Showtime!
Voting is underway in the Republic Caucuses in Iowa. With less than 1% of the count Ron Paul lead the pack. With 3% of the count Rick Santorum took lead position. With 6% counted Rick Santorum held 1st. place with 1,229 votes just 25 votes ahead of Ron Paul, but just now the count clicked over to 11% and Ron Paul takes the lead, followed by Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and Michele Bachmann.
UPDATE: Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum share dibs on first place, Ron Paul not far behind. Newt Gingrich in forth place closes the door on the Iowa circus leaving Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann alone in the dark.
Firstdog on Gonski.
Would you like foie gras with that.?
http://media.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/EatTheChildrenOfTheRich2.jpg
He’s From Queensland, Leahy, Courier Mail
http://www.leahy.com.au/leahy/images/comics/leahy-12-02-21R_edited-1.jpg
so far everyone in Labor – including Kevin apparently – is supporting Julia.
)
So whoTF are the supposed anti-Gillard plotters?
and why don’t they just call a spill so Rudd can lose by a mile and get sacked and then everyone can get on with keeping Abbott from ever getting his hands on the prime-minister-ship (otherwise known as the Titanic
and what is Malcs up to??…
Bill Maher is brilliant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06R-qTXfVYE
Computer hacker has been convicted and he claims he had direct access to Andy Coulson. No doubt Coulson will deny it and hopefully there will be evidence turned over that in fact he did. That is when it will become uncomfortable for David Cameron.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/20/news-world-hacking-suspect-conspiracy?newsfeed=true
I don’t think Julia should call a spill. I think it will weaken her.
But it’s also a damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t. It’s bad if Rudd keeps going on the way he is.
I don’t get people protecting Rudd saying he’s been unfairly attacked and he should get respect. That’s bullshit. He’s hurting the government and he should pull his head in.
To be honest I don’t see a good way out. I’m trying to disengage and pretend maybe Tony Abbott won’t be PM.
Pure Zen from Firstdog today.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
http://media.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/BuyASubYouCheapBastards.jpg
Katielou
A week is a long time in politics and there is two years to go before an election.
The retards have to upset the applecart before the 1st july if they want to sabotage all the new tax thresholds etc etc so they will be going all out with all kinds of unhingement to get an election before then.
It is all so silly that i am convinced that Julia and Kevin are stageing all this to help the media and Abbott uunhinge a bit more.
They are all going to look stupid for all their antics next week when nothing happens. They will have to start all over again.
Don’t take it serious, just laugh at how stupid they all are.
Did you see Fiona Katsukis cartoon today. Absolutely nails it.
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=30160
Rupert tweeted last week to “get on with it” so…….
what’s he up to??
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-22/kevin-rudd-makes-press-conference/3845758
Dear Kevin…..Fuck off and good riddance.
That is all.
Indeed paddy – what a prick. He’ll deliver this nation to Tony Abbott to satisfy his own ego. Hope he gets utterly trounced and disappears for good
Republicans Losing Interest in Presidential Race
**************************************
http://politicalwire.com
Goodbye Kevin. Don’t come back!
Well. Its on for young and old. Wayne Swan sums i up nicely. We need Rudd like we need a hole in the head. Kevin Rudd would be a worse version of Tony Blair. No thanks!
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/labor-colleagues-sick-of-rudd-swan-20120222-1to9i.html
I’m with you all on Kevin. He’s burning the house down around him. If anyone sees the video of Julia’s press conference this morning, please post. I’m hanging out to watch it.
Deeply worried that I can’t see a solution to this. Rudd is not going to fade away. He’s demonstrating he’s a sociopath. Swan speaks the truth.
Can’t find the complete presser KL.
But here’s a link to video of Jules slapping down the “rudehack” AKA Michael Owen of News Ltd.
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/9raw-gillard-responds-angrily-to-journalist/x8g0v1n?cpkey=6b4be75b-0019-43df-9c64-9818fc301580||||
Thanks Paddy. I found the audio……
http://chirb.it/eb1Hfk#
KL
Here’s the video of her entire speech (less questions) via Crikey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mE9FDKxMXTw
Here’s the shorter version of the entire soap opera via Firstdog.
http://media.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SpillNotRespillPlease.jpg
The question bit was good. Aside from the exchange with the journo above, there was a good section where she described how she had to go out of her way to keep thegovernment functioning under Rudd. I remember the stories about how people liked it when he left the country and Julia was acting PM, as it was the time that things actually got done.
It’s interesting and somewhat challenging for me that some pundits whose views I respect are on team Rudd. I think it reflects the crap state of Labor in general.
KL,
i agree. Not only pundits, but the pollies themselves.
