If you say so, Mr.President.

Don’t you just love it when a rookie gets all keen and eager and thinks he or she can change the world? I am a teacher, been at this game for over 15 years, and you learn so much about what works and what doesn’t after you have sat in front of hundreds, if not thousands of kids. But our newbies in the profession are so gung ho and work like trojans to please everyone. I always say that after a few years, you learn to ‘trim the fat’ and still do an effective job.

Newbie Barack Obama seems to be enjoying this job they call President of the United States. He is sure taking his campaign slogan very seriously. ‘Yes We Can’ is the way he is tackling all issues, especially the biggies of Health Care and Middle East Peace. In regard to the latter, he is obviously not a diplomat. He has just met with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders and almost ordered them to recommence negotiations. As much as I agree with the President on this matter, if he thinks that smacking them both on the back of their heads and pulling them up by their collars will achieve instant peace between these two he is surely mistaken. I am the ultimate pessimist with this one. Netanyahu of Israel is a right wing thug, and there is no way he is going to sell out the Israel HE wants for the sake of making the first African American President’s dreams come true. Palestinian President Abbas faces a struggle himself, as his Fatah party is not the party in real power and he not only has Obama breathing down his neck, Netanyahu sneering from down the road, but Hamas calling most of the shots in Palestine.

This is what I mean about the newbie having great ideas, but the reality is way different from what he thinks it is. Yes, something has to give somehow. Northern Ireland achieved peace after years of pure hatred, so it can happen. But with Afghanistan on the verge of falling apart, Israel ready to go as far right wing as they need to, and Iran in the hands of a shitty little dictator who disregards free and fair elections and the will of the people, this region is on a knife edge.The reality can be pretty much summed up in this statement. Pessimistic, but unfortunately true:

The former US ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, explained why Mr Obama’s task will be so tough.

“He stands in Israeli public opinion polls at around 6 per cent and falling,” he said.

“Netanyahu stands at around 60 per cent and rising and that’s a situation in which the President cannot succeed in achieving Middle East peace unless he brings the Israeli people with him.”

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/23/2693676.htm

Enjoy your day.

 

Put out the soapbox

The annual circus which is the United Nations General Assembly is about to commence in New York. This event, which drives New Yorkers nuts every year because of the immense security surrounding the convergence of world leaders from all over the world, has been quoted as being an event low on substance but high on pomp and circumstance.

This year’s speechfest promises to live up to all its expectations, plus a bit more. For the first time in years, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi of Libya is attending.  It is always a special time when we hear stuff about Gadhafi, as the man is known for his utter weirdness, and has been known for it for the last 40 years. He has already faced an issue with pitching his Bedouin tent in the grounds of a Libyan owned mansion in New Jersey. The neighbours didn’t want him there, so he has been forced to stay in a 5 star hotel in Manhattan. Poor man. What he will say at the General Assembly is anyone’s guess, but the recent release of the Lockerbie bomber might feature somewhere I am sure. Gadhafi doesn’t do anything unless he wants to sprout some form of non nonsensical rubbish. Stay tuned.

It will also be the very first appearance by a Chinese head of state. Hu Jintao will be attending, and it is reported that he will make quite a remarkable statement on climate change, which promises to make China the leader in efforts to reduce climate change. Really?

Ahmadinejad of Iran will be there of course. He loves the General Assembly because he gets to rant to a world audience and no one can stop him. But his rants are becoming predictable, and he offers nothing new to the forum. He is neither controversial nor shocking anymore. Most of us simply call out ‘next’!

With each world leader coming together purely for their own reasons, what is the point of the United Nations? President Obama is a supporter of the UN, George W Bush was not. Most of us would not be on the side of President Obama on this one. The United Nations was meant to be seen as a collective force against aggression and military conflict. It was meant to unite the world in peace. I don’t see Gadhafi, Ahmadinejad, Hu, Obama, Rudd and Brown all coming together under one common banner. New Yorkers wouldn’t care if all the disruption lead to the world being a better, more peaceful place. But, like New Yorkers, I wouldn’t be impressed sitting in a traffic jam for hours on end knowing Gadhafi is across town using the UN as his personal playground.

The UN is a useless institution, and these silly General Assemblies need to stop. The world is buckling under poverty and corruption, and the UN simply ignores us and spends millions of dollars, which could be spent bettering the lives of many, on the grandstanding of an elite few. What needs to happen is for the UN itself to be put under the microscope, analysed, critiqued and given a report card on its effectiveness.

It won’t allow itself to come under such scrutiny, as it would fail miserably.

