
(* This may be contentious, but I'm going to say that as a result of its absolute support for US foreign policy, the Howard government is in effect a secondary supporter of tyrannical regimes that the US supports, such as Saudi Arabia, and Saddam Hussein from his advent to power until the first Gulf War. He certainly has not denounced them...at least, he didn't denounce Saddam until it became fashionable to do so.)
And whilst not offering direct support of their governments, Howard is curiously silent regarding the atrocities of:
- Burma (military dictatorship; holds Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for her criticisms of the government; detainment, torture and execution of lower-profile political dissidents)
Russia (occupation of Chechnya, frequent murder of Chechnyan civilians, sowing of landmines in populated areas)
You will struggle to find a Left-wing intellectual who is “soft” on any of these regimes. But we must acknowledge Howard's principled stand in Parliament during the 80's, arguing against the Leftist appeasers within the Australian government Australia the terrorist leader, Nelson Mandela. A track record like that brilliantly highlights Mr. Howard's keen eye for sorting the good guys from the bad guys.
The term “culture war” is sadly appropriate since our government obviously views Left-wing ideas as an enemy to be vanquished. It is a depressing fact that a Prime Minister can make statements such as these without coming under serious media scrutiny, but if Packer and Murdoch have their way – and it certainly looks as though they will – the populace will not have to suffer the fangs of the tyrant-appeasing Left for much longer.
The content of this speech was the real kicker here. He warned ominously that the Left “still has fangs”, a statement which carries a not-so-subtle implication: “We haven't won yet”. This sort of sentiment came as an enormous relief to citizens who were concerned that Australia was still labouring along under the burden of a political system based on diversity of ideas, that whole “democracy” fad.
Is anyone else concerned that our esteemed leader sees any viewpoint opposed to his own as a “threat”? Apparently he feels that the Left's views so dangerously “fashionable” that they require heavy scrutiny from a few nonconformist radical free-thinkers to keep them in line.
This is, of course, in spite of his constant chipping away at media monopoly laws, furiously scratching backs as Packer and Murdoch purr in feline contentment. The latest bout of these draconian laws has finally enabled News Corp. (an organisation about as “fashionably Left” as Ghengis Kahn) to gain a share of Fairfax media, publisher of the Melbourne Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. While its full effects have not yet been felt, it's hard to be optimistic about where this road could lead: every major Australian daily owned by a total of two men, business rivals holding hands under the conference table and giving a not-so-subtle leg-up to the Liberal government and all its foreign policy allies throughout the world.
But I digress.
Howard praised Quadrant and publications of its ilk for keeping certain left-wing intellectual forces in their rightful boxes. Australian communists of decades past, he said, were not merely naiive idealists caught up in the hippie movement. They were appeasers of brutal dictators, evil regimes that placed Australian values and way of life in serious jeopardy. Only due to the tireless efforts of culture warriors like Quadrant, he said, were these appeasers kept in check and prevented from subverting the populace into welcoming oppression with open arms. The Left, he says, have always been “soft on tyranny”.
Yes, it's a good thing that there are still publications like Quadrant out there – islands of sanity in the overwhelmingly left-leaning mainstream press, the last bastion battling the appeasement of commies and terrorists. A duality of ideas in politics is dangerous: before you know it, people will get the idea that they are able to choose their own leaders and hold whatever beliefs they wish.
The topsy-turvy weirdness of the speech didn't stop there. Howard singled out several people, examples to demonstrate the dangerous follies of the Left and their flirtations with communist dictatorships. Of these, this one was my personal favourite:
“John Burton, the former head of the external affairs department, arguing that Mao's China provided a model for the transformation of Australia...“
In unrelated news, Howard's FTA and uranium sales agreements with the Mao-worshiping communist dictatorship of China continue apace. Relations between the two nations are at an all-time high. Tibet, Shmibet. Tianenmen, Shmianenmen.
Also interesting was his disdain for outspoken critics of the Vietnam war. Most people had to face facts at least 30 years ago that Vietnam wasn't such a fabulous venture, but apparently not Howard. I will certainly concede that point: the idea that the Vietnam War was a good move is definitely not fashionable.
