It should go without saying, but the pond will say it anyway.
What a day of infamy, what a day of betrayal. The pond is shocked, outraged, appalled and ashamed ...
It's one thing to be a raving, ratbag fundamentalist, but entirely another to be a craven, cowardly, raving ratbag fundie ...
Poor pastor Danny.
What's that you say, the pond expressing sympathy for a raving ratbag fundamentalist?
Well yes, because the cowardly Kev blamed pastor Danny for pulling out of the weekend orgy of hate in Melbourne, at least if you read Politicians pull out of conservative World Congress of Families conference.
Or if you head off to Kev's site and read this mealy mouthed guff here, straight from the cowardly lion's mouth, under the truly pathetic header My Stand for Tolerance:
Tolerance is a critical value in a western liberal democracy like Australia. It was for this reason that I intended to address the World Congress of Families meeting in Melbourne tomorrow.
The calls for me not to attend demonstrate the intolerance of the Greens and the left -instead of arguing their case in the public arena they seek to shut down debate. Equally, I cannot support intolerance from other quarters. As I have been informed today that the event is now to be hosted by Catch the Fire, I have decided not to attend.
I will release the speech I planned to give at the event.
Here's the thing Kev. You're not making a stand for tolerance, or even intolerance. You left the field of battle, as we used to say in the old days in Tamworth, like a cowardly custard or a gutless wonder.
You see, Pastor Danny and lots of other raving ratbags have always been associated with the event. All he did in addition was offer a venue and suddenly you get a hissy fit and pin the blame on him?
You would have been mingling with him and his ilk and like minds, and then the heat came to the kitchen, and you left the kitchen.
Now it's true that you weren't the only cowardly custard, the only gutless wonder. Robert Clark also gave up the ghost, and so did Bernie Finn, and Cory Bernardi's office said he'd decided to do a runner back in July and Eric Abetz claimed he was never in the running, so it's passing strange that it was reported that Abetz at one time was listed as a participant here:
Senator Abetz, who is openly anti-abortion, is involved with this year's "World Congress of Families" event to be held in Melbourne this month. One of the topics to be discussed is abortion and breast cancer.
That only leaves the Rev Fred Nile standing as a politician with the guts to maintain his hate-filled fundamentalist rage, willingness to stay true to his comrades and his vileness.
I mean, how fair is it that we now have to hear half-baked second hand reports of your speech filtering into the media, because you've been mighty slow releasing the planned speech?
Is this true?
A spike in the number of Australians who are divorced or in de facto relationships is contributing to slower economic growth and rising carbon emissions.
This was what Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews was planning on telling the controversial World Congress of Families conference in Melbourne today, before the senior government minister cancelled his opening address at the eleventh hour.
Well that's what it says at news.com.au here, along with this:
Mr Andrews released a copy of the speech he was going to deliver to the right-wing pro-families conference, in which he says the “retreat from marriage has had profound economic consequences”, including a ballooning of welfare costs.
“The growth of a non-married and less child-centred society slows economic growth,” Mr Andrews planned on saying.
He also planned on citing US research which concludes the “separation and divorce has led to less efficient use of energy and resources and bigger expenditure on utilities, largely as a consequence of the increased demand for additional housing”.
So what you're saying - not to put too fine an Aldi point on it - is that sluts with their sluttish ways have led to climate change? Or made it worse?
Don't hold back, Kev, keep us all in the loop. For example, is this true?
The fundraiser Prime Minister Tony Abbott attended that sparked a furore over his use of entitlements was held for cabinet mInister Kevin Andrews, Fairfax Media has learned.
Mr Abbott skipped a traditional dinner with government senators to attend the fundraiser, held in Melbourne on Monday night. His trip became front page news when he admitted to his partyroom that he booked a visit to a cancer centre early the next morning, so the interstate trip could be justified under entitlements.
Mr Abbott stunned his colleagues with the comment because although it is a common for MPs to combine official and party duties on trips, it is rare for a politician to admit to the practice for the purposes of entitlements.
Mr Andrews refused to comment when asked for details about Monday night's fundraiser including how much it raised. (here)
Fled the field of battle, despite the sluttish Satanists causing climate change, except there's no such thing, and then got Tony "climate change is crap" Abbott into trouble because he honestly admitted he was a dishonest rorter?