Enjoy your day.

 

China must step up

A few blog posts back, I wrote about the strength of China. China is becoming incredibly powerful. In this day and age of the ’survival’ of the fittest, China is winning hands down. But what comes with that is a massive responsibility.

Two political regimes are continuing to cause havoc; Burma and North Korea. Burma is blatantly trumping up charges against opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, trying to ensure that she does not take part in elections to be held next year. They know she will win and they have to do something to ensure that she does not take part. Her home detention expires today, and they have no legal reason to detain her, so a trumped up charge must be created in order to maintain the status quo. International condemnation does little to Burma, if nothing at all.

Then there is North Korea. They have today declared that they have ‘torn up the truce’ between themselves and South Korea, effectively declaring a resumption to hostilities that ended in 1953. They have tested missiles and are ready to get nasty. Not a good situation.

This is where China has all the cards. I have said many times that only China can wield a big stick with Burma and with North Korea. They have condemned North Korea in the strongest terms, but not Burma. China has too many political prisoners of its own to preach to another country about theirs. So Burma will continue to be treated with kid gloves. Aung San Suu Kyi must hold out hope that the junta wake up on the right side of the bed on the day of the verdict and set her free. Unfortunately that is unlikely.

But China is showing some signs that they have had enough of North Korea. Why this change of heart toward a staunch ally and friend? Well, North Korea is ‘pushing the friendship’ and this is why China has had enough.

North Korea’s latest nuclear test raises the question of just how long the bonds forged between old communist allies will endure.

The test was conducted barely 50 miles from the Chinese border. The ground rumbled in northeast China, and some schools were evacuated because of fears of an earthquake.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fg-china-korea27-2009may27,0,4005894.story

North Korea are messing about just outside the Chinese border, miles away from Pyongyang. In choosing that particular area, the North Korean regime feels the need to sabre rattle even in the face of its friends. China is one of North Korea’s only friends, if not its only one, and the worst thing you can do is bite the hand that feeds you. They are the naughty kid in the family, and China has cut them a lot of slack. But now China feels that North Korea is ungrateful, not to mention reckless.

“The Chinese side vehemently demands North Korea abides by its denuclearisation promises, stop any actions which may worsen the situation and return to the six-party talks process.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/25/2580513.htm

The reaction to North Korea has only been so strong because it threatens China. If the tantrum by the North Korean regime was directed toward South Korea or Japan or anyone else in North Asia, I don’t think China would care. But it is so close to home, they are worried about the effect it will have on them.

The only way Burma will receive the same treatment is if the Burmese do something to offend China, or threaten its borders and its people. At the moment, none of that has happened. To the Chinese government, the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi will result in her possibly going to prison. It will effect her and her alone. The people will continue to be oppressed, but so do a lot of Chinese. In many ways, all Chinese live under some form of oppression, to varying degrees. If the Burmese regime stopped deals worth millions to China, we may see China get heavy handed. But it will take something of that magnitude to get China to act. Face it, it took North Korea to test a nuclear weapon on China’s doorstep for China to even think of acting.

What more can the international community do? This is a question I have posed too many times. I don’t have an answer. No one does. It is up to China, and with China coming to any table around the world as the strongest player, there is little we as the rest of the world can do to sway them to our way of thinking.

Enjoy your day

 

Zuma’s challenge

Jacob Zuma has become South Africa’s fourth President since apartheid was dismantled in 1994. He is an interesting character, and someone who is not exactly the country’s most pure citizen. But the challenge he faces is not really about him proving his worth as a law abiding citizen. It is more about what he and the African National Congress (ANC) are going to do about the sorry state South Africa’s black majority still find themselves in long after Nelson Mandela has left the President’s office.

Apartheid was a system that did nothing for the black majority, so it was logical to think that when a black President took the reigns, things would get better. Ok, it was never going to happen overnight, but 15 years? In some cases, things are no different at all.

New estimates of poverty show that the proportion of people living in poverty in South Africa has not changed significantly between 1996 and 2001. However, those households living in poverty have sunk deeper into poverty and the gap between rich and poor has widened.

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000990/

What has happened since apartheid is some black South Africans have had a taste of the good life and they like it. It is akin to denying a kid entry into the candy shop and when he finally gets to go inside, he becomes a glutton and forgets about all the other kids that still don’t have that same access. Those who have been able to have, have grabbed it with both hands and no longer is South Africa divided on racial lines, but on class lines. A classic case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. South Africa has become like every other country in the modern world. It promised so much, but has delivered so little.

