What happened to pollies being good at just politics?

Wayne Hutchins says:

05:30am | 11/01/10

Paul, are you sure you are not part of the Kevin Rudd appreciation society because sometimes I wonder? The thing with Kevin is he hasn’t proven he can do anything yet, not even lead this country. So what if the man can waffle on in mandarin, can he talk Klingon? Thats what I want to see at his next press conference… I know, I’m hard to impress.

John A Neve says:

05:45am | 11/01/10

Come on in, todays battle is between Kevin07 and Budgie Abbott, take your side ladies and gentlemen.

The question is, will the writer’s pen beat the boxer’s glove?

Read tomorrow for the blogger’s decision.

Margaret Gray says:

05:47am | 11/01/10

Muldoon’s daughter looks suitably enthralled at the ‘children’s’ book written (sorry ‘co’-authored) by the pale and podgy fashion-challenged “world leader” to her immediate left. 

YIKES!! Did somebody say STRIPES!!!

Was sharing the ‘writing’ credits on this tortured tome payback for Muldoon’s rapturous participation at Kevin’s 2020 Love-In in Canberra in April 2008 as one of his “best and brightest”?

How are the profits split?

Being good at politics means you are (simultaneously) good at lying, manipulation, judicious trickery, faking and spinning.

Significant, but hardly admirable qualities.

No wonder these guys have to moonlight.

T.Chong says:

06:02am | 11/01/10

This list is very left wiing bias in relation to Australia- glorifying Rudd with his languages and authorship, yet NO mention about Howard and his ability to also be a PM, plus the ability to go jogging. I have no doubt he is the best at walking AND chewing gum simultaneosly.You Lefties are hate filled and blinkered!!!
No mention either of GW Bush ?  who bravely was a reserve pilot in mainland usa during the vietnam conflict, then , decades later, climbed into a aircrew uniform, and landed in a navy jet on an aircraft carrier for the made for TV event of ” mission accomplished”
Strangely enough many of these same multi talented girls and boys are very prone to gullability, hence the belief in Iraqs non existant WMDs.
Leaders Left and Right fell for that one.

persephone says:

06:34am | 11/01/10

Menzies and Churchill both painted; Menzies begins one of his books with a chapter on how having this kind of interest made him a better politician.

Your concern doesn’t seem to be so much that politicians can do more than politics, but that they do well at things which aren’t politics.

Successful politicians have drive, ambition, and self belief - all the qualities we hear lauded all the time as needed for success.

Obviously these flow over to other activities they partake in.

One would also hope that they came from backgrounds where they had had a ‘real life’ and thus were more likely to be rounded human beings.

Abbott, of course, is a boxer, runner, bike rider, CFA volunteer and surf lifesaver as well as writing a book.

Kim Lennard says:

06:44am | 11/01/10

Hi Paul,
Did you have a bad weekend?
I just read this article and I am just not quite sure what this has done for incisive commentary or cutting edge reporting.
If I want to read this kind of editorial I will read the AGE-and thats not going to happen.
Lift your game man.

Chase Stevens says:

07:40am | 11/01/10

Nice picture with Sarkozy. Very entertaining.

Julie Coker-Godson says:

09:29am | 11/01/10

Good light-hearted read.  The world can get too much of serious posturings and the occasional piece of light reading is just the tonic.  I liked it anyway.

Jane says:

10:00am | 11/01/10

Margaret Gray…spot on….‘jobs and payback for leftie maaaaaaaaaaaaates’...arty/farty leftie maaaaates in this case. It’s the ALP way.
I suppose he’ll create some new ‘award’, or some such token ‘re-ward’ for that tool Blanchett for all her ‘help’ too next. Pfft
Govern the country you ponce!!

persephone says:

10:24am | 11/01/10

Er, Jane…jobs and paybacks for leftie mates?

Peter Costello, Alexander Downer, Brendan Nelson?

Blinkers off, sweetheart.

Menzies apparently combined governing the country with writing books and painting pictures.

