“Gillard Has Guts!”
One paper told the truth today
No matter what the others have to say.
You know, about the PM being dead,
Politically I mean. How often has that been said!
But here she is alive and well,
And with plenty of good news to tell.
This picture says it all dear reader.
We couldn’t have a better leader.
While leakers and gossip writers go to town,
Character assassins bring her down,
And Abbott does his stunts and struts,
She keeps smiling. Yes! Gillard has guts!
NOTES:
This is a pome from two years back when Murdoch and media mates were doing their usual thing in backing Tony Abbott to be in the Lodge tomorrow, or at least next week. A c0nversation with Jane at Cafe Whispers about sunflowers somehow put these lines in front of me again and it struck me how even more appropriate they are today. And then I read this beautiful letter which I’ve copied in full below to the Prime Minister which said everything I would want to say to her today too. I have highlighted it as well as quoted. I don’t know the writer, Ian’s full name, but he is one of the many great bloggers at The Pub and this contribution today to a telling post about the witch hunt which has been in full cry every day since Julia Gillard became our Prime Minister deserves wide coverage.
Thursday 06/06/2013
The Prime Minister of Australia
Dear Ms Gillard.
Khalil Gibran, a Lebanese poet once wrote:
“To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.”
I understand that at the present time you are perceived to be in a, politically speaking, very dark place indeed. In fact, if one were to pay credence to the media and pundits the whole idea of elections and a free people exercising their right to walk, unencumbered by fear, into a ballot box is an unneccessary impost. A change of Government is a foregone conclusion. They, the media and their political champions, have deemed it so. I am here to tell you different.
I could bang on about unfair reporting, blatant lies, misleading headlines and all the rest. I wont. That would both a waste of your time and mine. What I would like to talk about is courage.
Too many of us have been conditioned to accept an act of bravado as an act of courage. It’s not. Never has been, never will be. We accept that the blatherings on a radio station are the telling of truth to power. It’s not. Never has been. Never will be. Journalists with bylines and column inches shining the impartial light of truth and reason saving society from the excesses of Government. They don’t. They never will. They never have. None of this is courage. It’s not even bravery. It would be more akin to a rank, ingrained cowardice. An unfortunate irony of life is that cowards are notoriously hard to pin down to fight. It really is pointless expending energy on them, other than on occasion, like when one is confronted with any yapping cur, a solid kick in the guts doesn’t go astray.
Courage, unlike cowardice, is borne of an empathy deep in the soul. It radiates out to those in need. It strengthens those who falter and shines a harsh brightness on the treacherous. The strength, the character, the conviction of a courageous soul will always prevail. As will you and your Government.
Those who disparage the achievements, the strengths, the courage and, importantly, the honest, decent and all too human empathy of you and your Government believe they have weakened you. They haven’t. They wont. They never will….nor us.
Many millions of Australians admire, trust, respect and believe in you and what you wish to achieve. They have looked into their hearts and minds and they agree.
Kindest regards Ian
Patriciawa, Saturday 08/06/13 Just came across this by Andrew Elder, wonderful author of the Politically Homeless which underlines Ian’s faith in our Prime Minister and my own conviction that she can and will win this coming election. Needs highlighting!
The Murdoch journos can’t believe the Labor leadership thing really is over. The basic facts of Australian politics are clearly different to what they told us, what they demanded we pay them to tell us: Julia Gillard was Prime Minister was Prime Minister in June 2010, she was Prime Minister was Prime Minister in June 2011, she was Prime Minister was Prime Minister in June 2012, she is Prime Minister was Prime Minister in June 2013, and no amount of increasingly strident Narrative is convincing that she won’t be Prime Minister was Prime Minister in June 2014, or ’15.
Another encouraging post today was all about The CaseFor Keeping Julia Gillard by Robert Macklin who lists the achievements of what he thinks is excellent government run by a Prime Minister who has never been given a fair go.
It seems I’m the only columnist left in Australia who thinks Julia Gillard and her excellent government have a reasonable chance of winning the September 14 election.
Call me quixotic if you like, but I just can’t believe that my fellow Australians would toss out a government that has done us such sterling service for an opposition led by Tony Abbott who threatens to undo so much of what we’ve achieved these last five years; and who wants to set us on a path to “austerity” that has done such appalling damage in Europe and the US.
I found this article at AIMN site while reading there a deliciously feisty defence of our democracy and challenge to Rupert Murdoch which has now been re-posted by Michael Taylor at Cafe Whispers, my favorite blog site of all. We Won’t Back Down!
I’m sure we’re going to see a lot more fight and feistiness like this from Julia Gillard supporters from here on until September 14th. She deserves it. After all –
Citizen Journalism has an astonishing listing of the many times Gillard’s demise has been confidently and wrongly predicted.
Cafe Whispers also ran this pome with more extensive notes under the title of Julia Gillard Has Guts, But you already knew that didn’t you?
Patriciawa, 13/06/13, MORE NOTES, after watching PMJG’s interview with Ben Eltham in Fremantl Town Hall, 12/06/13.
Isn’t it odd how the Canberra Press Gallery and commentariat has painted such a distorted picture of Prime Minister Julia Gillard? One can forgive cartoonists up to a point, they are often as relentless in their portrayal of Tony Abbott. But interviewers and reporters of press interviews leave him and his pronouncements largely unquestioned.