Former President Thabo Mbeki suffered from an affliction that befalls most world leaders. He was handpicked by Nelson Mandela, and we all thought that he would continue the dream of turning South Africa into a truly functioning African nation rising from the ashes of discrimination. But he was a leader out of touch with his people, totally unaware of their plight, and incapable of understanding what problems they faced. His complete lack of basic knowledge of HIV/AIDS in a continent where it is on the rise, bordered on negligence, not to mention his appalling handling of Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. This last incident proved to the world that he was a failed leader, not just to his own people, but to the African continent as a whole.

But Jacob Zuma needs to demonstrate that he is far more effective than Mbeki. He comes across as a good time boy who seems not to have a good grasp of the issues at hand. Already he is blaming the ‘global economic downturn’ as a way of saying he can’t do things. Plus, he has admitted to having unprotected sex with a HIV+ woman, and ‘had a shower after’ to stop infection. Oh dear. Not another Mbeki.

When Nelson Mandela made his speech at the beginning of his historic Presidency he had this to say:

We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity–a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/mandela.html

We have to ask ourselves, as does Jacob Zuma have to ask himself, has this dream of Mandela’s been realised, or were they words that sounded good at the time, but have paled into insignificance. Zuma needs to do so many things, but I believe he has a ‘top three’.

1. Put in place some firm policies to genuinely alleviate the suffering of the poor who have not moved one inch since apartheid.

2. Educate the country (and himself)  much more on HIV infection and be the leader in Africa on how to stop the spread of this disease which kills millions of Africans each year.

3. Be a true leader who will stand up to Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and stop the humanitarian crisis that occurs there. Poverty in South Africa will only worsen as thousands of Zimbabweans flee over the border. Sorting Zimbabwe can only benefit South Africa.

Let me leave you with some more of Mandela’s famous words. Let us hope true freedom will come to the poor in South Africa and true respect will finally be shown.

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

 

Enjoy your day

 

Dangerous voices

                  

When governments win elections, it is usually because the majority have spoken. Call it the popular vote, call it winning more seats than the other party, the fact still remains; the majority are needed for change of government to occur. That is what happened to Barack Obama.

President Barack Obama won the majority of the vote. But what seems to be happening is a gathering of strength in the conservative minority in the United States. Not only is it strong, vocal and obstructionist, but what scares me is it has the potential to become a lynch mob, stirred up by irresponsible right wing commentators hell bent on a riot. This is not only iresponsible, but dangerous and bordering on inciting a class war based on morals.

Terms like ‘Road to Socialism’ are meant to conjure up images of the Cold War era and Hugo Chavez dressed in red. The fact that Barack Obama is not a socialist is neither here nor there to the right wing. They just have to make their listeners think that Obama has a socialist agenda. That, in turn will incite them to rise up in revolt against what they see as a new ‘evil empire’.

Former Vice-President Dick Cheney was, and probably still is, an incredibly dangerous man. I have made this statement many times before. What he did and what he authorised during his time as Vice-President was nothing short of criminal, torture being just one of the many breaches of human decency he allowed to happen. But the right wing were not there when Cheney was taking away the civil liberties of his fellow human beings.

Hatred comes out of jealousy. The right wing have had their man lampooned for the last eight years from all circles. As a matter of fact, they never talk about him, or very rarely. Why? Well, wouldn’t you be embarrassed? In a recent discussion between right wing commentator Sean Hannity and columnist (interesting how they don’t call him a journalist) Mark Steyn, the childish schoolyard jealousy of the popular kid they see as Barack Obama shone through:

…and it’s amazing, when these gods walk among us, they do such a great job as passing as human. Who would have thought it?

This exchange between Hannity and Steyn would be seen by some as simply innocent fun banter, taking a gentle dig at the President. After all, the liberal media panned Bush for eight years and we all had a good laugh. But liberals are a different audience to the audience the right wing media appeal to. The right wing audience are much more narrow in their thinking, are heavily evangelical Christian and are much more gullible when it comes to sensational news stories with lots of hype and very little substance. You and I could watch the interchange between Steyn and Hannity and laugh, call them idiots, and walk off. Those that watch Sean Hannity religiously (pardon the pun) will interpret his comments to mean that 1) Obama is trying to be God, and there is only one God   2) He is not really human and   3) He is a person not to be trusted.