E says:

10:52am | 11/01/10

KruddPhone @ 11:24 : please, those few a red herrings next to the billions wasted in the CFMEU electoral stimulus package

Jane says:

10:53am | 11/01/10

Ding ding….and like pavlov’s dog out come the ALP apologists on cue.

‘Jobs and paybacks for leftie maaaaates’ is the traditional, bread and butter ALP rule of thumb Persephone.

‘All things to all people’...‘populist’ media soundbytes that suckhole to the ‘other side’..( “I’m an economic conservative” - BWAHAHA, yeah right)...copying Coalition policy, utilizing others intelligence and skill and claiming the ‘enemy’ as their own for some sort of token faux bi-partisan, higher plane, moral superiority statement are all newly acquired tactics of KRuddco and the elevated level of marketing deceit they have employed.

‘Whatever it takes’ - page 1, paragrah 4 through 975 in the ALP handbook of ‘governance’.

Menzies was a talented, competent ‘standout ‘PM - obviously capable of diverse task.
Surely you’re not comparing this primped up, do nothing, b grade choreographed actor Rudd with Menzies!!!!! :0

bella starkey says:

11:08am | 11/01/10

I’d probably do Putin…

and maybe sarkozy

H of SA says:

11:13am | 11/01/10

Hmmm, I suspect that its got to do with Politicians being among the most driven people. I mean, if your willing to go through the blood sweat and tears to become a political leader then back in high school you probably had the drive to spend those 10 hours a week at piano practise.

persephone says:

11:24am | 11/01/10

I find accusations of partisanship a bit rich coming from the likes of Jane and E!

Splinters out of your own eyes, first, guys.

You can hardly pretend to be objective commentators.

PJ says:

11:31am | 11/01/10

I agree with Wayne [comment 1].Those in the electorate,especially from NSW, can sniff a sympathyzer from way off. Insisive comment not dribble please Mr Colgan.

the Mandarin duck says:

11:39am | 11/01/10

The only talent that matters today is can he govern this country! And the answer is absolutely not. Kevin Rudd loves to stroke his own ego this is why he trots out the Mandarin chatter and don’t you thing im great expeditiously. He is a blowhard and with out his advisers and spin-doctors. Or a piece of paper close at hand telling him what to say he is lost for words. And when the answer is not forth coming he falls back on the generic scripted answer striate out of parliaments question time. And in 90% of cases evades the answer totally.
I really don’t give two hoots weather he can speak pig latten or Mandarin duck. He is one fake PM.

pc says:

11:42am | 11/01/10

Hi Jane

So you dont think much of the PM’s childrens book? Do you think there is a more sinister move at re education? Do you and the other anti rudds plan on going to war against childrens books? I thought that after the chaser did the ‘war on everything’, the people that it was parodying may have thought twice next time they got that urge to… you know…. just go to war against stuff.

“All things to all people’...‘populist’ media soundbytes that suckhole to the ‘other side’..( “I’m an economic conservative” - BWAHAHA, yeah right)”

I didnt think that was funny enough to get a BWAHAHA, maybe a TEE HEE, but after all he’s just trying to get on with all australians. Not just the ones that voted labor.

“copying Coalition policy, utilizing others intelligence and skill ”

So you mean he likes using good ideas regardless of where they are from and believes that the government needs good help. (Good help is very hard to find these days.)

“claiming the ‘enemy’ as their own for some sort of token faux bi-partisan, higher plane, moral superiority statement”

You sound pretty possessive of your ‘enemies’, Jane. You dont like sharing, even enemies?

Margaret Gray says:

11:42am | 11/01/10

Narcissistic mediocrity describes those who aspire to a political vocation perfectly.

Most of them would be lucky to be picked last on the team.

Meanwhile, the rest of us blithely contribute to the myriad of compulsory consolidated revenue contribution ‘opportunities’ these socially-challenged folk endlessly dream up.

Strangely enough, they call it “democratic process”.

Well it is…if you keep shape-shifting it to match your wardrobe.