The PM's attack on the Left as “soft on tyranny” seems quite rich when you look at his foreign policies. He is an outspoken supporter of:
- The USA* (constant contravention of Geneva Conventions and international law in its conduct of the War On Terror and treatment of detainees; invasion of Iraq in defiance of UN Security Council and possibly international law)
- China (Occupation of Tibet, exile of the Dalai Lama, brutal suppression of Tibetan nationalism; failure to recant of or atone for the Tianenmen Square massacre; constant violation of human rights against its own citizens; business dealings with African dictators such as Robert Mugabe)
- Indonesia (30-year forcible occupation of East Timor, approx. 300,000 civilian deaths, widespread institutionalised rape, looting & corruption, “scorched earth” policy destroying 99% of East Timorese infrastructure; continuing human rights violations in Papua New Guinea)
- Israel (Widespread death of Palestinian citizens in anti-insurgency actions in Gaza; 20-year Lebanese occupation; army under then-Defence Minister Ariel Sharon allowed or ordered Lebanese Phalangist Christian militias into Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982, resulting in the massacre of over 700 refugees; overwhelming civilian death toll in anti-Hezbollah incursion into Lebanon in July, civilian infrastructure used as military targets in defiance of Geneva Conventions, use of white phosphorous weapons & cluster bombs in civilian areas, also in defiance of Geneva Conventions)
(* This may be contentious, but I'm going to say that as a result of its absolute support for US foreign policy, the Howard government is in effect a secondary supporter of tyrannical regimes that the US supports, such as Saudi Arabia, and Saddam Hussein from his advent to power until the first Gulf War. He certainly has not denounced them...at least, he didn't denounce Saddam until it became fashionable to do so.)
And whilst not offering direct support of their governments, Howard is curiously silent regarding the atrocities of:
- Burma (military dictatorship; holds Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for her criticisms of the government; detainment, torture and execution of lower-profile political dissidents)
Russia (occupation of Chechnya, frequent murder of Chechnyan civilians, sowing of landmines in populated areas)
You will struggle to find a Left-wing intellectual who is “soft” on any of these regimes. But we must acknowledge Howard's principled stand in Parliament during the 80's, arguing against the Leftist appeasers within the Australian government Australia the terrorist leader, Nelson Mandela. A track record like that brilliantly highlights Mr. Howard's keen eye for sorting the good guys from the bad guys.
The term “culture war” is sadly appropriate since our government obviously views Left-wing ideas as an enemy to be vanquished. It is a depressing fact that a Prime Minister can make statements such as these without coming under serious media scrutiny, but if Packer and Murdoch have their way – and it certainly looks as though they will – the populace will not have to suffer the fangs of the tyrant-appeasing Left for much longer.
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Comment by Anonymous
Comment by J-Dogg
Comment by Brenton
Dr Spin
Tales From The Other Side
Downwrite
Blip Blog
Gadget Museum
Thing in, you've got to wonder when opposing views are simply branded crazy. It's a concern.
Comment by Connor
Middle Class Guilt
- Like sex? Alright!
- For sure. I think we can all agree Hussein was a monster, but barrelling on without the backing of the UN has gotten the Western powers into the biggest mess since Vietnam.
As long as we've got this fanatical Left/Right dichotomy with both sides hating one another blindly, I suppose we will always have radical denouncements like that. What got under my skin is that this is the Prime Minister. The PM being able to make radical statements like that is like the umpires at the footy coming out onto the ground wearing the colours of their favourite team.
Comment by Eric
Mal Gadget
Don't tell me you actually expect the UN to do something. Hell we could watch our buildings be hit by terrorists for years and years waiting on the UN to do "something".
The UN is useless. Screw them. My life is at stake.
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
My thoughts are that the tactic of calling someone names to win an argument was used when I was in primary school. It is effective and it works well. We love to use terms like Left and Right in the same way kids used to say four eyes and freckles.
I am happy to call Quadrant Right Wing because it calls it self that. They do have the ability to tell some truth in what they say and some half truths. Just because they were anti-communist does mean that they were the heroes of that cause. On the other hand there were plenty of mindless supporters of the soviet and chinese policies who believed that Australia was about due for an armed uprising.
In my opinion this is the era that Quandrant is locked into. They are still fighting communism long after it has crumbled into the ideological dust from where it came. If they were tryign to remove dictators from the world it seem that they are waisting a lot of effort in the wrong area.
Comment by Connor
Middle Class Guilt
- Thankyou Damo. I'm not crazy about the whole Left-Right debate; I'd rather find some principles we can all agree on (ie basic human rights) and work to make sure they are served. People are being murdered while we argue about gay marriage and marijuana laws.
I've never actually read Quadrant, so I'll take your word on its content. But if they still look under the bed for communists every night, it would explain why Howard digs them so immensely.
Comment by Brenton
Dr Spin
Tales From The Other Side
Downwrite
Blip Blog
Gadget Museum
However, suggesting America solve its own problems in the fasion it's been doing? No, no. America is reaping the repurcussions of YEARS of hostile policies. And Australia is setting itself up to follow.