It’s like i want the rival leaders to swap teams lol. I mean Faulkner, Cameron, Griffin, Burke, Carr…they are Labor Lefties like myself but support Rudd.
Then on Team Gillard there are arsehats like Farrell,Arbib,DeBruyn,Conroy,Feeney,Bitar, and the arsehat of all arsehats Paul Howes.
I just cannot abide Kevin Rudd though. He is an out and out traitor and coward and suckup.
For all Gillards mistakes, she has the team and cause at heart. Rudd on the other hand has only EVER had Kevin Rudd at his heart and is a despicable character..
It just doesn’t make sense to me that people like Faulkner and Cameron are on the opposite side to me.
Disheartening but i will always vote Green/Labor 1 and 2 no matter what happens.
HarryH – agree on every count.
can’t believe a decent pollie like Doug Cameron would back Rudd – and apparently all the polls are putting him ahead of Gillard as preferred PM – got to wonder if that will sway nervous backbenchers. At the same time if Abbott was dumped for Turnbull the Libs would romp it in and honestly, he couldn’t do any worse than the current labor cowards.
But the idea of Abbott as PM is so worrying that I honestly hope that Rudd is buried after Monday so that Labor can start to gain some traction in the community.
His self interest is utterly disgraceful.
I agre with you Jen HarryH Katielou. We all seem to be on the same wave length.
Will McDonnell’s Shift Hurt Republicans?
******************************
http://politicalwire.com
Chafee Very Unpopular in Rhode Island.
*******************************
http://politicalwire.com
It’s starting to look like the Democrats stuff up in the mid term elections was a very important tactical move.
Just in case you thought SeweRoo and his myrmidons were fine upstanding citizens of the world more evidence emerges as to what a bunch of scumbag bastards they are. Their Australian counterparts will be in it all just as much as the rest of the world.
They have even carried on deleting evidence after a judge warned them not to.
They should be held in contempt of court and summarily gaoled.
It would be very hard to convince me that Mordor and his Myrmidons have not been engineering the hate and aggression toward the democratically elected government of Australia, with a view to regime change.
My wish is that Kevin Rudd gets put to bed on the back bench or sits on the cross benches and Julia now becomes aggressive like she was at yesterdays presser. Being nice to these scum is of no value they just don’t care. Fuckem.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/9102231/Phone-hacking-News-of-the-World-bosses-ordered-emails-to-be-deleted.html
No matter who is in charge of Labor, Abbott will win the next election. However, my prediction is that Rudd is – although not with his knowledge of consent – being used as a stalking horse for someone else. The leadership spill will end Rudd, but tarnish Gillard. The polls will not improve – they are stuck, as Possum says. Some time later this year, Shorten or Smith or someone else will make the move to take over. They will gather the Rudd remnants and their own backers and make a challenge.
Regarding who is backing Rudd versus who is backing Gillard, my thinking is that it is because the left in general see Gillard as a betrayer of the left because of the battle with Tanner in Victoria. She is seen as someone from the right; Rudd is seen as someone with no faction. Thus, the left will tend to back Rudd over Gillard.
Wow DG… Conspiracy theory extraordinaire!
Makes sense too.
My only hope is that abbott’s polling doesn’t hit the heights expected due to the Anyone But Tony sentiment and Malcs finally gets the prize he has obviously been promised.
David
regarding your 2nd paragraph. I understand all that history, but Kevin Rudd is NOT a man of the Left AT ALL.
It is beyond obvious that his ass is owned by Rupert Murdoch just as much as Tony Abbotts is and Tony Blair’s was and Gordon Brown’s was. His constant “faceless men” schtick is straight out of the Murdoch playbook of destroying the union movement and the Labor Party.
It just suits his personal quest to use it.
He and Therese remind me so so much of Bill and Hilary. It’s like they made youthful pacts with each other to have the time of their lives and GO FOR THE STARS. They are on unique personal journeys that they have a never ending thirst for.
Kevin Rudd and News Corp are inextricably linked. This in itself makes me despair at the turmoil people like Faulkner must be in. The choice seems to be a despicable traitor like Rudd or draconian Right Wing union bosses who are stifling a progressive Party.
I’m not going to criticise someone like Faulkner and others but it just really disappoints me that they see Kevin Rudd as the answer.
HarryH,
They probably do not see him as ‘the answer’. They do not like Gillard and they see Rudd as their best chance to beat Abbott (not much more of a chance, but hey …).
The left have very rarely been a position of putting forward the person that they really wanted. I am sure that if they had had anywhere near the numbers either Tanner or Faulkner would have been their choices. However, they have always had to go along with the right and hope to pick up a few good portfolios as compensation.