Chuck Norris for president of earth says:

11:48am | 11/01/10

I had no idea Putin was so awesome. I think a president being a 6th dan judo master and shooting a tiger puts him almost on par with Chuck Norris. I said almost. If Chuck Norris were president then aliens would fear to invade us.

Wombat says:

12:00pm | 11/01/10

TChong: Please tell me that you didn’t just claim Tony Blair for the left. His “third way” is anything but traditional left politics.
Hopefully you were talking about some pinko European country that got dragged into the Iraq war.
I am also not sure that leaders from the right were ever fooled about WMDs in Iraq. I seriously doubt that any of them ever thought that Iraq was suddenly going to attack the West, even if it was capable of it.
The three primary warmongers leading the Coalition of the Stupid were Bush, Blair and Howard. WMDs, and the lies that these three told about them, were only ever an excuse for the war.
My apologies if your statement was just a wind-up. I am still a bit sensitive about Howard’s War.
As for multi-talented politicians, Alexander Downer was a good drag artist. I understand that this is a highly prized skill amongst Tories.

Margaret Gray says:

12:24pm | 11/01/10

“...As for multi-talented politicians, Alexander Downer was a good drag artist.  I understand that this is a highly prized skill amongst Tories…”

Sadly, I see functional illiteracy remains rife amongst the comrades who still insist on bestowing political collective nouns from England upon Australian politicians.

You can’t blame the education system for that level of deep profundity I’m afraid.

Jane says:

12:23pm | 11/01/10

Er, persephone - newsflash..I’m not claiming/pretending to be ‘partisan’...KRudd is.

Splinters?.um, pot/kettle.

You also fail to recall that Labor would have ‘gone to war’ as well…with UN sanction. It’s ok though..we’re au fait with the fact that Labor likes to feign selective memory after the event and dwell on the lies of the Coalition and ‘warmonger’ angle…it’s over though dude..Howard is gone…job done for you….we’re still in Iraq though.

The trigger for the resumption of ‘war’ after the Gulf War was the ‘violation of UN resolutions’.

“There is no debate or dispute as to whether Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. He does.  There’s no dispute as whether he’s in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.  He is.” - Kevin Rudd to Tony Jones 24/9/2002.
“Australia had a moral duty to remain in Iraq” Rudd forcefully told a Monash University audience on August 25, 2003.
“Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction… That is a matter of empirical fact.” - Kevin Rudd Oct 15th 2002.

Oops. I wouldn’t go there.

Ding ding..out comes ‘pc’...by any other name, self tagged ‘resident’. Yawn - how surprising.

Jobs for ex Coalition MPs was seen to kill two birds for Krudd…it filled the skilled vacancies that he obviously could not do so from within his own Party…and hopefully gave the impression of being bi-partisan and concerned for giving the country the best people to do the job… he overlooked that the ‘best people to do the job’ would entail the Coalition actually retained government…I don’t see him handing it over in default..if he were TRULY altruistic for ‘best’ for the task….which clearly he is not.

...and I’ll BWAHAHA where I see fit… The massive con job and outright LIE of ‘economic conservative’ to sooth/allay fears of the masses during the election campaign juxtaposed against the reality of what transpired afterwards is a considerable joke…not downplayed by a pissy tee hee, sorry.

Wombat says:

12:53pm | 11/01/10

Margaret Gray: Thanks for your concern about my education.
I may not be as well educated as you but I am capable of reading a post without inferring something that was not stated.
Read it again.
I didn’t state that Downer was a Tory.
I said that he has a skill that is highly prized amongst Tories.
Keep working on those reading skills, Margaret. Even uneducated people like myself can reach a passable level of literacy if we try hard enough.

Justan Oz says:

12:54pm | 11/01/10

Er Jane,your extreme bias is showing—lighten up a little..Be happy!!!!

Jane says:

12:56pm | 11/01/10

...and just for the nitpicking pedantic…who will no doubt swoop on the obvious mistake/omission.
Er, persephone - newsflash..I’m not claiming/pretending to be ‘partisan’...KRudd is.

