Kiss A Cop
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Kiss a cop A TREATISE IN AUSTRALIA'S FASCINATION WITH THE CURRENT US PRIMARIES AND EVENTUAL GENERAL ELECTION Written by Paul Whelan
(Disclosure: I was a Member of the Young Liberals (Queensland) from the years 1984-1990. Holding a position of Treasurer Gold Coast Young Liberals for all that time. Currently I hold no membership, position, standing or ranking in any Australian political party) Copyright February 2008-Paul Whelan
Preamble The treatise “Kiss A Cop” is a way of acknowledging America's influence today in the world, and to a lesser extent Australia. I will examine my opinion, cultural issues,political issues and US Voting patterns in this discourse. All with an overview of Australia's fascination with US politics, particularly the primaries and general election. 1. Introduction Let, me state from the outset that I have respect America's position in the world as the universal cop (read police). But the way the American's vote.... 2. My Opinion I was first exposed truly and deeply to American culture as a teenager when the legendary film “Star Wars” (1977) arrived in Australia and more importantly Sydney. Prior to the viewing of this landmark motion picture we went to McDonald's. I purchased two Fillet of Fish, fries and large Coke and thought this was bliss. Even before the opening sequence of “Star Wars”. In the 80's we were replicating American fashion, pop culture and falling in love with the fast food pandemic. It was the time of big hair, padded shoulders, Madonna and Huey Lewis and The News. Replicating American culture on a grand scale. We crawl into the 90's. We are little bit subdued. Grunge, failed states, kid's wearing their heads on backwards (read baseball caps). Australia culturally calmed down from the previous decade but still kept everything in proportion. Approaching the end of the first decade in second millennium we are almost at the parapets. Information, cable news, Youtube and blogs. There is no cultural divide just what seemed a tyranny of distance. 2. Cultural Issues Australia by its nature is drawn to the United Kingdom by default and to the United States because it paints a prettier picture. The decade prior to my birth was framed by Robert Menzies1 Prime Minister from 1949 to 1966. He was a gentlemen that espoused conservative truths (read McCarthyism2) into Australian society. We move onto Malcolm Fraser3.He set a new liberal agenda akin to the present Rudd government. Malcolm Fraser moved into government on via an unprecedented double dissolution4.. The first and only time this has happened in Australian politics in that degree and magnitude. We arise from Fraser and move to Hawke (ALP 5), Keating (ALP 6) and Howard/Peacock (LIB 7) prime ministers and leadership in late 1980's and 1990's.
All this time the dialogue with USA has be continuous and unaffected. In part and probably totally driven by ANZUS 8. Hawke and Keating parlayed to Ronald Reagan and George Bush (41) with great ease. Even though on political principal they where diametrically opposed. As I was leaving the “Young Liberals” I was drawn to the campaign of Bill Clinton. Being “Young Liberals” we didn't realise that my position was again diametrically opposed to the person we were championing. 4. Australian Political Issues Australia political nature prior to Kevin Rudd's promotion has been America by default. However the Vox Populi9 are moving to a more centrist ground. As illustrated by Kevin Rudd's10 election in November 2007. We don't want to be working for less than the minimum wage as espoused by the Liberal Parties WorkChoices initiative 11, A somewhat ambient truth in the US. Yet somehow Australian's were or hoped to be become “Aspirational Australian's” as espoused by John Howard. Which I believe is a huge borrow from “Evangelical Conservatives” 12 of the US Republican Party and a place John Howard 13 wanted us to visit. The ebb and flow of politics has played it's grand strategy on Australian soil. It's framing being the Second Iraq War....”War of Terror”. We have witnessed the advocates of Iraq fall by its nature with the removal of Tony Blair14 and John Howard. 5. US Foreign Policy with Democracies When the US invaded Iraq for the second time there was this sprouting of democracy. Sitting back in my lounge room in Queensland, Australia I was just calling out for the Fallujah Straw Poll (you know the one similar to Iowa15 ). Sadly disappointed this did not occur. It seems the US plays “plain vanilla” democracies when it can and complicated ones when it can't. And when you are democratically elected in a province/state or region the US want's a winner and you are the other.....well it has been nice knowing you (read, Palestine, Syria, Middle East). 6. US v AUS Voting Patterns In the US you are presumed or assumed to be a registered 16Republican, Democrat or Independent. This is your predictive voting pattern. So by the time you come to vote as a US citizen for a Presidential candidate this may have occurred three times (via primaries, caucus and the general election). In Australia this is a once only event. In the US voting is voluntary and in Australia voting is compulsory.