By golly Kev, when the rapture comes, and the four horsemen gallop about and the trumpets sound and the seventh seal is opened and all the rest of the guff, some will be judged more harshly than others.
You mean, as defenders of an absurd faith, you've left the hard yards to Pastor Danny, who's usually busy raising people from the dead?
"I am aware that Kevin Andrews has basically pulled out because the building is Catch the Fire Ministries," Mr Nalliah told AAP on Friday. "I think that is, frankly, an absolute cop-out."...
...Mr Nalliah said the politicians' withdrawal showed they "have no guts", and the venues who refused to host the conference were "cowards".
Well yes.
Who could disagree?
As excuses go, it's as feeble as it gets ...
Waht's worse, everybody knows you're still a loon Kev, and by the sounds of it you would have produced a remarkably loonish speech.
But now we also know you're a cowardly loon willing to turn tail at the sight of a fellow barking mad true believer...
If you'll just cast your mind back a little you'll remember that Pastor Danny at one time formed a climate denialist team with screaming Lord Monckton. You can read more here, and you can see that you and those two are right on the same page as you when it comes to all kinds of emissions ...
Epic fail Kev, epic fail.
There are few die well that die in a battle.
Truth to tell Kev, you're looking a bit furtive and shifty at your home page:
The pond is always standing by, eager to help:
But, look! DP at this article in Saturday Paper on arch-medievalist Pell. What a tailor he has, that can clothe a twisted hulk like George. (Can't find the original joke, sorry.)
ReplyDeleteGiven that World Congress of Families and Catch The Fire Ministry and Rise Up Australia Party members alike are part of the broad and ecumenical church of political life, and given that an open-minded attendance of any particular conference doesn't mean an uncritical endorsement of any particular view or expression thereof and thereat, and given that the spirit of St Louis definitely would gird his loins and go, it is almost intolerably, disconsolably disappointing that an otherwise exemplary Minister of the Crown and Natural Family Man of the Year would take such afright and so uneasily to flight, at that.
ReplyDeleteMy guess was he was ordered not to go by Tone or Peta to avoid the obvious PR disaster.
ReplyDeleteIt's a tragedy then GlenH that by his mere existence Andrews is routinely a PR disaster
DeleteAs I mentioned recently, I have a special loathing for Andrews. So I much enjoyed your piece today.
ReplyDeleteMy primary ground cited was that his earlier impropriety in imprisoning Dr Haneef in defiance of a Habeas Corpus writ and then an order for his release. Our separation of powers concept, admittedly barely known by most, is one of the largest safeguards against tyranny. It must be respected in a representative democracy.
Petty despots like Joh Bjelke Petersen and now Campbell Newman will abuse that regularly, but we expect better of our national leaders. Andrews ruled himself unfit for public office by his action, even if he was following the cunning Howard's directions with that abuse. Howard would hardly stop at anything to save or win an election. Aboriginals in the NT are still recovering from his Intervention. But he was smart enough not to leave himself in the frame. Andrews wasn't and should have paid the price. Failing that, the Liberals in Victoria should have dumped him.
The saddest part is that he is no more unfit to be a minister than any of the other Cabinet ministers. In fact, the Abbott government's determination to take us back to the Robber Baron days of the 1880s means that Andrews is not out of place. He a man of the Victorian (era, not state) age. Dickens's Mr Murdstone in David Copperfield is a fairly good fit
Either we are a very forgiving lot or nobody takes enough care or interest. Abbott is our PM, Brandis and Pyne his most visible cronies, and you could run down the list to Kevin Andrews moralising about social welfare.
And in the media we have Reith, who should have been drummed out of public life, now working for The Drum and various ABC talk fests and writing for Fairfax. We can hardly expect Reith to have any shame after brazening it out with the waterfront, Children Overboard and the Phonecards, but surely the media should show some.
But it did hearten my week a little to know that Abbott's latest travel expenses rort was to attend a fundraising event for Kevin Andrews. It reminded me that there may yet be karma. Abbott slept through the vote on the second round GFC stimulus. Apparently he'd earlier had dinner with Kevin Andrews and another (Bronwyn Bishop?) before the evening session and had consumed several bottles of wine.
Well anyone would need a large supply to get through that.
Ah GD there are some who think that Monty's line about sending in the hounds is a joke, but really it's just neo realism for Reith.
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