It’s clear I was referring to ‘BI- partisan’ from my 11.53 post comment ..so the above should read..

Er, persephone - newsflash..I’m not claiming/pretending to be ‘bi-partisan’...KRudd is.

Dern says:

12:57pm | 11/01/10

KRudd knows that his political legacy in the hands of historians is gonna be bad. He knows that he hasn’t done well from a policy point of view, has selected poor canidates to be his ministers and he is all about image and spin. At the end of the day results and not tv apperances is what makes you go done well in history…..

persephone says:

01:00pm | 11/01/10

Jane - seek help. Immediately.

Jane says:

01:21pm | 11/01/10

Totally agree Dern….the trojan horse KRudd will only be leader for as long as the populace remain duped and his popularity holds up…as a PM he sucks…but keeps the ALP there for the moment. When it wanes the real ALP ‘leader’ of choice La Gillard, will take over..and he’ll be kicked to the curb. This is but a stepping stone to a global gig for him, so I doubt he’ll be too concerned. In the meantime Australia pays the price.

LOL Justan, you wish. Coalition supporters will not ‘shut-up’ or be bullied into submission as they have been any longer. Australia’s well being is too important. Sorry
Glad I hit a nerve.

Nice comeback perse….it’s ok to admit you can’t argue with that…however you may put it.

jamie says:

01:59pm | 11/01/10

Dear Mr Ruddles has been very quiet since Copenhagen.

E says:

02:01pm | 11/01/10

Persephone: I think both parties are simply wings of the same vulture. I happen to agree with more of the LIB’s sound bites right now, but I was as anti-Howard as i am anti-Rudd.
Both parties rule for the benifit of their fellow parasites first and foremost, hows that for bi-partisan?
Now I’m sorry if you feel the need to choose a team to be loyal to, or if you really cant see that both parties are well past their use by date, or is there a glimer of something more than towing the line? Are your’e ‘bastards’ really any different from their ‘bastards’? (FYI ‘Our bastards are better than their bastards’ is the traditional justification for deception and cronyism in the ALP)

persephone says:

02:23pm | 11/01/10

E

I think that, in a democracy, if I’m annoyed by the system I have a responsibility to try and fix it, not swipe at it from the sidelines (totally off topic, but the song I hate the most is “Waiting for the world to change”. It doesn’t, if you don’t work to do it).

As a punch contributor, I’m annoyed by the double standard that lets Jane and dear Margaret blather on on issues nothing to do with the post at hand, but immediately labels people like myself as ALP stooges.

Over 52% of the people voted for the Labor party at the last election. Well over 52% don’t seem to think that was a bad decision. Very few of these people are Labor party stooges.

Surely, on those figures, it’s not too hard to accept that some people actually think the government’s doing a good job?

Oh, and for the record, I don’t accept bastardry by anybody.

E says:

02:47pm | 11/01/10

wow ur hilarious, you object to being labeled an ‘ALP stooge’ but then use an ‘argument from the common people’ ( a formal fallacy of relevence) to defend them.
100% of people can be wrong all at the same time, happens every day.
And further, just because 65% of the 80% of people best characterised as being ‘none too bright’ chose to tick Kodos over Kang is no recommendation.
And, finnaly, by supporting the ALP in any way, you are tacitly supporting thousands of bastards.
Vote independent or ... just vote independent.

Get The Point says:

02:52pm | 11/01/10

Persephone, consistently one of the best posters on The Punch, has just made a real gem of a brief and lucid remark.

E says:

03:01pm | 11/01/10

@get the point : I assume you are being ironic? How is an ‘argument from the common people’, the kissing cousin of ‘argument from authority’ a good argument?
Sigh, pearls trampled by the herd i guess.

Margaret Gray says:

03:04pm | 11/01/10

@persephone

Your sustained apologists rapture for all things Kevin Rudd borders on the banal. (Lachlan Harris…is that you??)

He has innumerable electoral problems the least of which is ghost-writing mangled prose for his New Youth Movement.

