The Chronicles Of…

I’m not exactly a screaming lefty, nor am I an uber conservative. I’d like to think that my political views are somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. I often agree with some arguments used by the various parties and factions, while disagreeing entirely with the next thing that the same party says. I have voted at one time or another for most of the major parties, and a few of the smaller ones. I try to listen to each group’s views, and make my own decisions based upon the information that I have been presented with, rather than just agreeing with my favourite group at the time.

Having said all of that, it’s very rare that I can hear a Bob Brown quote in the news without feeling frustrated and annoyed. It’s nothing personal. I’ve never met the man, and for all I know he could be a lovely bloke who saves orphans from burning buildings in his spare time. He just seems to be a professional whinger, and it’s very tiring. The quotes I read are almost always complaints against some policy or other, and over-the-top claims of how this particular decision is going to be the end of the world. Again.

Take this story for example. It’s quite possible that Mr Brown has a point, that hosting a(nother) large and (semi) permanent US military group on our shores might annoy some other nations in the world. Mr Brown suggests that the issue should be debated before the policy is announced publicly. If he stopped there, I might think “gee, that’s a point, maybe the matter should be discussed in parliament, rather than a decision being made in isolation.” The initial statement seems to suggest that Mr Brown would prefer not to upset our nation’s neighbours, especially the ones who are most influential on a global scale (e.g. China).

But then Mr Brown does his usual trick of making his sensible argument fade away into a rant with this quote:

”China has nuclear weapons that can be lobbed on Australia.”

Yep. That’s a helpful statement to keep things sensible and peaceful.

That’s my issue with the man. He’s a politician. He’s been elected on a number of occasions, to represent a portion of our society. A lot of people have placed significant trust in him. He’s speaking to journalists, with the intent to use the broadcasted words to influence official national policies. And yet, he just throws around statements like that, seemingly without recognising that this sort of quote is also unhelpful at keeping international peace. I’m not saying his speeches are equally upsetting to a foreign nation as allowing American troops to be based in our country (assuming that the military presence affects our relationship in a negative way at all – I don’t know if it does). I’m just saying that for a man who claims to be all about peace and mung beans*, he also seems to be slightly inconsistent.

I also know that he’s not the only annoying/inconsistent/hypocritical politician/person around. He’s just someone who sets my teeth on edge for some reason. He has the ‘fingernails on chalkboard’ effect on me, the way I’m sure I do upon many people also.

I’m assuming he’ll be able to sleep at night perfectly well despite this fact, and I certainly don’t begrudge him that. I just wish I was able to agree with him more, because I really don’t enjoy the current two-party system, that seems to be a choice between two very similar viewpoints, disguised as opposing forces. The major party politicians seem much more interested in getting re-elected (and ensuring their pension plans are safe) than actually helping their society. Of course, that’s just my ill-informed opinion, and I really don’t count for very much at all.

In any case, it’s almost day time, and I should be off to bed so that I can go back to work again this evening.

* I have no evidence that Mr Brown has ever claimed to be all about beans of any sort, especially not of the Mung variety.