Sunday, April 3, 2011

“THAT ARTHUR WILL HAVE US ALL IN THE DOO-DOO IF HE KEEPS SPEAKING THE TRUTH”

CATEGORIES –
Political correctness
Political expedience
Politics of hate
Politics of cowardice
Politics
What we need to do to escape notice
What we should do to keep our job
Never attract the attention of wowsers
How to avoid control freaks
Staying alive
Narcisso-psychopaths in the workplace
Why should we sweat just because a hothead commandeered the blog?
If they keep behaving this way – then why were Hitler and Milosevic wrong??
Keep your head down. It has to stop someday.
If you think it’s bad now – watch out after the next ‘election’
Sorry Tony – he’s ONLY the teaboy
Google search – ‘Contacts – give the LNP a BIG FAT CHEQUE’

Author – Django Reinhardt, Associate Editor

Arthur has strong opinions such as may not readily be tolerated by those with whom he finds fault.

We sacked him when the complaints started rolling in after that last article but he refused to give back the office keys – turned up this morning by walking THROUGH the door – then ignored everyone while he brewed up some dynamite coffee. Looks like we’ve all been sent to Coventry for a few days.

(Which in a tiny way puts shit on Abbott’s drivel about the lower deck not wanting to work.)

We know that Australia has avoided the worst of the ‘Global Economic Crisis’™ and that somehow ‘Halliburton’ and a few pivotal firms of that nature (the gods be praised) have escaped the sort of ‘perfidious nastiness’ that has happened (surprise, surprise) to all those firms that innocent ‘mom and dad investors’ invested with.

Whichever way you look at it - that Kevin Rudd had to go because he so effectively managed a counter to WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN TO US.

On his watch Australia had to deal with an immediately unfolding financial disaster.
Somehow the dill pulled our coals out of that fire without scorching his digits.

They reckon Kev was a workaholic, a hard driver, a perfectionist, abusive and arrogant to his staff when he found them lacking.

Someday someone will dig up some documents proving he was full-pelt against a workload that usually kills.

Someday, someone will give him credit for that and for burning himself out in the process.

He was up against a crazy opposition that refused to believe it was no longer ‘in government’ and demonstrated that by staging a rather counterproductive, internal coup.

They wanted a ‘strong-man’ to ‘lead’ their shower.
Apparently intelligent or principled men don’t count.

Meanwhile this Queensland boy still had to deal with his own team AND the unprecedentedly hateful politics within the factions of his own ‘team’.

Is it any wonder that the lad lost it occasionally?
Is it any wonder he might have needed a break?

Then when the poor bugger believed he could leave the detail of much needed taxation reform to number-crunchers and policy geeks within governance – his own team staged a coup upon him.

Unbelievable – and we’ve all been wearing the consequences ever since.

This, above, is the background to my logic as I write this article by way of determining Arthur’s fate.

Yet whatever I write SHALL be accurate and truthful according to the code of journalism.

So what are we dealing with here?

One half of the team want to sack Arthur.
The others want to give him a medal for saying what needed to be said for a long time.

We decided the only way to go was to leave the decision to a conservative minded person who would make a decision about Arthur’s fate according to Mr. Abbott’s rules.

One thing we’re not short of here is conservative voters – or people who claim to have voted that way in accord with their own ideals.

Put it this way. The incumbent LNP federal blonk has been road-tested and found wanting.
Let’s say he’s almost impossible to start, is unreliable and his steering is definitely awry.
Second last time in his office he fell asleep in meeting.
The last time his chair broke under him (fact) and as he dragged himself up out of the wreckage, he asked – “Where was I?”
So we can’t ask him.

The state LNP was a cop before he put on his suit. He just doesn’t have anyone in his office except his er, associates.
He wouldn’t let us ask him.

But down at the local pub we found a bloke who said he voted for both of ‘em.
So we did it on the cheap and asked him.

His name is ‘Greg’.

Firstly we asked him a few questions to establish his CV.
Things like –
Name –
“Greg Creedey”
Address –
Chrissakes, I lived next door to you for thirty years”
Occupation
 “Aaah – used to be a clerk in ‘Justice’ until –“
Until what?
 “Never mind”
And you vote conservative? –
Yep. They look after me.”
How? –
Grinning - “’Cos I vote for the winners here in town.”
So you’re right into winning these days, then? –
“Yep. I like winning. Make my living from winning.”
How?
 “ Well, I keep investing what I make into bets on horses and sports.”