You may think I am overreacting, and I may well be. However, the conservative base of the Republican party is wanting the party to move further to the right, as being a ‘centrist’ party has failed. So the call is made for all those who wish to save their nation to rise up and make their voices heard. They want momentum to build to a point that Obama’s government and it’s agenda for the future will fail. It could be suggested that they are gradually building up to the point of toppling the government. In  old fashioned terms, the right wing media could be seen as inciting treason. Too strong? Well, let’s take a look at the definition of treason:

Oran’s Dictionary of the Law (1983) defines treason as: “…[a]…citizen’s actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the [parent nation].” In many nations, it is also often considered treason to attempt or conspire to overthrow the government, even if no foreign country is aided or involved by such an endeavour.

The right wing media want us to watch what this President is really trying to do to the United States. Let us then, as liberals, do the same. This is not innocent banter. These are not light hearted digs. This is not intelligent difference of opinion. These are dangerous, baseless assertions designed to anger their base to the point where they will see President Barack Obama as someone that should be removed. What scares me even more is what method they will use to remove him.

If anything bad happens to President Obama, and the right wing media is blamed for encouraging anti-government unrest, the right wing media would not feel bad and would take no blame for what happened. This is where they are a shallow, empty group who are demonstrating negligent behaviour. Many of the most emotionally needy, God fearing christian people believe what the right wing media say, some hang off every word and see certain members such as US ’shock jock’ Rush Limbaugh as heroes. The old saying goes, ‘a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing’, and most of the time, the right wing media give their listeners a ‘little bit of knowledge’. When one does not get the full picture, they rely on what they have been given. This is very dangerous indeed if not substantiated or put into context.

But Barack Obama is a product of the Chicago political meat mincer. If you can come through that system and surivive, you can survive anywhere. All the stuff he has had thrown at him so far is small fry.

Enjoy your day

 

Right wing fear

It has been absolutely astounding to watch and listen to the right wing media in the US  since the election of Barack Obama. It’s also been amusing to watch my own country’s conservatives, called the Liberal Party oddly enough.The right wing have failed to do anything of any substance in regard to improving the lot for their citizens when they are in power, but they are the quickest to jump to their feet with a waving finger and a ‘tut, tut, tut’ whenever their left wing opponent so much as looks a different way.

President Barack Obama, and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia are never going to be all things to their country; no leader ever is. They will both make mistakes and make a judgement calls that they shouldn’t have. To say they won’t is ignorant and downright silly. Obama can trumpet ‘Yes We Can’ all he likes, but he has to make that powerful call to arms happen. So too with Kevin Rudd. He likes to travel overseas a lot, and does a lot of talking. But he is very slow to get things really happening. One theory behind this ’slow pace’ is because he does not want to be seen by the electorate as ‘going too fast’ and changing everything at once. When he has secured a second term in office, sometime after late 2010, which is highly likely, he will then start on a more bold agenda, having gained more trust and respect from a supsicious electorate.

President Barack Obama is taking the economic downturn by the horns. Is he doing the right thing? He is taking a huge gamble, but then again, so is every government around the world. As I have said in a previous post, no one has any real clue how the world can get back on its feet and different governments are trying different things. Australia and the US are sepnding their way out of the downturn, whereas Europe sees spending as dangerous. Who is right? In the end, they all could be. It could end up that a mix of a number if ideas could be the golden solution.

But instead of being helpul, the right wing media are not just saying that President Obama’s plan is bad and will make the economy worse, they have to go a ludicrous step forward and say that Obama is putting us ‘on the road to socialism.’ The politics of fear just will not die. The right wing love it and they can’t let it go. The right wing are loud, confident and full of puff and bluster, but unfortunately they have very little substance. Some widely respected political commentators are even thinking FOX News has delved into the world of fairytale and farce. Facts are becoming hard to come by.

I don’t see it as fairytale and farce. That would mean it is harmless. I find it dangerous and reckless. President Obama is being criticised for shaking hands with Hugo Chavez of Venezuala, bowing to the Saudi King, and wanting to meet with Ahmadinejad of Iran. The most hypocritical criticism was of President Obama bowing to the Saudi King. There are two glaring issues that I wish to address here. One, President Obama is doing what all of us should do when we meet a reigning monarch, bow or curtsey. It is proper protocol and even the royal families around the world demonstrate that protocol to each other. I witnessed the Princesses of Thailand bow to the Sultan of Brunei on one ocassion. He is a king, he is superior. Whether we believe it or respect it is immaterial. That is proper protocol and President Obama was only doing what was expected of him.

Secondly, I find it rich that FOX News is questioning why President Obama is bowing to the king of a nation that harbours terrorists. Need I remind FOX News of the very cosy relationship that the Bush family, not to mention Dick Cheney, had with the Saudi Royal family?

