Richard Butler
WHAT IS IT about politics that has men reduced to fibrulating shadows.
Stephen Smith seemed to be a relatively useful individual before he got one of the governments most senior gigs as the man for Foreign Affairs. What we saw on the 730 report a few nights back was a man who’s inner voices were in conflict. Whilst he was staggering like a drunk against the head-wind of (actually fairly simple) questions from Ali Moore a little voice was saying “dont mention the japs – oh god – please dont let me mention the japs…” instead he tried to convince himself that after all his years of clambering up that oily slope of sweaty hand shakes and smelly baby kissing – he gets to play some kind of mediator between the 2 ships – many thousands of miles and a different world away. His efforts were a bit like a very old lady with a very small water pistol, trying to separate 2 fighting pit bulls from the next suburb.
One wonders if he ever thought it would come to this – that he would be so incomplete.
He missed an opportunity to stand up and show courage, clear vision and leadership. He missed the opportunity to claim himself – and in doing so impress those of us who placed a little more hope in the current ugly band of no-necks than the previous liberal mob. of croneys, transvestites and homophobes.
Cliche’s fly through the air like bats – the Who singing “we wont get fooled again” (meet the new boss, same as the old boss), for example… and then I happened to see on Letterman some clips of American Presidents delivering definitive statements which inspired change…Kennedy at the stadium in Atlanta “we choose to go to the moon…” Kennedy “…where the fruits of victory will become ashes in our mouths…” to George Dubbya…”we was in Cincinatti last week and we stopped off to buy some ribs – and very good ribs they were too..”
Stevie Smith and Dubbya – a good pair. The innane and the stupid. But which is which ?
As the once described shadow minister without a shadow Peter Garrett once wrote when HE was a different man – it’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees. Come on Steven for Christ’s sake – or better still your own – stand up man. You’re little but a beggar grovelling around on your knees in the dust of hopelessness at the moment.
The Japanese are WRONG. The protesters took an intelligent risk to get global media coverage and it worked – the longer the boys were held the better it was. And the new boy Smithy steps up the plate, all shiney and new wanting to have his turn in front of the camera – wanting to show he was ready for the moment, wets himself in fear (of his own conscience) and abandons his own ship just as he started to try and answer the first question.
And all the while that dark, latent and yet to be dissipated rage of the greater community at large churns restlessly.
Richard Butler was born in Launceston in 1958 and moved to Victoria in 9985 where he know lives and works. He is currently in pre-production stage of creating photographic portraits of people opposed to the proposed Pulp Mill and plans to produce a traveling exhibition at the end of 2008 or early 2009.
