Friday 29th of March 2024

democracy for idiots...

ray et al.ray et al.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Democracy is simple: one person — one vote…

 

Then it becomes complicated. Who to vote for? Have we been influenced by various idiots to vote for a particular idiot? Do we toss a coin? Do we really know what we’re doing? Do THEY know what the’re doing? Is the price of fish slightly sarcastic? Should we beat the hell out of politicians like in the pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, to make sure they work for us, not for them? 

 

Do we vote for an ideal? For ideas? For practicality? The debate about the Covid-19 is highlighting our foibles. Do we trust the sciences or go with the mad spruikers that we have listened to for the past 20 years. Do they know what they’re talking about or are they only voicing an opinion forcefully. Do we like the opinion rather than the forceful delivery? Where do they get their “facts”? Should democracy be based on painful facts or on pleasant delusions?

 

The episode below as related by Fitzsimon is telling of the nappy-filler that comes out some (most?) influencers:

 

 

 

Following Alan Jones’ outrageous anti-vaxxer outburst, I thought I’d see what his long-time radio colleague Ray Hadley thought about it all. Ray kindly agreed to this chat.

Fitz: Ray, unaccustomed as we both are to talking civilly to each other, how are you in this, your 39th year of broadcasting, and do you want to cruise on for another five years?”

Ray: I’m well, I’m enjoying it. And I’ll split the difference. Another 2½ years will do me. I have no interest in going on much longer. I didn’t spend enough time with my children, and I won’t make that mistake with my four grandchildren.

 

Fitz: You will recall me telling you at that dinner in Parliament House in 2001 not to go to 2GB, and to not have anything to do with Jones, because he was a mongrel, and however much money you made, it wouldn’t be worth it. Two decades on, you seem to have come to the conclusion that I was right?

 

Ray: (Laughs) You were wrong. Going to 2GB was the best thing I ever did. As to Jones, he has his strengths, but . . . Even though I am a right-wing-shock myself, I have been shocked by him for the last 18 months and his whole approach on COVID. He is just wrong. This is serious, and what he and the likes of Craig Kelly say is dangerous. And I was equally outraged that Jones this week called our Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant a “village idiot”. They have to be called out, and I am glad I have done so, and that Jones has now lost his job as columnist with The Daily Telegraph. We are at a crucial time in our history. We have to be united, and Jones divides us.

Fitz: Now it is me who is shocked. Many of your brethren on conservative talkback radio, and certainly conservative commentators on TV, are talking down vaccinations and lockdowns. You have been a strong and important voice the other way. What convinced you, for once in your life, to be right?

Ray: Because I have watched this closely, and it is not hard. Vaccinations are the only way out of this mess, and the lockdowns – as much as we hate them – are the only way to keep it under control until we can get most of us vaccinated. I back the medical science.

Fitz: You started out as a huge supporter of Scott Morrison, then I recall you had a major on-air stink, then you made up. Can we agree he has completely stuffed up the vaccine roll-out?

Ray: Most assuredly. The responsibility for that debacle lies at the feet of the Morrison government.

Fitz: We both fancy we have our finger on the pulse of this city, so when do you think you will legally be able to invite me over to your house for dinner, apart from a cold day in hell?

Ray: (Laughs.) So long as you bring your wife, you’d be welcome. On your own, it will be a cold day in hell. But for dinner, I reckon it will be nearing Christmas.

Fitz: OK. No need to put the kettle on just yet. My regards to your own wife. I like her, at least!

GET HIM OFF

This has been a great week for decency in this town. A couple of years ago I wrote in this space, and I meant every word, “Alan Jones is a malignant tumour on the body politic of this city, this state and this country and the sooner he is excised the better.” Last week, I ranted on the outrage of him continuing to spew and facilitate lethally dangerous bilge on the benign nature of the Delta strain and the dangers of getting vaccinated. Last week, as Ray Hadley has mentioned, his column was stopped in The Daily Telegraph. Half the excision is complete. The other half is his continued disgraceful presence on Sky News After Dark. Watch this space. After obliterating his COVID position a fortnight ago, I am told they will be demolishing what is left tomorrow night. Get him off.

 

Read more:

https://www.smh.com.au/national/my-chat-with-ray-hadley-about-the-dangerously-deluded-alan-jones-20210730-p58eky.html

 

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them american russians...

 

Laura Loomer is an award-winning conservative investigative journalist, free-speech activist, and former Republican US congressional nominee in Florida’s 21st District. She is the author of “LOOMERED: How I Became the Most Banned Woman in the World.” Follow her on Gab and Parler @LauraLoomer, and on Telegram @loomeredofficial

As the 2022 midterm election season approaches, Joe Biden and the Democrat Party are already repeating their 2016 claims of “Russian interference,” which they falsely spewed throughout the entire first term of Donald Trump.