 Clearly, the finances and fortunes of the Saudi oligarchs and the Bush family have been intertwined for many years, and oil has been the lubricant of choice, even non-existent oil.

 

… the Gulf Oil Drilling Supply, of New York, Miami, and Bahrain, was Jeb Bush’s favorite artifice for oil and gas frauds:

“The fraud was rather simple. Richard Secord arranged through then Vice President George Bush Sr.’s old friend, Ghaith Pharaon, the then retired head of Saudi intelligence, for Gulf Oil and Drilling to purchase from the Saudi government oil and gas leases in the Gulf which were effectively worthless.”

http://www.hermes-press.com/BushSaud.htm

And again:

For his part, President Bush has been consistently unabashed and unapologetic about his “good relationship” with Crown Prince Abdullah, telling Barbara Walters on “20/20” recently:

“I’ve got a very good relationship with the Crown Prince Abdullah. … I believe he is … as we say, ‘the genuine article.’ He is a good, honest man. And, and in my discussions with the crown prince, he has assured me that the Saudi government will do everything they can to disrupt finances headed toward terrorists. I explained to the crown prince that obviously there is an issue in America when, you know, 16, I guess, of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, and therefore the American people are skeptical.

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/10/17/215142.shtml

It is very clear that right wing commentators have conveniently developed a short term memory.  Right wing commentator Sean Hannity was almost disgusted seeing a picture of President Obama bowing to the Saudi King, but remained silent years ago when this picture was made public.

                    

Looks similar to this really, doesn’t it?

                    

Just like the right wing are gaining power, it is time that those of us who believe in a fair decent society, say enough is enough to these ignorant excuses for human beings. No wonder President Ortega of Nicaragua spent an hour cursing the United States at the latest Summit of The Americas. No wonder Hugo Chavez of Venezuala has done the same thing over the years. America was hated because of its treatment of others.

I don’t care if waterboarding and other interrogation techniques worked and gained information. Torture is WRONG, and we as a civilised people should not accept it under any circumstances. We criticise the arab for their brutal punishments, but we are no better. Don’t we say to our children to not lower themselves to the level of the bully or the cheat? We teach our kids to show a good example.

The next time on of our own is tortured for ‘information’ by brutal thugs in far distant lands, we should applaud them, as they are doing what they need to do to gain ‘vital information’. Does the right wing agree with that?

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Enjoy your day

 

America’s light shines proud again

As an Australian, I was on the one hand brought up on a staple diet of American television, but on the other hand, we all disliked the ‘yanks’ as we called them, because they were loud, showy and obnoxious. And over the last eight years, we have seen the American community become even more isolated because some of them were stupid enough to vote in an idiot to the Presidency not once, but twice. That is why it is now so refreshing to see the ‘rebirth’ of America and most of all, America’s standing in the world community.

President Barack Obama has been called a celebrity by his critics because he seems to be idolised by the press and everyone he meets. He is a good looking, charismatic man. People do tend to be a little overawed when they meet someone like that. But he is also a man of substance who they can see is hard at work trying to deliver what he said he would deliver. He is also articulate and educated when he talks, something that has been sorely lacking these last eight years. And we can’t get by the fact that when people meet him, they are meeting the first African American President of the United States. That is a thrill in itself. However, if he was an idiot, like his predecessor and had absolutely no charm, he wouldn’t be getting the time of day.

President Obama is using his first international trip to mend bridges and to reassure the world, and especially Europe, that America is on the path to normalising relations with all those it has offended. He has impressed President Sarkozy of France, Chancellor Merkel of Germany, and has today been warmly welcomed by President Gull of Turkey.

When President Obama was running for the Presidency, he famously said “..we are not the red states, we are not the blue states, we are the United States of America.” Today, in Turkey, he spoke similar words:

“…one of the great strengths of the United States is that it does not consider itself  a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values. I think modern Turkey was founded with a similar set of principles.”

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/06/obama.turkey/index.html?iref=hpmostpop

Don’t tell the mad right wing evangelical Christians that America is not a Christian country, they’ll hit the roof! Of course, they are probably still clinging to that roof since November, when they realised that a black man was President.

Karl Rove, former advisor to George W Bush, has been quoted recently as saying that Obama needs to “get off the campaign trail and start being President.” I don’t think Karl is watching because that is exactly what he has been doing. You see, Karl isn’t too keen on seeing a President talk too much, and talk eloquently. He made sure Bush said only the minimum and confused everybody. President Obama sounds like he knows what he is talking about, and that’s not what Karl wants to see. The more Obama gains acceptance from all parts of the world, the more his boy George looks like the waste of space he was.

