Aussie politics. Viewed from a safe distance.
I turn 54 today. But let's talk about something else.
Peter Slipper -- the fellow who appears to be observing his nap time in the photo above, was until quite recently the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Australia. He got into trouble for a number of reasons, among them sexually harrassing emails and text messages he sent to a (male) subordinate, James Ashby.
In the context of those messages, he made remarks about women that, when they became public, were labelled misogynist and fed into a campaign by the Liberal Party (a center-right party), led by Tony Abbott, to force Slipper to quit as Speaker.
The ruling party in Australia since 2007 has been the Labor Party (spelled in the way with which Americans are familiar, the way that annoys Brits, without a "u"), and the PM is that party's leader, Julia Gillard. Gillard for a time seemed to be standing by Slipper in his efforts to remain Speaker.
Indeed, although Slipper was a Liberal Party member at the time of his nomination to be Speaker, it was the Labor Party that nominated him and he quit the Libs upon taking the seat in November 2011.
On Tuesday, October 9, the Liberals pressed a vote of no confidence in Speaker Slipper.
All that is preface to THIS, Gillard's take-no-prisoner attack that day on Abbott as the Leader of the Opposition, for daring to criticize Slipper's misogyny given his own, Abbott's, disqualifications in that regard.
Watch Here
It did Slipper himself no good, he had resigned by the end of the day. My guess is that someone associated with Gillard's office worked this out with Slipper in advance. "We'll knock on our common enemies, Abbott especially, on your behalf during the debate: but we expect you to do the honorable thing thereafter. You have become an embarrassment."
David Penberthy, in the AdelaideNow, emphasized how Slipper comes out of all this seeming not so much a hater of women as a lunatic.
The Deputy Speaker who speaks in the opening seconds of the above clip is the new Speaker with Slipper's resignation.
I turn 54 today. But let's talk about something else.
Peter Slipper -- the fellow who appears to be observing his nap time in the photo above, was until quite recently the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Australia. He got into trouble for a number of reasons, among them sexually harrassing emails and text messages he sent to a (male) subordinate, James Ashby.
In the context of those messages, he made remarks about women that, when they became public, were labelled misogynist and fed into a campaign by the Liberal Party (a center-right party), led by Tony Abbott, to force Slipper to quit as Speaker.
The ruling party in Australia since 2007 has been the Labor Party (spelled in the way with which Americans are familiar, the way that annoys Brits, without a "u"), and the PM is that party's leader, Julia Gillard. Gillard for a time seemed to be standing by Slipper in his efforts to remain Speaker.
Indeed, although Slipper was a Liberal Party member at the time of his nomination to be Speaker, it was the Labor Party that nominated him and he quit the Libs upon taking the seat in November 2011.
On Tuesday, October 9, the Liberals pressed a vote of no confidence in Speaker Slipper.
All that is preface to THIS, Gillard's take-no-prisoner attack that day on Abbott as the Leader of the Opposition, for daring to criticize Slipper's misogyny given his own, Abbott's, disqualifications in that regard.
Watch Here
It did Slipper himself no good, he had resigned by the end of the day. My guess is that someone associated with Gillard's office worked this out with Slipper in advance. "We'll knock on our common enemies, Abbott especially, on your behalf during the debate: but we expect you to do the honorable thing thereafter. You have become an embarrassment."
David Penberthy, in the AdelaideNow, emphasized how Slipper comes out of all this seeming not so much a hater of women as a lunatic.
The Deputy Speaker who speaks in the opening seconds of the above clip is the new Speaker with Slipper's resignation.
Comments
Post a Comment