John Howard Or Not? (1 Viewer)

[DjSmiG]

whos with him or do those eyebrows pose as a threat to society

 

[Rorix]

Man, you stole my idea for this great thread. I was just about to start a thread just like this.


DjSmiG

 

[DjSmiG]

hmmm lol well, for this lol i didnt state but im with John good bloke, but those eyebrows are pretty shitty


and to the garbage with u boy ^^^^^^^^

 

[Jonathan A]

whos with him or do those eyebrows pose as a threat to society

I am strong supporter of our current Prime Minister.

 

[townie]

I am strong supporter of our current Prime Minister.

i'm a strong supporter of any1 whose not

 

[MoonlightSonata]

I think people's opinion depends on policy, personality, ideology and background.

1. Policy - Like everyone, I support some initiatives and not others. One would be ignorant to just blindly agree with every policy the government puts forward. It's all relative to the opposition.

2. Personality - Additionally, on some rather irrational criteria, I really don't like Costello, and I would find it extremely difficult to vote for him. Even those of us who are generally rational, educated people in these areas are influenced by personality and personal beliefs of PMs. In contrast, I do like Beazley, whom I regard as a very clever man, and who I think is a shrewd and strong leader.

3. Ideology - Then of course there is the ideological basis of general Liberalism, which has more often than not kept me in support of the Liberals.

4. Finally, my electorate is very safe Liberal, and my parents are Liberal. I cannot deny that this would have some influence on me.

I would like to see Beazley as PM, and I think his policies are more right compared to other Labor initiatives. However I still await the unveiling of more discrepencies in policy, which will unfold soon enough. Chances are I am going to be one of the swinging voters at the next election =/

 

[DjSmiG]

thanks that was actually worth reading

 

[djmattyd]

I hate Howard, and despise the Liberals.

That said, I am not a big fan of Beazley either. I personally prefered the left policies of Mark Latham, and thought he would have made a great Prime Minister. Pity about his departure, and he will be sorely missed.

The funny thing is, I think Peter Costello is a great politician, and what he has done for the Australian economy is one of the best things about the Liberal party.

The main reasons that I do not like the Liberal party, and in particular John Howard are their public health and education policies, and the fact that Howard pretends no one tells him anything in order to save him looking like a guilty pr*ck by society.

Pity most people like him, coz I certainly don't.

 

[spiny norman]

Additionally, on some rather irrational criteria, I really don't like Costello, and I would find it extremely difficult to vote for him.

I don't get it - Costello is the one person in the Liberal Party with anything resembling vision and everyone hates him. Our society's stuffed.

 

[djmattyd]

I don't get it - Costello is the one person in the Liberal Party with anything resembling vision and everyone hates him. Our society's stuffed.

I don't understand it either. Why do they keep getting re-elected? For one reason: Costello's economic policies...and yet they "don't like him". :S

 

[transcendent]

Yeah I don't get that either. What's wrong with Costello?

 

[ogmzergrush]

Not impressed, for the simple reason that decisions made by him and his cohorts which I agree with are few and far between, and the fact that I'm somewhat concerned by the apparent naievty demonstrated in foreign affairs, evidenced, in my opinion, by things like the FTA.

 

[transcendent]

So you disagree with his views on the FTA. What are they? COuld it be possible the Howard, being the 'leader' and all, convinced him to give some crackpot idea about why the FTA is so good?

 

[MoonlightSonata]

Yeah I don't get that either. What's wrong with Costello?

I don't understand it either. Why do they keep getting re-elected? For one reason: Costello's economic policies...and yet they "don't like him". :S

If you read closer, you will see that I did not say I didn't like the policies per se. But it doesn't matter - "Costello's economic policies" aren't the basis of the Liberal party anyway.

I don't get it - Costello is the one person in the Liberal Party with anything resembling vision and everyone hates him. Our society's stuffed.

If indeed our society is "stuffed," I think the correct view is that certain other people's contribution to it is more a factor to its present "stuffed" nature than mine: I clearly explained that it was a dislike of his personality, hence under the section "personality." "Vision," would be under policy or ideology. Now, if you would like futher reasons as to why I don't like his (ostensible) personality:

Mainly because he comes across as an arrogant Christian with an air of insulting falsity. Not to mention that smirk that he has worked so hard to iron out is certainly disconcerting!