Okay, fine –

You agree with Abbott about coming down on CentreLink clients?
 “Oh Yeah. No problem – scum of the earth.”
But aren’t you a CentreLink client?-
 “Yeah, but I’m on a disability pension; that’s different.”
Explain what you mean –
“Well, I worked in Justice – the courthouse as a clerk, then as an assistant magistrate until I was sa – became redundant. About eight years set me up though.”
So if that set you up why are you on a pension?
 “Oh, I blew all me dough on this be – on an unfortunate investment and did me back in just after. Didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.”
And now you vote LNP because you hate bludgers? –
“Yep. If they don’t want to work and don’t vote for the party that gives them the best break in work they should move aside for people who can make an opportunity from what is offered from the system.”
You’re serious about that, aren’t you? –
“Break eggs to make omelette. You know the score.”
How long have you been ‘retired’?
 “Since you ask – about thirty years.”
Your age? –
“Ummmm – fifty six”
Okay, we can call you a mature age disabled person whose hobbies are calculating probabilities and games of chance.
“What?”

Like another pot and Bundy chaser, Greg?
 “No worries.”

Anyway, didn’t want to intrude into your personal life but what do you reckon about Arthur’s article?
 “Wasn’t Arthur that fat kid we used to beat up? He wrote this? Harleys for everyone, even women?
Tell him to get off. How about the resale value of my Harley if government brought in a scheme like that?
He’s causing trouble again, isn’t the big shithead. Why don’t you sack the bludger?”

Come on Greg you worked for ‘Justice’, you know the score – ‘put yourself in the other fellow’s shoes’, et cetera.
For instance, you have elderly parents. Wasn’t Arthur sticking up for them? –
“I see ‘em every few months. Phone the old bloke once a week, the old woman’s in a home now and the government picks up most of the tab for that anyway so what’s the problem?”

Well, Greg it might be your problem soon. The people you vote for want to put you out to work in amongst a bunch of other ‘initiatives’ including sorting out ‘problem gambling’. They’ve got the laborites on side about that too.
“Well, they can’t make a bloke work if he can’t work an’ my bad back stops me from working. I make my money my own way and you know, I know, gambling wins are tax free.”
Okay Greg, for the record then – you reckon Arthur’s a bit of a bludger because he’s got a soft job with us – that he should get the sack for stirring the possum too much in his article? –
“Yep. That’s right. He always was a know it all lazy prick. Even that bike he rides has got electric start.”

Oh well, I’d better get back to work if that’s all you want to say.
Oh, by the way is that your new bike out there?
“Yep. 58 Panhead, custom hardtail frame, fully blueprinted.”
No electric start, I see.
“Nope. At eighty cubes she’s a bitch to kick over too.”
Okaay Greg, thanks for being honest. I reckon you’ve said enough to help with our decision.
Seeya then.

So what motivates the conservative minded ‘man in the street’?
Clearly age old principles seem less important than they used to.
He wants Arthur sacked – not because he disagreed with what Arthur had written.
He couldn’t disagree because he refused to read past the bit about free Harley motorcycles.
He knows Arthur and admits to roughing him up when they were kids.
He opines that Arthur was and is a know-it-all and a bit of a softie merely on the basis of his riding a high status motorcycle with an electric starting system.
He claims to dislike Arthur still and urges us to dismiss him from employment.

A reasonable person would suspect that Greg just wants to cause harm to Arthur any way he can.
Meanwhile he appears to have a deal of difficulty differentiating their respective status and merit.

Leaving aside value judgements about their occupations, activities and circumstances, Arthur appears to be clearly ahead as a ‘doer’ while Greg’s own commentary tends to place him as a ‘user’ and ‘taker’.

Arthur sees the world his way and doesn’t mind saying his piece.
Greg, perceiving Arthur as having temporarily put himself out on a limb has, to all intents and purposes, volunteered someone else to cut the whole tree down for him.

The episode does raise questions.
For every Arthur and Kev out there putting themselves out on a limb there are countless thousand Gregs killing each other for an opportunity to hack away at that tree trunk.

Arthur would agree and relate it simply. Believe I’ll save him the trouble.
Here goes.
People like Greg are wannabes. Most importantly they wannabe on top of the pile.
They wannabe on top of the pile, any pile, at any cost.
They judge everything and everyone by their own values.
Which means they operate entirely within an inflexible, self-imposed, adversarial system of their own making.
They mistake their own aggression for assertiveness and condemn assertiveness and forthrightness in others as aggression.

They deem anyone touching upon a matter within their notice as a competitor –
and cannot accept that a person walking the same road might be an ally.

It may well be true that the populace gain the government they deserve.
Who will government complain to when they finally gain the populace they deserve?

Or like Greg – is that a bit too deep for you?

Hey Arthur. 50% pay rise starting tomorrow.

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