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Latham, Hanson and Leyonhjelm are the incarnations of the "Three Stooges", but they are indicative of the current dysfunctional phase of Australian politics.
Our Older Readers – The Very Old – Can Remember The Three Stooges, Larry, Curly and Moe
These deliberately offensive American deplorable stammered and pioneered a series short films designed to fill the gaps of the popular news of the time.
They were supposed to be funny and maybe the trans-pacific spectators might have found them, but in Australia they were more annoying than anything else – an irritation until the real cartoons, the authentic Looney Tunes appeared
. They were very unloved and unfriendly, but they were hard to ignore – rather like their fresh incarnations like David, Pauline and Mark. The Australian Parliament allowed them to be born again.
Of course we are talking about Mark Latham and his two recent mentors – Senators David Leyonhjelm and Pauline Hanson, whose combined wickedness has recently been transformed into a kind of 1950's cheap routine, which has stuffing, certainly, but the most unpleasant kind.
Mark Latham is back doing what he does best – start political fights. Labor MEPs today have voted to condemn him as "the biggest rat in the history of the ALP", which suggests that Parliament could return. @telester #auspol # 7News pic.twitter.com/pjHrUnpo8h
– 7 News Melbourne (@ 7NewsMelbourne) July 10, 2018
Whether it's Leyonhjelm misogynist Bravado, Hanson's incongruent xenophobia or Latham's feudal vendettas, our modern Stooges are determined to keep their own burlesque melodrama in the public eye long after it has pbaded its expiration date.
And they are joined in the hip: to have moaned Latham joined the Liberal Democrats of Leyonhjelm, before abandoning it to campaign for One Nation of Pauline Hanson, for which he hoped a political return.
He polishes his credentials by parodying Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to the opposition. Chef Bill Shorten (liar, liar, pants on fire) and doing as many other foes as possible. Hanson and Leyonhjelm publicly shunned are seemingly cool about it – after all, we Stooges must stay together. But why they would like to do it is less clear.
Despite their clumsiness and brutality, none of the three is irrevocably stupid. Latham was considered both a protégé and a prodigy by former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, who promoted him as a party leader – he overcame the reluctance of admired alumni like John Faulkner to persuade his colleagues that Latham could and should to be prime minister. And there was a moment – it is true that it was quite brief – when it appeared that Whitlam could be right; Latham looked smart, politically savvy and above all a rusty Laborite until he immolated himself.
What do you think of Senator David Leyonhjelm's badertion that his abusive remarks to others are part of "normal Australian behavior"? @hamishNews https://t.co/CrxTWhXlUi pic.twitter.com/FzANlOtJRF
– ABC News (@abcnews) 4 July 2018
Leyonhjelm is clearly a educated and intelligent man, but his adherence to libertarianism has declined into convenient egocentrism and regular abuse. And even Hanson, apart from his unmistakable resilience, must have something to do: despite his serial failures, she continues to go up and even attracts new supporters, including Latham.
So why did they choose to become derision figures? and contempt? The easy answer is years of constant practice: having realized – perhaps belatedly – that they would never succeed for the grand prize, they decided that at least they would be noticed, if not widely. admired. But beyond that, the times are right for them – the current phase of Australian politics is itself dysfunctional, so why should we expect better from the marginalized? And we do not do it.
There may still be a faint hope, but we all know that it will end in tears. Larry will push Moe in the eyes with a burnt stick and the screen will go up to black – until our Stooges come back for the next exciting episode. We will then leave the theater and go to the pub
Mungo MacCallum is a veteran journalist who has worked for many years at the Canberra Press Tribune. This article was published on 'Pearls and Irritations & # 39; and is republished with permission
Pauline Hanson …. Australian Gammon, on Tommy Waxy-Lemon
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