Comments on: Shorten Figjams Beazley

By: Graham Young

Graham Young — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 23:26:12 +0000

I think FIGJAM is part of the mix, but I suspect that he has been saying around the branches that Labor can’t win the next election. This would actually be a sensible thing to say internally, because most people would believe it. It would also not be a sensible thing to say externally that Labor will win the next election – because most voters expect them to lose, and saying things people believe to be untrue leads to them disbelieving everything that you say – see “cognitive dissonance”.
But, a good candidate would have a form of words that didn’t create potential problems for their leader.
And the over-arching question in my mind was “Why is this guy doing a national radio programme? How many of us get to vote in his preselection?” That’s the real FIGJAM – he shouldn’t have been in an arena where there were no votes to be won, but plenty to be lost if he made a mistake!

By: Benno

Benno — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 19:42:13 +0000

P.S I am not taking the piss. Fair dinkum question.

By: Benno

Benno — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 18:20:55 +0000

Hey Arjay,
I have just attended my first economics lectures at uni and let me tell you that there is more complexity in Peter Garrett’s lyrics and music than there is in the theory of rational behaivour, game theory or maximum willingness to pay. Wrong fucking major for a guy like me, wrong fucking major. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLC_Punk
There is also more complexity in Peter Garrett’s arse. Not that I am doing biology.
An open letter to Graham:
Dear Graham,
I feel so depressed because today I joined the socialist alternative, without intending to. I am thinking about joing the young liberals, but I am told that they are violent people filled with hate, much like skin heads. Such as that they congregate in small groups of about ten and bash people who become isolated from a bigger group, such as 300,000 marching againts IR laws.
What is some good advice for a wayward middle class boy in this predicament?

By: Arjay

Arjay — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 21:40:27 +0000

Labor have snookered themselves again.The electorate are moving more towards the right and they adopt left wing pop stars like Peter Garret thinking that the Aussie psyche is of the same shallow ilk as that of the Hollywood worshippers of image without substance.Peter Garret is a single issue canditate that doesn’t understand the complexity of an economy.
After 30 yrs of leftist weakness we are reaping the depravity of our lack of discipline and vigilance.

By: jeff peebles

jeff peebles — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 20:45:57 +0000

bill shorten;sort of suits don’t you think.short on humility,short of scruples,short in stature as well.got big ideas though, and they’re all about bill.

By: Anna Winter

Anna Winter — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 14:58:54 +0000

FIGJAM is right, I think.
It’s a common view that “celebrity” candidates, like Peter Garrett, should be given safe seats to run for, so that they can spend the election helping the national campaign, rather than struggling just to hold their own seat.
I think this is what Shorten is referring to – he thinks he has the standing of Peter Garrett. He has clearly spent all his time with party and union hacks, and hasn’t figured out that no-one else in the country has heard of him.