Saturday, February 20, 2010

The Nope Series: Tony Abbot - Post 1

Inspired by the creator of the above image, titled: "The Audacity of Nope," here is the first in an ongoing series on the audacity of attrocious Abbott. I have to admit, when Abbott was elected to lead the Liberal Party*, I was.... amused. Brought up by staunch -anti-Liberal parents, I thought - fantastic - the Liberals don't have a hope in hell of being re-elected.
The amusement was shortlived.

Abbott has proceeded to strut in front of the media spreading his patriarchial, nasty, simple-minded filth nation wide. The latest for Tony sure is a doozy. Apparently, in view of the fact that homelessness is a choice, Abbott does not support Rudd's push for halving homelessness by 2020. Interestingly, this is yet another point that Turnbull supported. (I'm starting to see Turnbull in a great light).

Hold on just a second... homelessness as choice. I guess it depends on what you view as choice. The choice for many young homeless people who choose between being beaten and/or sexually abused within their home and that of a cold, hard existence without the guaruntee of a nightly beating on the street.

Or, perhaps Abbott is referring to the choice made by the hundreds of homeless people who suffer from untreated mental illnesses - who of course choose to remain homeless, when due to their condition (whether that be mental or financial) are unable to afford treatment (whatever that may be) or able to take productive control of their existence. Indeed, I wonder what Abbott thinks about the ''choice'' many mental health inpatients who were released with the massive closures in psychiatric wards in the last ten years (under the Howard Government)

Tony doesn't do things by halves - that's not the manly way. To further support, his lack of support, Tony went all biblical on us:

"The poor you have with you always..."
 Now  - SWM have a fabulous history of using the great book as a backup for their patriachial supremecy. Let's follow the logic here - there are always going to be poor people - so, there isn't any reason to help them - even Jesus said so.

But - wait a second - Jesus thinks that we shouldn't help the poor?  OMFG - great reading of the bible there Tony. No wonder Tony wants to institute reading of the bible in school children - clearly this is something that good catholic Tony could have done with himself. (note the sarcasm here - I don't agree with institutionalised reading of the bible at all) Or perhaps Tony has issues with interpretation - perhaps a decent literacy program could aide with that. For a fabulous take-down of this, grounded in biblical interpretation, please hop over to Tony Abbott, the poor and Jesus.


 
I'm a little behind the baton here, for a roundup of Tony's utterances, please visit Hoyden about Town's, Tony Said What Now thread.


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For any American readers, the Liberal Party in Australian politics is the equivalent of the Rebulican Party. Simply put, Liberal = liberal economics and the rights of the white, male individual.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post. The "homelessness is a choice" is actually something I've heard a couple of times from local politicians/civil servants (not naming names in public). And, to a certain extent I can see that some people might prefer a life with fewer commitments or material posessions - a more free, travelling around kind of existance.

However, for people on massive salaries funded by public funds to try reframe homelessness to make it sound like "freedom" or "choice" is absolutely disgusting and deeply offensive. No-one *chooses* homelessness, it is thrust upon them by a variety of means & circumstances, but an active preference is the antithesis of what homelessness is. If Abbott wants to describe people who truly do not *want* to sign up a lease and don't *want* to be tied down to home ownership then he needs to find a better word.

In light of his views on parenthood, sex and abortion, it's interesting that this is the first time Abbott has made headlines for advocating "choice". The man has a serious dearth of compassion. He *could* learn from Jesus. (And I'm saying that as an atheist.)

Natalie said...

Hi Shiny,

thanks for pointing out the irony in "choice" coming from Abbott. I'm not Christian, btw, but as a study of religion graduate, I did want to point out that alot of what Abbott dribbles doesn't represent Christianity.

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