The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Commentary By Roger Cathcart Characters: Real and Media-Made There are many characters out there Ð good and bad. A lot are emphasized by the media, who particularly like dealing with those who are somewhat famous, including politicians. One is ex-premier David Bartlett of Tasmania, only 43 when he resigned a short time ago. He claims he quit to spend more time with his young children, but really he and his Labour party are languishing in the polls, only slightly ahead of the Greens who are part of his coalition government. During the election campaign 10 months ago, Bartlett claimed he would never align with the Greens, and if he did not get more votes than the opposition, he would not form a government. The weird Tasmanian election system saw Labour and the opposition with 10 seats each and the Greenies with 5, with the Liberals getting the most votes. Bartlett reversed himself, formed an alliance with the Greens, and became a buddy to their moderate leader Nick McKim, putting him and one other in his cabinet. Bartlett was rightly accused of deception, with his government held ransom by a third party. A number of bad economic decisions did him in, and he left the premiership but stayed in the cabinet. His replacement is a 38-year-old career politician, Lara Giddings, part of Labour's left wing. She was first elected at 23 as the youngest MLA ever in the state. Defeated two years later, she became a political aide, was elected again and has spent 11 years as a member. Labour will have huge budget problems, as GST receipts have dropped by $200 million, and with forest industry jobs being lost and major industry in crisis, she is predicted not to last too long. Former Australian PM Kevin Rudd is back in the news again, this time as foreign affairs minister. Rudd, disliked by most Labour members, insisted on getting this portfolio as the price to keep him in Parliament. Had he simply quit, the Liberals would have taken his seat and it would be goodbye, Labour government. Present PM Julia Guillard has been fighting to clean up Rudd's wild and ineffective expenditures but has not been much better as she continues to drive the country into debt. Little checking Her government gave citizens impacted by the floods thousands of dollars, and now it appears there was little checking on who got the money Ð including a number who were not even affected by the disaster. Now she wants to put a one-time tax on income to help pay for the flood costs. She has run into a lot of opposition and will probably not be able to get it passed. Critics say she has no skills and won't last long. How about a different character? She is Yale law professor Amy Chua, a mother of two whose recent book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother has created a furor in many circles. Chua advocates tough eastern parenting with all decisions made for the children Ð no sleepovers, no computers, no TV, no grades less than an A accepted, and they must practice the piano or violin for hours each day. She has received death threats for her ideas. Many writers compare her maniacal concepts to what the famous John Stuart Mill received from his father. He was forced to read Plato and Demosthenes in Greek by age 10, and to be fluent in politics and economics by 13. He suffered a nervous breakdown at 20! New Aussie citizen Colin Cambell was featured in an upbeat weekly, being so proud of becoming a citizen on Australia Day. He and his family had moved to the Sunshine Coast from the horrible Zimbabwe. They had been living in a gated community with no water or electricity and were always in danger; in Zimbabwe, those who do not support the government can have their houses burned. Colin and his family are so happy to be citizens of Australia. As he said, "We found the government to be an enemy there, and here it is so strange to find they are on your side." A final character highlighted by Aussie media is Cst. Matthew Butcher, a Perth police officer who was paralyzed by a head butt in a vicious pub brawl in 2008. The West Australian government awarded Butcher $3.3 million for doing his duty even though his 29-year-old attacker was found not guilty and claims the police were using excessive force to break up the brawl. The attorney-general said the government wanted to show its support for all police by giving such a large payment. After the brawl, legislators passed an act giving mandatory jail sentences for attacks on police. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.11/3/11