Even the reception Barack and Michelle Obama got from the Queen was extraordinary. Very few sitting US Presidents have had a private audience with the Queen outside of a State visit, and very few First Ladies, or any lady for that matter, could get away with not curtseying to the Queen. Then we see footage of the Queen putting her arm around Michelle Obama, ignoring protocol and getting uncharacteristically ‘touchy feely’. Scenes like these that we are unlikely to see again.

Karl Rove also alerted to President Obama claiming that America was arrogant, and that he needs to mend the damage that has been caused by that arrogance. Rove was insulted and saw it as Obama ‘putting America down.’ The plain fact is George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Karl Rove spent the last eight years putting every other country down and making them yield to the power of the United States. They showed no respect for any nation that did not do what they were told. Bush even stated “…you are either with us or against us.” This is the arrogance that President Obama is talking about. This is the wound we need to heal. I feel sorry for the right wing. The party is over, everyone’s gone to the other guy’s house, and they are having a better time there than they had at the other party. But it’s ok, the Republican train wreck may be able to regroup by 2016, if they’re lucky.

Obama’s attempts to reach out will work. But when something has been frozen for eight years, it takes a little longer to thaw.

Enjoy your day

 

Meddling Mahathir

                     

The grumpy old man from Malaysia is at it again. Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister, is yet again demonstrating that he just cannot sit back and do what he should have done six years ago; retire with dignity and leave the governing to those who are elected.

This week saw Mahathir’s hand-picked successor, Abdullah Badawi, resign. According to my friends in Malaysia, most of whom are ethnic Chinese, it isn’t a great loss. He was fairly useless in the job and had his fair share of minor scandals. Dr. Mahathir, who ruled with as close to an iron fist as you can without technically being a dictator, decided he didn’t like Badawi anymore, after Badawi pulled the plug on projects that were favourites of Mahathir. Badawi bit the hand that fed him. So Mahatir has spent the last six years pulling Badawi and his government apart and being the continual thorn in the side.

So now Badawi is out of the picture, bowing to pressure from his party after their poor showing in elections last year. Will we now hear the end to the incessant whining and complaining from the grand old man of Malaysian politics? Not on your life. Mahathir has hardly allowed the new Prime Minister, Najib Razak, time to get comfortable in the chair. The 85 year old former PM is letting Mr. Razak know that he is watching very carefully, and that any action not worthy of the Mahathir stamp of approval, will incur his wrath.

What has happened is that Abdullah has got no power to administer this country. His tendency is to bow to the opposition. He doesn’t want to be all this ‘free’ and all that, but he feels he doesn’t have enough support to be strong,” he said.

Mahathir also had sharp words for Najib, who was once his protege but disappointed the grand old man of Malaysian politics when he refused to oppose Abdullah’s policies or campaign openly for him to quit.

“Unfortunately as a second man (deputy) he hasn’t performed very well. His tendency is just to follow blindly his leader,” he said.

“It doesn’t speak well of a leader who allows himself to be so overawed by his superior.”

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/world/03/30/09/mahathir-expects-firm-leadership-under-new-malaysia-pm

While some are calling Razak a hardliner along the lines of Mahathir, Mahathir himself is obviously seeing Razak as weak, even before he has been sworn in. But what Dr. Mahathir is failing to see is his own hypocrisy. Mahathir was the final say in Malaysian politics for 22 years. He is criticising Razak for being overawed by his superiors, but during his time in power, Mahathir’s direct subordinates were forced to be ‘overawed’ by him. He had the final say and didn’t give a damn what anyone else thought. You disagreed with Mahathir at your peril.

What’s happening in Malaysia could very well happen in the City-State of Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister, is like Dr. Mahathir, an elder statesman of asian politics and someone who has officially let go of power, but still pulls strings when needed. When Lee stepped down as PM, he became ‘Senior Minister’ and when Goh Chok Tong became Senior Minister (Lee’s hand-picked successor), and Lee’s son became PM, Lee created the position of ‘Mentor Minister’ so he could still call the shots. Lee may not be as ruthless as Mahathir, but both these men, while doing great things for their countries, are unable to let go. Mahathir openly criticises, Lee doesn’t, mainly because the Prime Ministership is held by his son. He need not publicly criticise, simply admonish him over the family dinner table.

What Dr. Mahathir does not realise is that the more he says, the less the people of Malaysia will respect him as a great leader who did many great things for the country. A kind retired elder statesman is always more respected when they know their place. Former US President Jimmy Carter was travelling nicely until he went to the Middle East to fix the world’s problems all by himself, ignoring official channels. Interference can destroy all good work that is currently being done. He was President once, he isn’t anymore.