This week, Joe Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to disrupt the 2022 US congressional elections by “spreading misinformation,” going as far as saying Russia was undermining and violating US sovereignty. 

Election interference is real. However, Biden, who appears to be in a state of constant mental decline and confusion, demonstrates the election-interference cognitive dissonance that has become commonplace within the Democrat Party and among Democrat voters. As a Republican voter and Congressional candidate myself, I am very concerned about election interference in the 2022 congressional elections, just not from Russia. I agree with Biden’s concerns about the 2022 congressional elections being disrupted by election interference. In fact, the biggest issue currently facing the United States of America and the future of our elections process is election interference – just not by Russia. 

The election interference that Americans must be weary of, heading into 2022, is Big Tech interference. 

For Biden and the Democratic Party, Russia has become an easy scapegoat and political boogeyman for very real political issues that are affecting the integrity of our elections. As we saw during the four years that Donald J Trump was President, the Democrats have zero qualms about accusing their political opponents of being Russian bots, Russian agents, or about dividing the entire nation over a feverish conspiracy of Russian election interference. 

What they are not willing to do, however, is admit that the biggest threat to the integrity of US elections is Big Tech tyranny. When it comes to interfering in elections, the evidence makes it very clear that Russia is of no concern, while Big Tech companies like Facebook and Twitter are deplatforming US Congressional candidates like myself and banning a sitting US President during the certification process of the 2020 elections. Political censorship and Big Tech election interference has created widespread distrust of America’s elections process, but Joe Biden refuses to address it because Big Tech companies and their executives are Democratic Party mega-donors and their election interference efforts are aimed at aiding and electing Democrat politicians. 

Speaking at the Geneva Summit last month following his meeting with Vladimir Putin, Biden said he told Putin there would be consequences to any election interference in the United States, adding that those who engage in election interference will have shrinking credibility. 

“Let’s get this straight. How would it be if the United States was viewed by the rest of the world as interfering with the elections directly of other countries, and everyone knew it? It diminishes the standing of a country that is desperately trying to maintain its standing as a major world power.” 

Ironically, Biden is right, but his severe case of cognitive dissonance has prevented him from recognizing and properly addressing the fact that the most egregious election interference that is happening in the world is actually originating from the United States. It is happening in Silicon Valley, California, where a handful of billionaires have taken it upon themselves to decide which political candidates in America, and around the world, will be able to have a voice during elections. 

The United States desperately wants to remain the arbiter of truth, morality, and to set the standard for what it means to have free and fair elections, but the Democratic Party’s acceptance of Big Tech’s blatant interference with the 2020 elections and recent admissions by Biden’s administration that he is actively working with Facebook to censor content he views as “misinformation,” has created a severe credibility issue. 

Not only does Biden have a credibility issue regarding his accusations against foreign nations of election interference but, since the 2020 elections, the United States has a credibility issue in the eyes of other world leaders who have been told for generations that the United States is the leading world power. 

Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Apple are American companies. While these companies certainly have an international and global consumer base, they were created and founded in the United States of America. 

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal“Employees of Google’s parent, Alphabet Inc., and Microsoft Corp. , Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. were the five largest sources of money for Mr. Biden’s campaign and joint fundraising committees among those identifying corporate employers, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of campaign finance reports. Mr. Biden’s presidential campaign received at least $15.1 million from employees of those five tech firms, records show.” 

There is no denying that Biden received significant financial support from both the employees of and the executives of these powerful Big Tech companies that are now curating political discourse and communication all around the world. 

For this reason, Biden has refused to hold Big Tech to the same standard regarding election interference that he wishes to hold Putin. 

Even more disturbing is the fact that Putin himself has been more vocal about Big Tech’s election interference than the US leader, which has further diminished the United States standing as an authority on fair elections 

Following Trump’s ban from nearly every Big Tech social media platform in January 2021, Putin himself, who the Democrats have spent years vilifying and falsely accusing of election interference, used his platform to call out Big Tech’s out-of-control power. During his speech at the Davos World Economic Forum this year, Putin argued that Big Tech is undermining free and fair elections through their monopolistic business practices.

“Digital giants have been playing an increasingly significant role in wider society,” Putin said via videolink. “In certain areas they are competing with states… Here is the question, how well does this monopolism correlate with the public interest? Where is the distinction between successful global businesses, sought-after services and big data consolidation on the one hand, and the efforts to rule society[…] by substituting legitimate democratic institutions, by restricting the natural right for people to decide how to live and what view to express freely on the other hand?” he asked.