I am pinning my faith in Wong or Combet to become opposition leader and lead Labor back from a one-term stint out of power.
Fantasy land. But hey …
And as a Clinton supporter I will refrain from commenting on that line of attack.
DG
I applaud your diplomacy in 534 and share your fantasy at the conclusion in 533
But i say to you David that the only way the fantasy of 533 can occur is by removing the boot of News Corp from the Australian throat.
To install a Murdoch sychophant like Rudd is PURE fantasy that things can change.
To understand the Rudd/Murdoch nexus properly it must be understood that the power is ALL 1 WAY. It is ALL Murdochs and only a total egomaniac like Rudd or Blair is willing to engage in it (from the supposed “left” side of politics.
News Corp totally use him and he is more than happy to be totally used in order to satisfy his one man ego trip.
Gillard, for all her faults, doesn’t have that ego . And that is why she is a NON NEGOTIABLE to News Corp.
the ” K Rudd” (does he not get that??) references are a major concern .
Referring to yourself in the third person indicates a sense of disconnection and deluded grandiosity that goes a way to explaining why Rudd is prepared to let this country sink into the depths of an Abbott-led government – ie:Sophie Mirabella will be the Minister for Science and Innovation for starters.
Kevin’s nuts.
Jen
She will also be the minister for comforting rich old men but i can’t see how she will be able to innovate starters for kevins nuts unless she becomes a fluffer as well. Mind you she looks like a fluffer.
This will put a smile on your dial Chris.
http://www.politicususa.com/en/obama-independents-poll
exactly Gaffers
What’s the go here Jen?
don’t ask.
Maher Gives $1 Million to Obama Super PAC
**********************************
I like the guy.
http://politicalwire.com
539 Certainly does Gaffy.
530 David Gould Oh shit. I hope not.
Mind you if Julia has a big win it might make her stronger.
Fascinating stuff here, via a Labor insider, about how Kevin Rudd operated (or didn’t) in his brief reign.
This will be all the more powerful because it comes under Laurie Oakes byline and is published in the Herald Sun.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/revealed-why-they-hate-kevin-rudd-so-much/story-fn56baaq-1226280973899
I’m not sure if this is the piece Oakes is referring to, but it’s certainly worth a read.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/we-need-to-talk-about-kevin-20120224-1ttxx.html
You will not get this kind of information from the Oz MSM. They don’t want us to know how corrupt their world wide organisation is as more arrests are made in the UK.
thank Dog for the internet enabling us to find these reports without the MSM help and it will be easier and faster uncovering it with the introduction of the NBN. No wonder SeweRoo wants Abbott to trash the NBN.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/world/uk-media-scandal-2uk-media-scandal-2-new-computer-hacking-arrests-2196477.html
548
Paddy
This bit;
“The author, who operated in a key role and observed much of the discussion and decision making, says he would not have bothered to set down his recollections “except that they are such a powerful warning for future governments”.
His starting point is that “the Rudd government was never, and could never have been, a functional government because of the man who ran it”.”
IMHO has got Lindsay Tanner written all over it.
Paddy’s link at 548 is compulsory reading. I’ve sent it to everyone I know.
550
Gaffy. Possibly Tanner, but I also saw someone suggest that maybe it was Ken Henry.
Ken Henry is a good guess, imo.
Article at 548 is by James Button, son of John, and former staffer of Rudd.
I definitely think that Labor should not be swayed by Rudd’s apparent popularity at the moment. Even without the comments over the past few days, Labor cannot govern effectively under Rudd.
Respect for Albo, but I think he made the wrong call.
556
Agreed KL.
But on the strength of that performance, he probably now emerges as a potential leader down the track, if the whole show goes off the rails in the next 12 mths.
It was a seriously classy speech.
Meanwhile….Back in the land of the free and the clinically insane….
The Repubs show how NOT to stage a rally. Via Jay Rosen on twitter
This pic of Romney’s event in Detroit today is hysterical: http://bit.ly/ywxZFk Expert advance work!
Any advantage Rudd could bring will be temporary only. Government will (almost) grind to a halt just like it did before – even worse without some of the stronger people mopping up after Rudd. He won’t have Gillard fixing things up like she did before.
Sociopaths don’t change.
I haven’t seen Albo’s speech , but like Faulkner and Dougie before him, he has my respect and support.
Kevin Rudd does not.
I hope that these 3 plus Combet and Wong and others of good intent can now use their ability to further progressive causes after the Rudd cancer is lanced on Monday.
I hope Albo NEVER stops working internally against the dead hands of some on the Right of the Party, but i know he will never intentionally harm the Party and the Cause.