Same with Dr. Mahathir and to a lesser extent, Lee Kuan Yew. It’s time for ‘Daddy’ to let go and allow their nations to move forward. Of course mistakes will be made and the decisions will not be what they themselves would have made. But it isn’t them anymore and they have to learn to deal with that. These countries have strong foundations. Those foundations will still be there after the likes of Mahathir and Lee are long dead.

No matter what we thought of them during their lives, they will both be seen as ‘founding fathers’ of their nations and respected for the passion, the energy and the hard work that they gave for over two decades.

Enjoy your day

 

Stop talking and start doing

We have APEC, OPEC, ASEAN, the G7 and of course, the G20. These meetings were all started for various reasons, but most times they are passed over as ‘talkfests’. A memorandum or ‘communique’ is read at the end of each of these conferences, to prove to the waiting public that all these leaders have actually been doing something over the time they have been locked behind closed doors.

Let’s just think about the G20 that is unfolding in London as I write. Twenty leaders from the world’s largest economies are in London. They will formally start ‘meeting’ today at 9.50am GMT and will finish at 3.30pm GMT. In that time they will hopefully solve the world’s problems. Or will they?

Of course they won’t, but  I feel for the very first time that the global public wants more than just talk. In previous years, most of us would not even know what the G20 actually was, let alone take anymore interest in it. Now with the economy in the toilet, we are taking one hell of a lot of notice of this meeting. Why? Because now it affects us. Our hip pockets are hurting and these twenty men and women are the ones who can stop the pain.

Watching CNN earlier today, reporters Sasha Herriman and Charles Hodgson were making small talk about the leaders and the summit, as we watched footage of leaders arriving at the summit and having the obligatory handshake and fake smile session with host, Gordon Brown. Herriman stated that after all the hoo hah over the last day, with dinners and audiences with the Queen, they can ‘relax’ and get on with what they came to London to do. Hodgson disagreed saying that they will feel very much under pressure to come through with the goods over the next few hours, otherwise the global public will have their guts for garters.

The buzz word throughout all of this economic misery has been regulation. Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Angela Merkel of Germany have threatened to walk out of the conference if their demands of regulation of financial institutions are not in black and white in the communique. Pretty dramatic stuff, which is either French and German grandstanding or evidence that at least some of these world leaders want the talk to stop this time and action to be what drives them forward.

We as a global public have failed to regulate our leaders over many years. If we kept them accountable, they would not have been allowed to walk in and out of these ’summits’ without delivering. We ignored them at our peril. Now that it hurts us, we are scrutinizing every move they make. We have joked for time in memorial about the uselessness of politicians and how they never get anything done and that these meetings are a waste of time. These meetings cost the host country millions of dollars, and disrupt everyday citizens enormously. For me, I want accountability. As a teacher, I get paid miserably lower than any of these world leaders and none of it is tax payer funds. But I am very much accountable to the parents of the children in my care. If their children can’t read, or if their children’s work is not marked, they let me know about it.

So it should be with world leaders. These are the men and women that have received our votes and gained power off our backs. But we let them go to these meetings, let them chat on about nothing in particular, have a lovely photo oppoortunity, get on a plane and return home. Watching footage of the latest ASEAN meeting in Thailand, I noticed exactly where one leader’s priorities lay. With ASEAN, their group photo consists of each of them locking arms and hands, their left into the other’s right. The leaders all stood there and were about to have a standard picture. But this leader looked all forlorn at seeing what might be happening and desperately made the effort to do the locking hands thing. He looked like a sad kid at the party who didn’t receive a party bag at the end. This is unfortunately what some of the leaders of these countries see as the highlight of the trip; the warm fuzzy moment.

People want action and people want it today. Forget the photo. Forget the display of fake friendship. Get down to the nuts and bolts of why you are there. We are in this mess now not because of one country that we all now admonish severely. We are in this mess because we, as ordinary citizens, failed to make our leaders accountable, and failed to make them work for their extraordinary salaries. They in turn, came to these meetings in the past with one eye on the clock and the other on the latest sports results from their respective countries.

What the leaders are now feeling is a collective global cattle prod aimed right where their mothers never kissed them and they don’t like how it feels.

But, as former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser used to say, “Life wasn’t meant to be easy”. It’s time world leaders lives were made a little less easy.