I hate all politicians equally…the premise of this article was demonstrate some feeble mortal equivalence to the proletariat on the basis of possessing an extra-curricular skill of some renown.

If you want to play guitar…join a band.

Kevin was elected to govern the country 24/7/365…a job he is defining with an epic failure rate.

Save the ‘hobbies’ for after you get kicked out of office.

persephone says:

03:10pm | 11/01/10

E

In the early days of Federation (except for the usual suspects) the vast majority of parliamentarians were independents. It effectively makes government impossible (a bit like the situation in the Liberal party at present).

I accept that it’s perfectly possible to be the only person in the whole world who happens to be correct on an issue, which is why I try very hard to use evidence based points of view but we’re talking governance here, and that works best when people are working towards common agendas.

The person who works alone, no matter how brilliant they are, achieves very little.

If you’re dissatisifed iwth a major party, join the least repellent one and kick some a**e.

You can be a pure idealist, and achieve absolutely nothing, or you can be a realist, and do something to change the situation.

Or, of course, you can just snipe at the sidelines and think that somehow makes you ‘purer’ morally than those who are actually doing something.

persephone says:

03:13pm | 11/01/10

Dear Margaret, how lovely to hear from you. Green froth goes nicely with the fangs, too.

Umm….where’s the rapture for all things Rudd? I think you’ll find my earlier posts here are praising Churchill and Menzies, as being well rounded individuals who also happened to be politicians. Do try and remove the blinkers, m’dear; don’t just see my name and copy and paste.

And try and keep your pronouns consistent, it’s confusing. I don’t play the guitar, and I’m not in office.

Get the point says:

03:16pm | 11/01/10

Claptrap, E. Apart from the needless patronising, you’ve plainly not fully grasped the nature of “appeal to authority”. On top of that, you’ve got a bit of a bad habit in arguing by assumption - piled up assumptions at that.  Spare us your pseudo intellectual superiority, do.

Roberto says:

03:21pm | 11/01/10

Jane is right in all she has said, Persephone, you sound like someone who will vote labour nomatter what happens, and insulting others with higher intelect makes you look like a goose. I would like to know if you noticed my spelling mistake?

H of SA says:

03:35pm | 11/01/10

Gotta love how Paul’s lighthearted piece still brings out the hacks to fight their endless culture war against the other side. Using, of course, that time honoured technique of insulting each other rather than debating what is actually said, in order to convince the other of the truth of their views. How’s that working for ya hacks? Surprised no one wants to cross over to the other team when you tell them what an idiot they are?

Did you join your political team of choice out of idealism and then without noticing realise your idealism just became a habit of being rude, or did you intentionally enter the culture wards just to be nasty?

Oh and to pre-empt the now to be expected straw man argument against this post (and almost all others), I AM NOT suggesting you don’t debate - play fair hacks and stick to the argument avoiding the insults - your making me despair of the punch being a useful area of debate.

persephone says:

03:42pm | 11/01/10

Roberto

I’m glad you can understand her.

If Margaret has a higher intellect than I have (and are factual comments insults? mmm) she’s hiding her light under a bushel.

I may be a Labor voter (well, shucks, golly gosh, yes I am) but that doesn’t mean my brain has been taken over by little Ruddbots or something. There is plenty the party does (and shock! horror! that the Great God Rudd does) I disagree with. 

If Jane and Margaret and their ilk actually raised those issues, I’d be in full agreement. Instead, they make things up, and I think that’s a good reason to argue with them.

Get the point says:

03:44pm | 11/01/10

Jane has posted nothing more than a pastiche of insult, no intellect required to do that, and no particular typing skills either, Roberto.

These tirades and lectures are the stock text of a number of regulars on The Punch, mainly of the RIght.

Persephone, in contrast, addresses the points soundly, while well able to dish out a pithy rejoinder in reply to pointless sneer.