6. Australian Interest Australia is sometimes seen or perceived as the 51st State of America 17 Although we probably have to fight Canada, UK and Israel for that honour. There is lots of conjecture on who should be 51st. Our true fascination and true interest is the machinations of the US elections. Our simple interest is always compounded. Our elections for Rudd and Howard started as soon as Rudd was elected opposition leader. A good year out. However, the US elections and machinery have been running from at least two years out. In the US nearly a 3 year cycle. In Australia maximum so far a 1 year cycle. This will probably change again. Our other area of interest is how in the US primary words and language being adopted by our press corp. Especially the word “Super Tuesday”. The year 2008 has meant the demise of the Howard government. With the principal and deputy (ex parte Prime Minister and Treasurer) gone there are a lot of ex-long term ministers going to the backbench 18. The likes of Downer, Costello, Abbott etc. So on one ABC19 program “Insiders” they mentioned a “Super Tuesday” event to cover the by-elections20 of the former ministers. Still searching for that exact transcript. On a purely aesthetic level there is truly a great divide. You have leaders that can talk, walk and juggle chainsaws with infinite ease on both sides of the aisle. Once every generation we have one that can almost do the same. The American politician sells and the Australian politician tells. Barack Obama 21 and Mike Huckabee 22 sell and tell their word correct. Polling is a finite art defined by infinite probabilities23 . It seems the pollsters have really got it wrong on all sides in the US and to a degree all values. Maybe the US voter is telling them it is time for the pollster to go away. Let people vote. We follow the race because it interesting, hold's a certain dynamic, impact's our culture and in a strange way we look at ourselves. 7. Summary Australian's has a curious allegiance to the US in culture, mind and politic. We follow the pre-election process (primaries) because they are so different to our brand of democracy. Our brand is simple, plain vanilla and one vote. To us the US primaries is a carnival, a sideshow and great entertainment. We have four contestants, Obama, Clinton, McCain and Huckabee. You can mix and match as either would be a great Vice President on either side. The middle ground is getting muddy.
My almost final word is left to Mike and The Mechanics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYikxPcJK1I My final word and parting word via the late great Richard Jeni.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhw8DFSGzvg
Paul Whelan
Sources: 1. Parliament Of Australia Parliamentary Library Prime Ministers of Australia http://www.aph.gov.au/library/parl/hist/primmins.htm
2. Wikipedia, Senator Joseph McCarthy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mccarthyism 3. Parliament Of Australia Parliamentary Library Prime Ministers of Australia http://www.aph.gov.au/library/parl/hist/primmins.htm 4. Double Dissolution http://australianpolitics.com/parliament/deadlocks/doubledissolution.shtml 5. Wikipedia, Australian Labour Party http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Labour_Party 6. Wikipedia, Australian Labour Party http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Labour_Party 7. Wikipedia, Australian Labour Party http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Liberal_Party 8. Wikipedia, ANZUS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzus 9. Wikipedia, Vox Populi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vox_populi 10. Wikipedia, Kevin Rudd http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_rudd 11. Wikipedia, WorkChoices http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorkChoices 12. Wikipedia, Christian Right http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_conservatives#Christian_Right_.28USA.29 13. Wikipedia, John Howard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_howard (Note: Page is protected from editing until disputes have been resolved) As of this Document Dated February 19h, 2008 14. Wikipedia, Tony Blair http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_blair 15. Wikipedia, Ames Straw Poll http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_straw_poll 16. Wikipedia, Registered Voters http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixville_Notch %2C_New_Hampshire 17. The Age, John Button, September 16, 2006 http://www.theage.com.au/news/book-reviews/51ststate/2006/09/15/1157827139265.html 18. Wikipedia, Backbench http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backbench 19. Wikipedia, ABC Australia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_Australia 20. Wikipedia, By Elections http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/By_election 21. Wikipedia, Barack Obama http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_obama 22. Wikipedia, Mike Huckabee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_huckabee 23. Paul Whelan, “Kiss A Cop”
Appendix A Comparative Political Parties ALP = Australian Labour Party LIB = Australian Liberal Party ALP does not exactly equal Democrat LIB does not exactly equal Republican.