My immediate impression on seeing the PM mingling informally at last night’s fundraiser in Fremantle, was how small she is. So much has been made of her derriere, that I wondered if she had lost weight recently. Even so that shouldn’t affect her overall proportions. She came across as a slightly built woman, modestly dressed in a black trouser suit and sensible shoes, with immaculately groomed hair and stylish glasses which added character to her face, but left it open to scrutiny.
As she always is of course, unlike the Opposition Leader who walks away from awkward questions. Of course the event was not a press conference, it was a fund raiser billed as ‘The PM in Conversation With Ben Elton.’ Even so, there was some searching questioning along with the light hearted banter, particularly about asylum seekers.
I haven’t got my thoughts about last night together yet. I woke up this morning to Joe Hockey’s comment about the Prime Minister never having had respect which is laughable. She received a standing ovation on arrival and departure and our local member, Melissa Parkes told me her office receives calls and emails daily reflecting the same feelings of admiration and respect and urging her and other Caucus members to stay loyal.
I’n fact feelings about the PM in that audience were if anything more firmly behind her than at Community Cabinets held here in WA last year.
More later. It was great to meet fellow Political Swordsters, Gordon and Rosemary, last night and to share our impressions of the event in person. We should do more of it. Any other sandgropers up to joining us in the beachside coffee we plan for next week?
I’m very proud of this picture organised for me there by Melissa Park, our local Member.
kate ahearne 19/06/13, Hi Patricia. I just wanted to let you know how nice it is to see your ‘likes’ in my Inbox. So I came across to see what you’re up to. Thanks very much for this – a couple of great quotes that I hope you won’t mind if I recycle – properly accredited, of course. Anyway, you’ve been fighting the good fight for some time, and I wish I had the leisure right now to read all your posts, but alas! – Perhaps when the race has been run and won, I can follow up some of these wonderful sites, like yours. Meanwhile, keep at it, Patricia.
Patriciawa, 11/09/14, How did Tony Abbott ever imagine that his Royal Commission into Trade Unions would bring her down? This Pope cartoon from last month is almost prescient.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BxKQTVzIAAAQdhd.jpg:large
Who said the camera cannot lie? It’s surely not so long ago? But now worldwide we hear the sigh That politicans in the know Can make that very truth a lie.
richo, 02/08/13, All that maybe true and rightly or wrongly her fate was sealed the day she did Kevin in. Now having said that I concur she was a Prime Minister who got things done. I suspect what she failed to do was to sell her many achievements. In the end if you can’t communicate it clearly you are kind of stuffed.
my say, 02/08/13, julia never had a chance,she was hounded out of office by a coalition government ,who never got over loosing in 2010 to a woman, by the murdoch media, who believe their man abbott was born to rule,and by some in her own party, although i don’t agree with everything rudd has done i will still vote labor as to not let julia down for all the good policies that she had got passed in the parlament. we have a lot to thank her for
Gilly, 02/08/13, Another lie about Julia. “Julia did Kevin in”, absolute rubbish, the Labour caucus voted out a man who is not a leader but someone who could never function as a leader. A leader leads others, to do this others need to be trusted, respected and taken into consideration. Kevin was too full of himself to ever have any responsibility for others. As for a communicator, it takes two for communication, someone to listen. Nobody wanted to listen about Government, all the focus was on politics. One of the greatest PMs the country has had was not a politician, she was too honest and focused on what she was elected to do, an adult who was not trapped into playing the immature game of politics.
Patricia Bensted, 02/08/13, Julia did Kevin In. What a load of rubbish. Rudd went into Julias office and abused her for not being loyal to him and this is after she REFUSED to go against him. She wasmade a scapegoat for the likes of Shorten etc: so get all your facts straight. I for one will miss the kind, compassionate lady. What she has done for the women ofAustralia and the World for that matter is remarkable. I will always voteLabor because I am aLabor person not like some of the friends of Rudd who even gave up their Membership of the Labor Party, so one must ask did they resign from the Party because Rudd was ousted or was it because a woman took his place. Methinks the latter.
Sandra, 02/08/13, Gilly, Patricia couldn’t agree more. We will never know just what went down at either of the deposings. All I know is that I miss that wonderful courageous lady’s smile, her compassion etc. Don’t think that the new team is as good as hers, they have a slightly different agenda. Hope Bowen is as good at managing the books as Swanny was. Hope that Gonski doesn’t get watered down either. Julia got so many good things through didn’t she. Miss her heaps.
freedomsmoker, 02/08/13, My only feeling was relief when Gillard got killed off. She definitely evoked polarized opinions. Worst prime minister in Australian history in my opinion.
Mobius Ecko, 02/08/13, ……….can you tell us why she was the worst PM using something like facts. Oh and it wasn’t Gillard who polarised opinions, that would be Abbott and the MSM lies and deceptions putting Gillard into a no win situation no matter what she did or said. My opinion she was the best PM we’ve had, and the runs are on the board to prove it.
richo, 02/08/13, Whatever the reality is……………..the perception out there is that she did Kevin in. Whether she did or didn’t she was part of it………
bilko, 02/08/13, PatriciaWA, Well said, now you have brought out the mists in my old tired eyes once again. Sad that Julia has vanished from the airwaves but not forgotten in our hearts.