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July 20, 2006
Four Corners had a story on the bigoted conservatism of brattish, drunken Young Liberals in NSW. They loudly sung "God save the Queen" over an Aboriginal elder's speech and went around chanting, "we're racist, we're sexist, we're homophobic". Australian conservatism has turned quite nasty, but Miranda Devine saysthat it is just a bunch of young Liberals rocking the status quo.
Another example of bigoted conservatism is Piers Ackerman's postings at the Daily Telegraph. Addressing the effects of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon he says:
The latest Middle East conflagration has flushed out a new class of dual nationality super-snivellers who believe mere possession of an Australian passport guarantees them security in their “other” homeland...While this bunch of insufferable ingrates whinge and whine, the stressed and overworked team at the hard-pressed Australian Embassy in Beirut is pulling out all stops to arrange evacuation aboard a ferry chartered at extortionate cost to all Australian taxpayers...Apparently 400 of the dual citizens demanding assistance to leave are in southern Lebanon, that part of the nation occupied by the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organisation, which, with the Palestinian Hamas terrorists, has long been dedicated to erasing the nation of Israel from the map. Presumably, some of these Lebanese-Australians vote in the Lebanese elections and, just as probably, also voted for Hezbollah candidates, though the group is listed by the Australian Government as a terrorist organisation.
These Australian citizens can go to hell is the mesage. We don't care about their plight. They deserve it. There is no mention of Hezbollah being a legitimate political party in Lebanon's liberal democracy. No concern for the dire humanitarian situation or the civilian casualties due to the Israeli bombingof a sovereign nation. No mention of Israel occupying the Shebaa Farms or the way that it frequently incite and intimidate the Lebanese population with military operations, sonic booms, border attacks, and the abduction of Lebanese civilians.
The inference is that these Australian-Lebanese citizens are traitors. How dare they criticize the Howard Government. There's bigoted conservatism for you. It appeals, and gives voice to, the bigotry of the Daily Telegraph's audience. Just like Alan Jones and Tim Blair.
As we read further on this post at Akerman's blog the paranoia takes over:
And while the coverage in the Sydney Morning Herald goes out of its way to blame Israel for belligerence, intransigence and even, most laughably, for a lack of “proportionality” in its response to aggression, it must not be forgotten that this current crisis was triggered by a Hezbollah raid into Israel and the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers.This is not a war of Israel’s making. This is part of the ongoing jihadist war to dominate the world.
World domination huh? Work up the fear. We are not safe. It's a suitable case for psychoanalysis, don't you think, given that it is the US that is the global hegemon.
Andrew West in New Matilda (subscription required) says that:
Piers Akerman in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, Andrew Bolt in Melbourne’s Herald Sun.... do not consider themselves independent commentators. They consider themselves part of the ‘movement’ whose duty it is to echo, through (very skilful) populist repackaging, the official line of the current Federal Government, be it on industrial relations, the Iraq war, or national security laws.....This form of ‘movement’ commentary/activism is lifted straight from the playbook of American conservatism, which has worked so well for its practitioners. You disperse your supporters throughout the media and think tanks and make sure they all parrot the same line..... this chorus helps build a momentum, a feeling of inevitability and unanimity for certain policies.
He's right about this about the movement and the publicity machine. West says that these strategically placed commentators dutifully echo the party line to achieve a common aim — the perpetuation of the Howard Government.
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Well I guess I am a bigoted conservative then. It's one thing to be visiting there which may require living there and it is another to be living there.
The latter involves taking advantage of what our country offers them.