Tired of inventing narratives, some members of the press pack are now giving the PM ultimatums.
The blog Gutter Trash has pointed out that on Saturday The Australian gave the prime minister an ultimatum of two weeks:
Today they’ve reduced that ultimatum to seven days to “shape up”:
So the mining tax gets it, or it’s Gillard for the top job.
Or so the story goes. Laura Tingle in the Australian Financial Review today points out the political reality of press gallery generated fairytales:
“…it almost doesn’t matter whether things are true or not, they develop a life of their own when the government is no longer in control of the agenda.”
The next two weeks of parliament will be all about Rudd wrestling back the headline and beating it into shape. This morning Rudd fronted the press pack with Jenny Macklin, Sharan Burrow and a petition of 25,000 signatures urging the Senate to pass paid parental leave. There were a few toddlers in tow to do just that.
Meanwhile, reports out of this morning’s party room meeting suggest it was calm, with no leadership discussion, just lots of MPs wanting to know how RSPT negotiations – for that is what Kevin Rudd now characterises them as – are going. Stephen Smith tried to characterise it as “steely resolve”, which might be gilding the (member for) lily, but the alleged panic induced by impending electoral doom was nowhere to be seen.
Which inconveniently enough, doesn’t fit the story at all…
Peter Van Liberal Hack creates copy. In the Oz. Asking the PM to shape up. What a pile of merde.
While it doesn’t make for such a good gag about the member for Lilley, Shakepeare actually wrote of painting the lilly and gilding gold. Here is the quotation from King John, Act IV:
Phew! That’s my obligatory bit of pedantry for the day done.
Other pedants may note I have mispelled lily. Easy exercise for the reader.
Lets hope the press gets some kind of distraction soon — the media beat-ups are really getting to be ridiculous. The trouble is, some of the nonsense sticks!
I’d like to know how “working for Murdoch” invests these unelected individuals with such “infallible omnipotence”.
Jenauthor – what “distraction” can there be, to encourage straying from the path of influencing the outcome of an election of government, from your own unrepresentative, unelected (media) organisation, masquerading as “presenters of (albeit limited) news”?
“Who’s” calling in “his” markers, post British election? To further “his” own influence and power!
(Sean one pedant to another – 2 “s’s” in “Whats’isname”?)