Unlike Rudd.
After Rudd we can work on the DLP elements of the Party lol
Gillards power internally has increased. I hope she can use her great interpersonal skills to build an alliance over time that doesn’t need the likes of the SDA.
I live in hope
Very few writers will persuade me to jump over the News paywall, but
George Megalogenis one.
Not sure this is his best work, but his analysis of current Oz politics is still worth a read.
Poll-driven parties put the individual first at electors’ expense
http://bit.ly/AhHlPG
once again Harry H, I agree.
560
HarryH
It’s well worth seeking out Albo’s speech.
One of the best I’ve heard him deliver.
The fact that Jules has refused to accept his resignation give a decent sign to the party that there will be life after Kevin on Monday.
BTW just watched Kevin doing his “smarmy little prick” routine at a Brissie shopping mall on ABCTV . The bastard has driven me to an early drink!
I can’t wait till Monday, when this sick farce will end.
give=gives
Geez Your on a roll Harry.
yeah….but is any of it making sense?..lol
547 paddy An awesome article paddy. Should be enough to finish him off.
567
Chris B The *real* fun tomorrow will be watching Laurie Oakes interview KR.
Lots of the twitter crew are firing off tweets about what questions LO should ask him.
While I have to grit my teeth, to even turn the sound on when Rudd’s on the teev.
I might just make the effort tomorrow morning.
Great article by Andrew Elder.
http://andrewelder.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/gillard-and-labor-leadership.html
I’d genuinely like to hear prominent journos explain why they did not report what they knew about Rudd’s government in 2010. Why are they prepared to report some things from anonymous sources and not others? Why report the leaks agains Gillard but not the apparently well known fact that Rudd was incapable of governing?
Well ticsters, tomorrow’s going to be an absolute orgy for political tragics.
We’ve got the caucus meeting to start with. (Sadly preceded by hours of utter bullshit from the hacks who didn’t tell us about the leaks and who leaked them.)
Then question time….. Followed, no doubt, by endless analysis of who said what to whom…..(Hopefully it will involve a final farewell to the Rudd soufflé )
And then….. Leveson!!!
Monday night marks the beginning of where the shit really hits the fan.
http://twitpic.com/8omplj
Methinks the Rupe is in for a whole new world of pain.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/exclusive-was-sun-on-sunday-brought-forward-to-beat-revelations-7441050.html
571
Paddy
Amen comrade!
Ouch!! Therese Rein is in a rather uncomfortable position here.
No smoking gun, but a definite whiff of Caesar’s wife.
From Guy Rundle.
http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/02/25/while-kevin-woos-labor-therese-embroiled-in-uk-labour-scandal/
Let it not be said that we don’t follow the “serious” media here at ticster land.
Breaking: The NT News has the story of the decade.
http://t.co/sao9JtoM
570
Katielou
The MSM agenda is to bring down, get rid of, this progressive Government. They had already effectively trashed Kevin Rudd and were mounting the same attacks against Julia Gillard.
Murdoch wants abbott installed as PM for obvious reasons.
The big question i want answered is;
The Government funds the ABC.
Therefore we are entitled to answers as you have set out and everything should be reported.
Why have two ABC journalists, already publicly named, allegedly been covertly conspiring with others to destabilise the democratically elected Government and what is to be done about it.
What is the point of sending our ADF overseas for all of our phony wars that the tea party liberals get us involved in, under the pretext of protecting our way of life, sovereignty, yada yada, when they would be better off employed at home preventing the covert actions of those involved in the overthrow of our Government by stealth and lies.
The first operation should involve sending in the troops to reclaim the ABC from the LNP, IPA, and Murdoch.
I am starting to think this could all be ok – Julia is finally showing the punters her ability and Rudd is showing his narcissistic personality disorder.
So once he gets trounced tomorrow he may well lose the support of some of his current backers and Jules will be in a stronger position than she has been to date.
Lancing a boil is painful and ugly, but its the only way healing can take place,and Rudd is the pus infecting the Labor party.
Oh that Australia could become a republic.
Then, maybe, we could have a president like this one.
Michael D Higgins goes off on the tea party in December 2010. (One year before he was elected President of Ireland)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101713520
Gaffy, I think you tell part of the story. I don’t think it’s all Murdoch media bias or the fact that the ABC takes the lead from Murdoch newspapers (I think, merely because the ABC is underfunded and has no choice). It doesn’t explain the Laurie Oakes and the Lenore Taylors for example. I dunno, there seems to be some warped sense of journalistic ethics or something at play here. Certainly key journalists are players in this, and I really wish they would admit it. But it’s as if they don’t really get it.