If the Right has anything useful to say, it’d be nice to see it presented well once in a while. The endless sneer and jibes add nothing, advance no case, and convince no-one with any interest in better understanding.  They’re trolls.

persephone says:

03:48pm | 11/01/10

Sorry, H of SA - I was trying to be good, too, with my comments on Churchill and Menzies.

I think I’ve outlined why I chose my ‘political team’ in my post above - wanted to change things, so joined the party I had the least problems with.

Once in, I found most people are very like me (hmm, might be insulting them!) - they want to make a difference and this is their chosen way to do it.

I’ve never met anyone who thinks the Labor party is perfect, to the extent that I sometimes say being disillusioned with the party is a prerequisite of membership.

I will try and play nicely (as I always do) and would be very nice indeed if people stopped assuming I didn’t have a brain of my own but had leased it out to Party Central.

Oh, BTW, don’t insult E or Margaret by suggesting they have political agendas. They have both admitted that they hate both sides equally, although you’d never guess it from their posts.

JimH says:

03:49pm | 11/01/10

Get off your hands and knees Paul…

Diamantina Dick says:

04:08pm | 11/01/10

I wonder what KRudd actually does enjoy doing in his spare time? If any.

Adult and kiddy propaganda was clearly workshopped, any clues as to the real deal?

Margaret Gray says:

04:10pm | 11/01/10

“...Instead, they make things up, and I think that’s a good reason to argue with them…”

@persephone
It’s such a shame that when you are continually presented with endless examples of Rudd’s spinning rhetoric, broken promises and flat-out lies you choose to ignore and dismiss them….such a predictable default position hardly makes you objective enough to ‘argue’ anything.

And as for the childish insults…

“...Green froth goes nicely with the fangs, too…”

...grow up.

Margaret Gray says:

04:16pm | 11/01/10

No ‘politician’ goes into office driven by an ideal of benevolent servitude to their fellow man.

It’s about ego, influence and, above all, power.

That they can paint-by-numbers without going over the lines is a genetic anomaly, not a requisite political skill.

Being a functioning alcoholic obviously doesn’t diminish one’s capacity to make key decisions affecting the lives of millions either.

But then, who would even notice?

The best politicians are by-and-large business people…those with real-life working experiences.  Employers.

That most politicians in Australia are drawn from the ranks of union officialdom and academia says much about the dearth of quality politically-motivated aspirants in this country and the attractiveness of the profession as a career vocation.

And in that we are all losers.

persephone says:

05:02pm | 11/01/10

Margaret, I’m sorry, but you’re wrong.

Politics doesn’t really pay that much (Rudd was earning more as a diplomat than he did as an MP; Turnbull took a huge pay cut, as did many of the lawyers in parliament). Very few people go into for the money (although some of the perks are nice). Interesting that you admit they’re not paid enough.

Power, may be - but power without a purpose isn’t much use to anyone. Most pollies want power because there are things they want to achieve with it. Very few of them use it to promote or enrich themselves.

I have friends who are politicians from all sides of politics (scandalises my Labor mates sometimes!) - most of them are driven by a desire to serve their community. 

I’d be interested in your list of good politicians, though.

6clegs says:

05:30pm | 11/01/10

Must be Torys day off.

Putin on a horse and calling himself a rider always gives those of us able to ride a bloody good laugh! The fella who actually shot the tiger was out of camera range; he was afraid the tiger would bite Putin and die an angonising slow blood poisoned death. . .

Sarkozy???? Carla musta thought the 1st Lady of France would be a cool job. (and why not?!)  THATS gotta be the ONLY reason she said “yes”! he’s far too weasel-ly for there to be any other reason. She’s a whole lot smarter than that! (and him!)

