left v right
NJ wise guys turn purple shade
Republicans are beating up the victory of Chris Christie in yesterday’s New Jersey gubernatorial race, the first time conservatives have won any election in this state since 1997. But the people I talked too said the Democrat was simply on the nose. And the issues around shifting demographic and economic sands in this state are much more interesting and instructive for Australia.
K-Dudd: The heartless wonder
Kevin Rudd gets far too much credit. Those who say he is being dragged to the Right – that he takes a more cautious, more conservative approach to appeal to John Howard’s battlers – discount the increasingly obvious reality that Rudd is already there. Certainly, as we’ve seen over the last few days, on refugee policy. Is there hope for this Prime Minister?
How faith, and America, can heal
The Trial of the Catonsville Nine is many things Australians dislike about Americans: political, patriotic and preachy. But unlike the worst of the United States, the play is also deeply questioning of its place in the world. It prosecutes American exceptionalism and the greyness of, and uneasiness between, faith and justice.
Dismantling the Liberal bomb…
The two most important things we’ve learned about Malcolm Turnbull of late are these: that he should probably have joined the Labor Party, and that he’d probably make a very good prime minister. The former is a hypothetical; the latter fast becoming one. For many reasons, the former barrister and investment banker is the proverbial square peg in the round hole.
Forget marriage, it’s in the vows
Like many political debates, the outcome is less important than the debate itself. And like debates on all the other progressive issues in society, the ones that so rile and consume conservatives, the issue of gay marriage once again got hijacked. The words used in the debate – and the words that weren’t used – were much more hurtful.
How Bartlet made me an idealist
The juxtaposition between the fictional White House of The West Wing and the real-life geopolitical events played out on the news stoked a burning cynicism of the political process. More than that, it planted the seed of romantic idealism of how the world should work that continues to nag me every day.
The Right does love you. Mostly
The Australian’s Janet Albrechtsen writes of the myth – “based on lazy and crude logic” – that conservatives lack compassion. But her brand of tough love isn’t love at all. At least not the inclusive style of love the Christian Right likes to preach. Conservative compassion comes with many conditions.
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