Blocked, unfollowed This morning, waking up to the news that there was no news any more (at least on Facebook), events he really ought to have seen coming (we did!), Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said he had had “constructive” talks with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and that they had “agreed to continue our conversation to try to find a pathway forward”.
I mean, we were told the talks were “very constructive” with Zuck and “Sundar from Google” on Monday. How did that turn out? On the same day he told Sabra Lane that this “groundbreaking legislative reform” would “transform the domestic media landscape”.
We have to give him that, I suppose. It sure has.
Separately, this episode gives us yet another in the “making or unmaking of Josh Frydenberg” — after last year’s COVID-19 budget we now get to see whether he has the steel or the savvy to go up against a tech giant making good on its threats.
Limbaughing under the bar Rush Limbaugh, the bellicose pioneer of content-free outrage as a political stance on his radio show, has died of lung cancer. When we say content-free, we mean it: Politifact adjudged that of the Limbaugh statements it assessed precisely none were true, and 93% fell somewhere between half-truth and out-and-out lie.
The effluence of his legacy flowed — like all American culture warring — to Australia: his complete disregard for the truth, his meaninglessly ugly attacks on political opponents, his posture as the voice of the common underdog while fawning over powerful conservatives — a playbook that Alan Jones, Andrew Bolt et al couldn’t function without.
Here are a few of his greatest hits:
On torture at Abu Ghraib: “We’re going to ruin people’s lives over it, and we’re going to hamper our military effort, and then we are going to really hammer them because they had a good time. You know, these people are being fired at every day. I’m talking about people having a good time, these people — you ever heard of emotional release? You ever heard of the need to blow some steam off?”
On Sandra Fluke, who addressed Congress about birth control costs: “[She] goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex, what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute.”
On feminism: “It was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society.”
On Michael J Fox’s visible Parkinson’s disease symptoms: “He is exaggerating the effects of the disease. He’s moving all around and shaking and it’s purely an act … This is really shameless.”
On civil rights activist Jesse Jackson: “Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”
Limbaugh may have been a racist, a habitual liar, a raging misogynist and a total bully, but to give him credit he’s dead now and can’t sue us for saying that. And if you think we’re not showing sufficient respect for the dead, check his response to the AIDS crisis.
Fossil fuels mirth The Courier-Mail tells us: “A fossil could become Queensland’s newest official state emblem after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk tasked her department to draft a shortlist of potential candidates for a new state symbol.”
Fabulous idea. Crikey readers, please furnish us with your suggestions as to which Queensland fossil you recommend? Joh Bjelke-Petersen?
The big guns Rupert Murdoch has incurred the wrath of the op-ed page of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. The newspaper for the small village of Saranac Lake, New York (with a wonderful masthead), has castigated Murdoch and News Corp, saying they “bear primary responsibility for the scars our nation now bears from Donald Trump”.
When you’ve lost Saranac Lake, you’re really in trouble.
I realise it probably wasn’t your call Charlie, but it’s a bit sad that even on a big news day like today, Crikey didn’t think the destruction of the Family Court overnight in the Senate was worthy of a mention.
By way of filling the gap, perhaps Josh Frydenberg could pump funding back into Radio Australia and the ABC’s foreign news bureaus. Radio Australia was once the most authoritative regional voice in Southeast Asia, providing perspective and trustworthy analysis. A small whiff of ammonia and a lot of money could bring it back to life from a mere fading reputation.
Yes Roger. Radio Australia ran on a shoestring yet its broadcasts to Indonesia were popular all over that huge country. These days part of that could be achieved without a transmitter via the internet. Short wave has largely been abandoned but powerful AM band transmitters on Christmas Island and (with local permission) in Timor-Leste and PNG could cover much of SE Asia and some Pacific islands at fairly low cost. Other Pacific countries would probably be interested if they could share the transmitters. AM is very good at night. On a visit to Broome in northwestern WA I picked up the RRI AM band local station in Mataram, Lombok near Bali loud and clear.
Working in Fiji 30 years ago and sleeping in villages, I was woken every morning by every radio in the village tuned to Radio Australia for the 6am news on shortwave. Another reason to revile Abbott.
Rush may be dead, but good legacy of paranoid angry people dominating the airwaves remains. As much as we’d want to pop the good champagne tonight, the global effects of his brand of outrage will be felt for a long time yet.
Cartoonist Leahy’s crossed banana logo in lieu of a swastika on a SA Uniform fits the bill of a new Queensland logo – at least until they reform the electoral system for the Legislative Assembly to be MMP or Hare-Clark
At least Queensland once, long ago, had the fortitude to get rid of its upper house: Senates since Roman times have had grandiose aims of “balance” and “fairness” and knocking off the odd ambitious general (Hi Julie C!) and stuffed it up time after time. The long aim of the Tories to “disappear” all traces of Whitlam is nearly complete – were it not for the occasional Barnaby needing a divorce he might have faded away… I can’t say I wouldn’t enjoy reading epitaphs for the vast majority of upper houses,,, soon, St Appropriate, soon.
Qld Fossils?
Dutton
Christensen
The entire Qld LNP
Palmer.
Our trans rights platform
Hanson
Sheppard