Blair can play geetar?
really?
the author obviously hasn’t heard him!

apart from that, poisonally, I prefer politicians who have a life outside of politics, all work and no play make Jack a very dull boy. (oh dear,  isn’t ‘‘Jack’’ a nick-name for John?) neh neh neeeeeh

stephen says:

05:41pm | 11/01/10

Every man’s trying to be Everyman.
But they know this is the Information Age,and think , wrongly, that perception is everything, They keep getting caught out by reality. I hope,too, none have been reading the latest issue of Time. The cover reads: Your DNA is not your destiny. The decisions in life can affect your genes. This, for Politicians, is the definition of optimism.

iansand says:

06:38pm | 11/01/10

One thing of which the Punch continually convinces me is the lack of introspection in the denizens of the *ahem* chattering classes.

Do you ideological warriors actually think your posturing would convince a lobotomised gnat that your positions have a skerrick of merit?

NO ETS - EVER says:

08:32pm | 11/01/10

Paul, you’re a journalist?
Then maybe do some research.
NObama did not write his book, Dreams from My Father.
It was penned by Bill Ayers.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/who_wrote_dreams_from_my_fathe_1.html

NObama and KRudd are as fake as each other

time for rudd to go says:

10:51pm | 11/01/10

We should all be soooo lucky if Rudd just focuses on being the PM of Australia. He is so busy trying to save the world when we need him to do is stay here and do one job well. After all that’s why he was elected wasn’t it? Not to scare young children or schmooze with the United Nations and blood sucking carbon trading profiteers. He behaves like a diplomat and that’s not enough in the top job. Just another big ass mistake Australia.

Dan says:

11:07pm | 11/01/10

It’s not really remarkable to be fluently bilingual if you lived for several years immersed in your second language.  It’s not especially amazing that someone can hold their own on a musical instrument if they’ve taken lessons and practiced a bit.  Don’t complain about a few prominent people being three-dimensional.  Instead ask yourself why you should succumb to the pressure to be slavishly one-dimensional.

It should be perfectly normal for the accountant to be a good cook, the plumber to play in a band on weekends, the factory worker to speak three languages, or the lawyer to be handy with watercolours.  What’s remarkable is that we insist those people are ‘talented’ when in fact all they’ve done is pursue an interest and actually put in some effort while the rest of us are too ‘busy’ trying to keep up which which vaguely prominent person on the other side of the world is shagging which other vaguely prominent person we’ll never meet, and what some other person thinks about it.

We all get back what we put in.

John A Neve says:

07:02am | 12/01/10

It is hard to decide who won this little stoush. The reason being it turned into a tag team event!
Costello, Downer, Nelson, Menzies, Churchill and the CFMEU all got into the ring!!

Rather than a clean cut fight, it turned into a blogger’s melee.

Timmo says:

09:43am | 12/01/10

Well as far as the Stimulus Package being a waste of money, I thought that it was rather a good move as had it not happened many thousands of pensioners and unemployed families would have been in a much more difficult position financially. So good on you Kev. John Howard spent the whole of his Prime Ministership ripping the financial guts out of these above mentioned citizens. Throwing People off pensions and the unemployment, Deeming their Interest on bank accounts so they got no interest at all while propping up the rest of the who’s who and would bees. If you all think that you can run the country better than Ruddy, why don’t you run for the job?. Pays f/ all for the amount of shit you will have to put up with. Ask Kev, he knows.

Lok says:

10:27am | 12/01/10

Perhaps it is best to focus on bettering yourself than on looking at how much better everyone else is?  And besides, don’t we want our world leaders to be high achievers?  I like the article in terms of seeing the other side of politicians, but what’s the use of the envy?  I wouldn’t want to live their lifestyle.

steve says:

06:25pm | 12/01/10

What?
Rudd is fluent in Latin also. Apparently, he decided to learn it so he could help his children with their homework.

calla says:

11:23pm | 12/01/10

Ah, silly me thought this story was going to be ‘why can’t they be good at what they’re supposed to do instead of being crap at a lot of pop culture PR crap’, e.g. writing a childrens’ book.
Becoming a top politician takes the kind of drive and ambition that lends a person to a whole load of disciplines. The story should not be pollies got talent, but rather ask when politicians decided that being a well rounded people-person was more important than creating good policy.

Michael says:

12:14pm | 13/02/11

You forgot Nixon and his piano concerto.