 

As I previously wrote in a previous Op Ed“Big Tech and the Democrats love virtue-signaling about fake news and foreign-election interference, but it’s a classic case of projection, because spreading fake news and interfering in democratic elections is exactly what they are guilty of doing.” 

While there may be no cure for Biden and the Democratic Party’s debilitating case of cognitive dissonance, which will surely worsen as time goes on, it will be up to the American people during the 2022 midterm elections to adopt the task of curtailing Big Tech’s election interference so that America can continue to remain a respected world leader and set the global standard for free and fair elections.

 

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/530728-biden-russia-big-tech-election-interference/

 

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an absurd pretence...

 

From the political sword

 

THE CHARADE OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT

 

Why do I use the term ‘charade’? Because I believe representative government is “an absurd pretence intended to create a pleasant or respectable appearance” about the concept of government of the people, for the people, by the people. This piece is an attempt to convince you of this charade, if indeed you need convincing at all. Given the seIf-evident nature of its content, I expect many of you will wonder why I have bothered to write this piece at all! I’m beginning to wonder likewise! 

Let’s start with the concept of the ‘electorate’.

There are numerous references that explain electorates and electoral systems. Rather than go over established facts, my purpose is to focus on the flaws that beset our electoral system. Ace - The Electoral Knowledge Network is a sound source of information to which you may wish to refer for detailed information. Here is an extract:

The Importance of Electoral Systems

Political institutions shape the rules of the game under which democracy is practised, and it is often argued that the easiest political institution to manipulate, for good or for bad, is the electoral system. In translating the votes cast in a general election into seats in the legislature, the choice of electoral system can effectively determine who is elected and which party gains power. While many aspects of a country’s political framework are often specified in the constitution and can thus be difficult to amend, electoral system change often only involves new legislation and can thus be subject to manipulation by an unscrupulous majority.

Even with each voter casting exactly the same vote and with exactly the same number of votes for each party, one electoral system may lead to a coalition government or a minority government while another may allow a single party to assume majority control.

Don’t we know that all too well!

Moreover, we have seen the allocation of preferences used in a way which has seen individuals elected who have received almost no votes at all.

Suppose we lived in Dickson, Peter Dutton’s electorate. Only LNP supporters would have voted for him. Yet he is there to represent everyone in Dickson. If we were able to have an appointment with him, and if we expressed our dismay that our federal government had no policy to reduce carbon emissions, that its leader expressly rejects the need to have a target to do so, and that we are seriously concerned about the effect of increasing emissions on global warming and its catastrophic potential for worldwide devastation, how would he respond?

Would he argue that climate science is flawed? Would he try to convince us that the ‘warmists’ are deluded, that they belong to a strange cult that is out of touch with reality? How could he represent us if his beliefs were diametrically opposed to ours? 

Herein is the fundamental flaw in representative government. It always has been.

Indeed this is democracy’s fundamental flaw. As Winston Churchill famously said way back in November 1947: ”Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time”. 

How then should we regard what we like to believe is representative government? All of us live under its spell.

 

Read more:

http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/posts.aspx?postid=87339aa4-110f-4ee2-8d7c-98b5266e95aa

 

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freefree

second strike...

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The way Sky has achieved this - by courting conspiracy theories and through incendiary commentary - has sparked concerns it is emulating Murdoch’s American channel Fox News. Fox News has been criticised for similar reasons and has faced its own backlash in the US over its approach to the pandemic in recent weeks.

At the same time, the Sky suspension by YouTube has reignited concerns within News Corp about the sheer power and unaccountable nature of global digital platforms and their sway over traditional media. While it comes to terms with the reaction of YouTube, News Corp detractors - such as former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd - say it has no right to complain, given the large media footprint it controls in Australia and offshore through titles such as The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The New York Post.

Meanwhile, Sky’s night time hosts including Sharri Markson, Andrew Bolt and digital editor Jack Houghton have seized on the suspension as an assault on free speech. Controversial Amercian Fox News host Tucker Carlson said Australia had turned into a “COVID dictatorship” where you can’t ask basic questions without getting censored. But while the Sky suspension has given presenters fresh ammunition in the media culture wars, it has also surprised and frustrated senior executives in the News Corp and Sky stables, who had not been alerted to any issues of breaches since last December.

Second strike

In the world of media regulation, YouTube’s process could be considered unorthodox. When the Australian Communications and Media Authority, for example, receives a complaint about a broadcaster it conducts a thorough investigation. If there is a breach, it provides a detailed report with the reasons for it.

 

Read more:

https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/youtube-s-sky-news-ban-ignites-fresh-news-corp-fury-20210803-p58fl0.html

 

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