Jen @ 576
I think you might be right. I really hope this is how it plays out. But no doubt this has been very risky for the party. If the view of Julia is entrenched, this will not help them.
agreed KatieLou – incredibly risky but perhaps necessary.
It looks as if Rudd has been destabilising Labor from within from the time he was ousted and purely for his own personal agenda. That is despicable and I don’t think it will stand him in good stead with the voters.
As you and Gaffy point out the media is implicit in this charade but questions are being asked about that as well…
this may be the best thing that has happened fro Labor – particularly if is seems that the so -called cover ups were actually about trying to be decent to Kevin so as not to twist the knife.
And Julia has finally hit her stride – if they can regroup quickly after Monday and stand united against Abbott and Co they may gain more traction than was possible until now.
Rudd should be expelled from the party.
Things will change from tomorrow.
Gillard will win comfortably.
Rudd will accept it.
Policy will get a good airing going forward.
Abbott will feel the heat.
A lot of dirty linen has been aired between the Labor Party and journalists. Most will want to move on from the last few years.
For Rudd, Albo’s speech yesterday, and the fact he will be thrashed in the vote, was the healer for the egomaniac Rudd.
Albo, a man of standing, said plainly and publicly “Rudd’s removal was wrong”. I think that will be the catylist for an honourable retreat by Rudd after tomorrow.
These are my thoughts through Kevin’s prism.
I do not think Kevin Rudd will stand. He will know that he will at most get in the twentys and that will be rather humiliating. He would rather just say he didn’t quite have the numbers. That will save face for the likes of Albo having to vote for Kevin Rudd yada yada. He will go to the back bench having not really challenged therefore he will be able to say later on he is not having another challenge as it is only his first challenge. That is very much later this year if Julia does not get some traction. I can’t see her not getting traction especially from July 1st when everything big kicks in and more and more will be hooking up to the NBN.
Like you say. Get a poultice on this current boil and attack the opposition and gause the media to shine the light on their nothingness.
Everything will be ok folks.
Julia will make a special effort of doing it for EC. Go Julia.
Newspoll will be the horror of all horrors tomorrow but that is to be expected under the circumstances. It will probably be one to ignore.
I am not going to troll back to when i said it but;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/24/jeb-bush-latest-white-knight-republican?newsfeed=true
Just what the world needs now.
Fuck you Gaffy.
We just get rid of Rudd and you bring back a Bush.
I hate you and i am not reading your link.
That is all.
Oh..and PS….get ready Monkeyboy. The heat is a comin’
Oh Please.
say it isn’t so.
dont know if you’ve read this KatieLou , but definitely supports your position on the media
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3847892.html
Kudos where it is due. I’m not always Annabel Crabb’s greatest fan.
But her article in The Monthly on what went on in Rudd’s days as leader, is compulsory reading for Oz political wonks and (hopefully) a wider audience.
Written last year for the August edition. It still rings true today.
http://www.themonthly.com.au/why-one-year-after-election-voters-still-don-t-know-who-gillard-prime-minister-interrupted-annabel-c
You won’t read about this in Oz MSM.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/exclusive-was-sun-on-sunday-brought-forward-to-beat-revelations-7441050.html
‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 2 Trailer: HBO Releases Third Trailer With More Peter Dinklage (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/25/game-of-thrones-season-2-trailer_n_1301599.html
If you haven’t seen it. Game of Thrones is a brilliant series. The High Definition quality is also very good. I’m looking forward to the second series. It’s based on a sci fi series of books and HBO have spared no expense. There will be 5 seasons.
Game of Thrones is a very popular series. Boy do they cover some taboo issues!!!
Its Fantasy not Sci Fi.
I liked Season 1 of Game of Thrones but I understand that everyone dies in the future. I don’t think I’ll keep going with it. I know I’m going to feel cheated if I invest in characters only to see them killed off. I can understand if some key characters die, but not all of them. Sorry for the spoilers – its in the books.
On a “slow” news day….
Wikileaks has just released a massive salvo!
http://pastebin.com/D7sR4zhT
Great. Now that it out of the way and Julia has won in a landslide. Let’s get on with business.
Can we finally mark today as the end of Gimp Labor and the re-emergence of a confident Labor?
A willing voting majority awaits.
Now that Emperor Tony has arrived …….
http://media.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/AndTheWinnerIs.jpg
Grog did a great piece on today’s vote.
http://grogsgamut.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/alp-leadership-vote-gillard-71rudd-31.html
I’m disappointed that Bernard Keane and others are writing about the death of Labor and a third challenger already. I’d expect more frm Crikey.
Arsehat Arbib resigns.
Now there’s some good news that EVERYONE can unite over.