 

[djmattyd]

Like Howard could gather the intelligence...then again, he has manipulated the masses to vote for him

 

[ogmzergrush]

So you disagree with his views on the FTA. What are they? COuld it be possible the Howard, being the 'leader' and all, convinced him to give some crackpot idea about why the FTA is so good?

Sorry for the confusion mate, I was actually referring to John Howard, not Costello, bad timing and lack of clarity on my part

 

[MoonlightSonata]

I hate Howard, and despise the Liberals.

That said, I am not a big fan of Beazley either. I personally prefered the left policies of Mark Latham, and thought he would have made a great Prime Minister. Pity about his departure, and he will be sorely missed.

Latham was not experienced or clever in his strategy. Beazley seems by far a more cunning, intelligent person (you probably didn't know that he has a phd in philosophy), and is far far more experieced than Latham, who, let's face it, comes across as not being able to organise himself out of a paper bag.

The funny thing is, I think Peter Costello is a great politician, and what he has done for the Australian economy is one of the best things about the Liberal party.

He's a decent treasurer, yes.

The main reasons that I do not like the Liberal party, and in particular John Howard are their public health and education policies, and the fact that Howard pretends no one tells him anything in order to save him looking like a guilty pr*ck by society.

Would you care to state (a) what their policies on health and education are, and (b) why you disagree with them?

 

[djmattyd]

a) The basic idea of their policies revolves around the removal of money from both public systems and awarding that money to the less needy, non-government schools and hospitals which the party's members and their children attend.
b)I disagree with these policies because I believe the public system should be of the upmost importance to the government. Essentially, these systems rely on the government to function properly, and without the government's funding and support, they cannot tackle the jobs which they have been appointed.

I fear greatly our public health and education systems beginning to reflect that of America, where both public systems have degenerated into a mess. It is our responsibility to stop this happening to our own system, and yet the Coalition are moving us closer to that situation.

I was actually aware of Beazley's credentials, and I am hoping to God the only reason he behaves in the somewhat conservative manner he does is to appeal to a wider audience than that of Latham.

And I do agree with you on Latham. He did come across as a mess; but he was one politician who I believed I could put my faith in and he would reward me. I think you can probably see that, as a result of Latham's emphasis on public education, his ideals would appeal to someone such as me.

 

[unripe]

Heyhey, I'm new.

This is interesting because, when you look at the political positions of Howard, Costello and other main Lib players, Costello is probably the most idealogically-driven pollie among them. He's more of a real small-l-liberal. That's not to say I admire him, what he's done in the past or what he intends to do on July 1st and in future, but it's an interesting thing.
His industrial relations reforms are (as I see it) probably going to forward the people who have high-paying jobs, whose skills are in demand, and disadvantage further the lower socio-economic sectors, by making their labour cheaper and easier to replace.

With Health and Education, particularly Education - I don't like the privatisation that Brendan Nelson is bringing us. Perhaps it's obvious, I'm not so keen on small-l policies, free markets or capitalism (I'm left but not socialist). But to make an education system where those who can pay get better resources is blatently discriminatory. And morally, funding the really rich private schools (while there are state schools without funding for books or sports equipment) is ridiculous. As are increased full-fee-paying places.

I don't like Costello, but he definitely beats Abbott, Vanstone, Ruddock or fatuous little Howard. The Liberals lie and cheat too much, and people don't care enough to vote them out. Anyway, not John Howard.

I do like Bob Brown, and Natasha Stott-Despoja

 

[Rorix]

Well, since the thread has taken a turn for the serious:

I strongly believe in liberalism. Thus, I almost always find myself in support of the Liberal party (generally only because the policy is better in comparison). Regarding the leaders, I am of no opinion either way except to state that I consider Beazley much more respectable than Latham as a leader of a political party. However, I think that anyone who decides who to vote for based on the leader or a vague accusation about lying or manipulating the masses etc. is flawed in their thinking, and that what should be considered is the policy that will be implemented.