Today I want to talk (very briefly) about Barnaby Joyce. (For non-Australian readers, he’s the deputy Prime Minister, and leader of the National Party. His marriage is on the rocks and his new partner, who was a member of his staff, is pregnant.) IT’S NOBODY’S BUSINESS. The man has a wife and four kids who don’t need the laser glare of public opinion intruding into their lives. They’ve done nothing wrong. In fact, I don’t think Mr Joyce has done anything wrong. I’d take a guess and suggest his marriage was on the rocks some time ago, and he’s turned to somebody he works with for comfort. That’s never happened to anybody before, has it? Granted, it might have been wiser to not make a baby until arrangements were settled. That’s never happened to anybody before, either, has it? And the ‘job for the girlfriend’ – I gather she’s qualified. Once again, it’s not exactly a novelty. Jobs for the boys/girls has always been a thing. Provided the person has the skills, it’s a non-issue. Maybe there are a few irregularities – was a government-paid job created for the lady, did Mr Joyce take advantage of perks for his new accommodation – but it’s a side issue in the major job of running the country.
It used to be (in this country, anyway) a politician’s private life was exactly that. Harold Holt was known for having an eye for the ladies. Bob Hawke admitted to bringing girlfriends into the Lodge (Australia’s PM’s home). They were both married men – and they’re just a couple of the more well-known examples. None of that made the headlines, let alone endless discussions in the House or on the news. I guess in these days of reality TV shows the opposition parties and the media tend to zero in on something much more entertaining to the masses than the mundane task of Governing the Country.
Our national debt is in the billions, our welfare system is creaking, and all we have to talk about is Barnaby Joyce’s extra-marital affair. This isn’t the bible belt in the southern USA. Get over yourselves. Please.
Which segues nicely into the most recent insanity on the other side of the world, where a teen wielding an AR-15 murdered seventeen kids at the school he used to attend. How many kids have to die before the assholes in the NRA (National Rifle Association) realise it’s not about them? It’s all been said so many times before. “Thoughts and prayers” – bullshit. At least Prime Minister John Howard had the balls to stand up and be counted after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996. (That article is well worth your time) And Australians, appalled by what had happened, went along with the new gun laws. No civilian needs a semi-automatic weapon. For that matter, I read the other day that the killer who murdered fifty-eight concert-goers in Las Vegas used armour-piercing bullets. The man who sold the ammo has been arrested for manufacturing the rounds without a licence. Why in anybody’s name would a civilian need armour-piercing bullets?
Many, many people in the US are as sickened by the unending violence, and the do-nothing mentality of the government, as I am. Newspapers have railed against the inertia. This article appeared a year ago. It illustrates on a map where mass shootings occurred in the US in 2015, then shows Australian mass shootings for the same year. I’m sure we all remember Sandy Hook, when tiny children were gunned down. I hoped America would wake up then. But the NRA is an all-powerful lobby with too many senators in its pocket. And too many Americans are still inclined to say it’s not about the guns, it’s about mental health. Hello, America. You’re not the only country with people with mental health issues. And yet Australia, the UK, Canada, Europe, Japan – none of those nations has mass shootings so regularly that it hardly gets a mention in the news. Take a look at the graphs in this article. It’s all about the guns, really it is.
That little kid up there with the assault rifle? Kids in America are brain-washed into thinking that owning a gun is a God-given right, that it’s in their constitution. It might be worth reading this to see what the second amendment is really all about.
And in other matters, I’m making progress with my new book. You can read about that here at Spacefreighter’s Lounge.
Merry
I agree totally regarding both issues. The way in which the second amendment has been completely misinterpreted and misused makes my blood boil. And now we have to contend with Trump’s preference for teachers in schools to have guns. Noooooo! Thank goodness, I suppose, that most mentally ill people don’t resort to gun violence .
Merry
Last sentence = sarcastic. Forgot using angle brackets is interpreted as HTML.
Faith Van Rooyen
Thanks for those sane words of wisdom in a world gone mad. Good luck with the new book. Kind regards. Faith.
Greta
Thank you for your kind words – and I have to finish the book first 🙂