Do they think we’re stupid? Yes!

DO they think we’re stupid?

Do you remember those distant school days when some repulsive little thug would stamp on your school books, generally give you a hard time, and then offer you incentives (lollies, string, dead beetles and coins of small denomination) not to dob him in to the teacher?

What’s the difference between that, and the budget?

There’s hardly a report on Tuesday’s budget that doesn’t look upon it as a vote‑buying exercise, which, of course, it is. If they handed us all a brown paper bag full of money in return for our vote, we could have them arrested; but this way it’s legal.

Don’t your average voters have a memory? Don’t your average voters remember John Howard’s “core promises”? That is, the promises you don’t have to keep (maybe the budget will be one of them).

Don’t they remember the Children Overboard debacle? Don’t they remember how we sent our soldiers to Iraq to destroy weapons of mass destruction that didn’t exist?

And don’t they remember David Hicks and the way the Australian government just shrugged its shoulders and gave up the rule of law to keep our American patriarchs happy?

I said this to a Liberal party candidate who hopes to get a seat at the next election and she suggested we should overlook the David Hicks affair because the government has provided a strong economy.

I reckon that’s a sure sign we’ve come to the end of the road. Why not just say that profit is more important than justice, and be done with it.

So the answer to my question (do they think we’re stupid?) is yes! They do!

And they’re probably right! There’s plenty of evidence in history that voters have shorter memories than goldfish.

Look… please don’t read this as me suggesting the other lot are any better. I’m a sceptic. I think they’d all do whatever it takes (if they could get away with it) to stay in power. That’s what’s driving them.

Not the desire to serve the people; not the desire to see a better Australia; just the desire to be in control, and everything that comes with it.

If they didn’t believe in the idea of buying people and bugger the principles, they wouldn’t have come up with budget in the first place.

I’ve said it before… when the Opposition wants power, it talks about the electorate; when it first gains power it talks about the voters; in its second term it talks about the punters; and beyond that I think we’re just the Welcome doormat they wipe their feet on when they step into parliament house.

There’s nothing wrong with a stupid politician. Lots of them are. They’re entitled to be stupid; they can’t help that, it’s genetic. But a cunning politician, a dishonest politician; a politician who thinks financial or political expediency are more important than honesty and justice – they’re the dangerous ones.

You can’t keep a politician honest, but you can keep them nervous – by not letting them stay too long.

Now would be a good time to start.