Enjoy your day

 

One should know better

When someone gives us a small gift, it’s nice. When someone gives us a moderately expensive gift, we feel quite flattered and we don’t quite know what to say. But when someone gives us an extremely expensive gift, we feel a bit embarrassed and not too willing to accept it. When a gift is that expensive, we feel that the other person may want something in return.

Australian Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, is being pressured to resign over associations he has had for many years with Chinese-Australian businesswoman Helen Liu. There is absolutely nothing illegal about his associations with this woman, nor is Mrs.Liu under any police interest or investigation in Australia. It is simply the matter of what gifts he has accepted and how that could be seen as affecting his decision making in the future.

Firstly, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd seems to be making strong advances towards China. The Chinese have for decades been watched very carefully, for fear that they may be plotting something. And since China is one of the world’s last communist strongholds, a snuggling up to China may be seen by the more conservative elements of society as a sign that Rudd intends to take us down a communist, or at the very least, socialist path.

So when we hear that Helen Liu paid for two of Mr. Fitzgibbon’s trips to China, while at the same time making handsome financial contributions to the Australian Labor Party in Sydney, no one can be blamed for thinking that the China link is becoming all too familiar. Mrs. Liu is said to be devastated over allegations of impropriety, and former New South Wales Premier, Bob Carr, has described the accusations levelled at Mrs. Liu as ’shameful’.

My concerns have nothing to do with any ‘communist/socialist’ hidden agenda. That is silly, mid 1950’s witch hunt talk and I won’t entertain it. What I will entertain is this. Helen Liu paid for a politician to go to China, twice. Yes, Mr. Fitzgibbon was in Opposition at that stage, but he was still in the inner sanctum of a party on the verge of governing the country. She should not have offered to pay and he should not have accepted. He is now Defence Minister. He claims that the Liu family have been close friends for over 15 years. It’s not the friendship that is of concern, it is how Mr. Fitzgibbon is benefitting from that friendship. And when we hear that Mrs. Liu is donating to the New South Wales Labor Party on a regular basis, it is seriously not in her interests, or the interests of Mr. Fitzgibbon, to have this form of association.

It compromises her position as well as his. Criminal elements within the Chinese community could see Mrs. Liu as someone who can get to the Minister of Defence, which in turn could cause problems for her personal safety and that of her family. I believe Helen Liu is as clean as a whistle, as is Joel Fitzgibbon, that isn’t the issue. It is the perceived impropriety that will hurt them both. Neither of them saw that generous gifts could be seen as ‘pay offs’ or ‘ bribes’ in exchange for favourable decisions and someone with an ear to the Prime Minister.

It’s a case of not thinking, but it’s also a case of gross naivete. With the push for a stronger link to China being a big part of Australian foreign policy, Mr. Fitzgibbon’s innocence in all this will be hard to prove. The ‘hidden agenda’ I spoke of before will be seen to have been proven beyond doubt.

But what this issue is also bringing up is the promise Kevin Rudd made in the lead up to the 2007 election. If his ministers did not perform, they would be sacked, simple as that. Some say Rudd is not doing what he said he would do. But this is lack of judgement based on a personal issue, not Mr. Fitzgibbon’s performance as a Defence Minister. Is he a good Defence Minister? His department don’t think so, but they are being accused of trying to slander his name to get rid of him, purely because he wishes to enact sweeping reforms into the department. How do you stop your job being axed, or at the very least downsized? You slander the boss, to take the heat off your own incompetence.

The trips came under scrutiny after allegations surfaced that the Defence Department had conducted a secret investigation into their relationship over concerns she may be a security risk.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/30/2529398.htm

If he is performing well as a minister in the portfolio that he has been given, then he should stay and continue his work. Rudd has done the right thing. He has admonished Fitzgibbon for failure to be more prudent, more alert to the consequences of his actions. If impropriety happens again, then yes, Fitzgibbon should go.

But those in the Department of Defence should also be put in their place, if they have been deliberately targetting the minister and breaching his privacy in order to create a scandal and see him removed. Such an action is even more malicious than anything Mrs. Liu and Mr. Fitzgibbon have done.

Within the Defence Department, the investigation is continuing into the report that sparked it all.

The department’s secretary, Nick Warner, is reported to have sent an email to all personnel asking them to come forward if they know of anyone in Defence accessing the Minister’s computer accounts or in any other way collecting information about him.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/31/2530631.htm

Whichever way you approach it, it is a warning to all of us just what perceptions ’associations’ can present, and just how careful we need to be.

‘Two men look out a window. One sees mud, the other sees the stars.’ – Oscar Wilde

Enjoy your day