(Disclosure: I was a Member of the Young Liberals (Queensland) from the years 1984-1990. Holding a position of Treasurer Gold Coast Young Liberals for all that time. Currently I hold no membership, position, standing or ranking in any Australian political party) Copyright February 2008-Paul Whelan
Preamble The treatise “Kiss A Cop” is a way of acknowledging America's influence today in the world, and to a lesser extent Australia. I will examine my opinion, cultural issues,political issues and US Voting patterns in this discourse. All with an overview of Australia's fascination with US politics, particularly the primaries and general election. 1. Introduction Let, me state from the outset that I have respect America's position in the world as the universal cop (read police). But the way the American's vote.... 2. My Opinion I was first exposed truly and deeply to American culture as a teenager when the legendary film “Star Wars” (1977) arrived in Australia and more importantly Sydney. Prior to the viewing of this landmark motion picture we went to McDonald's. I purchased two Fillet of Fish, fries and large Coke and thought this was bliss. Even before the opening sequence of “Star Wars”. In the 80's we were replicating American fashion, pop culture and falling in love with the fast food pandemic. It was the time of big hair, padded shoulders, Madonna and Huey Lewis and The News. Replicating American culture on a grand scale. We crawl into the 90's. We are little bit subdued. Grunge, failed states, kid's wearing their heads on backwards (read baseball caps). Australia culturally calmed down from the previous decade but still kept everything in proportion. Approaching the end of the first decade in second millennium we are almost at the parapets. Information, cable news, Youtube and blogs. There is no cultural divide just what seemed a tyranny of distance. 2. Cultural Issues Australia by its nature is drawn to the United Kingdom by default and to the United States because it paints a prettier picture. The decade prior to my birth was framed by Robert Menzies1 Prime Minister from 1949 to 1966. He was a gentlemen that espoused conservative truths (read McCarthyism2) into Australian society. We move onto Malcolm Fraser3.He set a new liberal agenda akin to the present Rudd government. Malcolm Fraser moved into government on via an unprecedented double dissolution4.. The first and only time this has happened in Australian politics in that degree and magnitude. We arise from Fraser and move to Hawke (ALP 5), Keating (ALP 6) and Howard/Peacock (LIB 7) prime ministers and leadership in late 1980's and 1990's.
All this time the dialogue with USA has be continuous and unaffected. In part and probably totally driven by ANZUS 8. Hawke and Keating parlayed to Ronald Reagan and George Bush (41) with great ease. Even though on political principal they where diametrically opposed. As I was leaving the “Young Liberals” I was drawn to the campaign of Bill Clinton. Being “Young Liberals” we didn't realise that my position was again diametrically opposed to the person we were championing. 4. Australian Political Issues Australia political nature prior to Kevin Rudd's promotion has been America by default. However the Vox Populi9 are moving to a more centrist ground. As illustrated by Kevin Rudd's10 election in November 2007. We don't want to be working for less than the minimum wage as espoused by the Liberal Parties WorkChoices initiative 11, A somewhat ambient truth in the US. Yet somehow Australian's were or hoped to be become “Aspirational Australian's” as espoused by John Howard. Which I believe is a huge borrow from “Evangelical Conservatives” 12 of the US Republican Party and a place John Howard 13 wanted us to visit. The ebb and flow of politics has played it's grand strategy on Australian soil. It's framing being the Second Iraq War....”War of Terror”. We have witnessed the advocates of Iraq fall by its nature with the removal of Tony Blair14 and John Howard. 5. US Foreign Policy with Democracies When the US invaded Iraq for the second time there was this sprouting of democracy. Sitting back in my lounge room in Queensland, Australia I was just calling out for the Fallujah Straw Poll (you know the one similar to Iowa15 ). Sadly disappointed this did not occur. It seems the US plays “plain vanilla” democracies when it can and complicated ones when it can't. And when you are democratically elected in a province/state or region the US want's a winner and you are the other.....well it has been nice knowing you (read, Palestine, Syria, Middle East). 6. US v AUS Voting Patterns In the US you are presumed or assumed to be a registered 16Republican, Democrat or Independent. This is your predictive voting pattern. So by the time you come to vote as a US citizen for a Presidential candidate this may have occurred three times (via primaries, caucus and the general election). In Australia this is a once only event. In the US voting is voluntary and in Australia voting is compulsory.
6. Australian Interest Australia is sometimes seen or perceived as the 51st State of America 17 Although we probably have to fight Canada, UK and Israel for that honour. There is lots of conjecture on who should be 51st. Our true fascination and true interest is the machinations of the US elections. Our simple interest is always compounded. Our elections for Rudd and Howard started as soon as Rudd was elected opposition leader. A good year out. However, the US elections and machinery have been running from at least two years out. In the US nearly a 3 year cycle. In Australia maximum so far a 1 year cycle. This will probably change again. Our other area of interest is how in the US primary words and language being adopted by our press corp. Especially the word “Super Tuesday”. The year 2008 has meant the demise of the Howard government. With the principal and deputy (ex parte Prime Minister and Treasurer) gone there are a lot of ex-long term ministers going to the backbench 18. The likes of Downer, Costello, Abbott etc. So on one ABC19 program “Insiders” they mentioned a “Super Tuesday” event to cover the by-elections20 of the former ministers. Still searching for that exact transcript. On a purely aesthetic level there is truly a great divide. You have leaders that can talk, walk and juggle chainsaws with infinite ease on both sides of the aisle. Once every generation we have one that can almost do the same. The American politician sells and the Australian politician tells. Barack Obama 21 and Mike Huckabee 22 sell and tell their word correct. Polling is a finite art defined by infinite probabilities23 . It seems the pollsters have really got it wrong on all sides in the US and to a degree all values. Maybe the US voter is telling them it is time for the pollster to go away. Let people vote. We follow the race because it interesting, hold's a certain dynamic, impact's our culture and in a strange way we look at ourselves. 7. Summary Australian's has a curious allegiance to the US in culture, mind and politic. We follow the pre-election process (primaries) because they are so different to our brand of democracy. Our brand is simple, plain vanilla and one vote. To us the US primaries is a carnival, a sideshow and great entertainment. We have four contestants, Obama, Clinton, McCain and Huckabee. You can mix and match as either would be a great Vice President on either side. The middle ground is getting muddy.
My almost final word is left to Mike and The Mechanics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYikxPcJK1I My final word and parting word via the late great Richard Jeni.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhw8DFSGzvg
Paul Whelan
Sources: 1. Parliament Of Australia Parliamentary Library Prime Ministers of Australia http://www.aph.gov.au/library/parl/hist/primmins.htm
2. Wikipedia, Senator Joseph McCarthy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mccarthyism 3. Parliament Of Australia Parliamentary Library Prime Ministers of Australia http://www.aph.gov.au/library/parl/hist/primmins.htm 4. Double Dissolution http://australianpolitics.com/parliament/deadlocks/doubledissolution.shtml 5. Wikipedia, Australian Labour Party http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Labour_Party 6. Wikipedia, Australian Labour Party http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Labour_Party 7. Wikipedia, Australian Labour Party http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Liberal_Party 8. Wikipedia, ANZUS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzus 9. Wikipedia, Vox Populi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vox_populi 10. Wikipedia, Kevin Rudd http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_rudd 11. Wikipedia, WorkChoices http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorkChoices 12. Wikipedia, Christian Right http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_conservatives#Christian_Right_.28USA.29 13. Wikipedia, John Howard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_howard (Note: Page is protected from editing until disputes have been resolved) As of this Document Dated February 19h, 2008 14. Wikipedia, Tony Blair http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_blair 15. Wikipedia, Ames Straw Poll http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_straw_poll 16. Wikipedia, Registered Voters http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixville_Notch %2C_New_Hampshire 17. The Age, John Button, September 16, 2006 http://www.theage.com.au/news/book-reviews/51ststate/2006/09/15/1157827139265.html 18. Wikipedia, Backbench http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backbench 19. Wikipedia, ABC Australia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_Australia 20. Wikipedia, By Elections http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/By_election 21. Wikipedia, Barack Obama http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_obama 22. Wikipedia, Mike Huckabee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_huckabee 23. Paul Whelan, “Kiss A Cop”
Appendix A Comparative Political Parties ALP = Australian Labour Party LIB = Australian Liberal Party ALP does not exactly equal Democrat LIB does not exactly equal Republican.
