This post can be considered the first cab off the rank in response to Malcolm Turnbull’s request for Australian websites to fact-check glib political windbags.
Malcolm Turnbull’s speech at the Woodford Folk Festival railing against glibness, spin and dishonesty in politics is making news. Guess which politician he decries about half way through as having provided one of the worst examples anywhere in the world in 2012. Mitt Romney. With Obama as the victim. Yes, really. Turnbull tells the story of Romney campaign pollster Neil Newhouse saying “we’re not going to let our campaign be dictated to by fact-checkers.” Of course the lefties at the Woodford Folk Festival all laugh – just as they later cheer when Turnbull says Romney got what he deserved by losing to the innocent, scrupuously honest and beloved Obama.
Here is what Neil Newhouse actually said, abridged and doctored by Turnbull.
He was criticising phony “fact-checkers” who are in fact fronts for the Democrat Party:
Newhouse brushed off the fact check as par for the course in political campaigns.
“People are always going to get Pinocchios for this stuff,” Newhouse said. “We stand behind those ads and behind the facts in those ads.” Newhouse suggested the problem was with the fact-checkers, not the facts themselves:
“Fact-checkers come to this with their own sets of thoughts and beliefs and you know what? We’re not going let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers.”
So in a speech against glibness, spin and dishonesty in politics, Turnbull dumbs-down, distorts and lies.
Turnbull’s speech can be seen here.
Will Tony Abbott becoming PM break Rudd or Turnbull’s heart more?
Turnbull is Australia’s Bloomberg. That’s about as big an insult as I can think of.
Infidel Tiger
28 Dec 12 at 1:13 pm
Ugh Turnbull, he’s in the wrong party.
Obama has done nothing BUT spin and deceive since his first campaign.
MattR
28 Dec 12 at 1:23 pm
M. Turnbull trying to hook onto the Obama thing to get some popularity for his upcoming leadership challenge.
candy
28 Dec 12 at 1:26 pm
Funny that we haven’t heard from the Labor party of those scurrilous rumours that Turnbull wanted to join The Labor party years ago. I guess there’s no point discrediting their preferred Liberal leader when the current guy in charge is the real threat.
The Beer Whisperer
28 Dec 12 at 1:31 pm
I think he picked up Alan Jones as well, on the basis of a single and simple slip of the tongue re a decimal place in a number which Jones corrected when it came to his attention. Compare with the MSM. Sick stuff.
Rafe
28 Dec 12 at 1:37 pm
By the way, Turnbull’s ultimate source for his doctored Newhouse quote appears to be none other than Barack Obama – called out for lying even by the New York Times.
C.L.
28 Dec 12 at 1:37 pm
What is Turnbull’s end game here? Or can’t he help feeding his inner narcissist?
Rousie
28 Dec 12 at 1:46 pm
Speaking of
(from CL’s Hot Air link):
Read more about Turnbull’s dishonesty.
Gab
28 Dec 12 at 1:51 pm
Rousie I believe Candy nailed it at 1.26pm.
Gab
28 Dec 12 at 1:52 pm
Yep.
That says it all about Malcolm’s core constituency.
Ageing “Blowin’ in The Wind” hippies and earth-mother inner city hipsters.
Leigh Lowe
28 Dec 12 at 1:52 pm
What the hell is the Coalition Shadow Minister for Communications doing at the Woodford Folk Festival FFS?
He’s got the easiest portfolio in the shadow ministry and has barely laid a glove on the NBN.
Sack the prick now.
jupes
28 Dec 12 at 1:53 pm
Leadership of what?
Double Bay Rotary?
The Sydney Cruising Yacht Squadron?
What?
Leigh Lowe
28 Dec 12 at 2:00 pm
That Turnbull hasn’t laid a glove on that walking gift Conroy tells all you need to know about Turnbull.
Entropy
28 Dec 12 at 2:07 pm
Yeah can’t see it. Turnbull is essentially Rob Oakshott with a slightly better grasp of the English language
Rousie
28 Dec 12 at 2:45 pm
…and a slightly better chance of being re-elected.
jupes
28 Dec 12 at 2:53 pm
The only thing inferior to his political views is Turnbull’s grasp of the electorate:
He geniunely believes that of the massive Leftie crowd that cheered him, there would be an even remotely significant portion that would actually vote for the conservative side of politics if he became the Liberals’ leader again.
- An obviously very intelligent man with an astonishingly naive grasp of politics.
roger
28 Dec 12 at 3:01 pm
Or to put it another way – an egotistical buffoon.
jupes
28 Dec 12 at 3:15 pm
About time this man just joined the labor shit bags,a horrible pos…piss off ya money grub.
gnasher
28 Dec 12 at 3:24 pm
Turnbull remains the biggest internal threat to the Liberal Party. He has no loyalty to the Party and if he doesn’t get what he wants, he will happily damage the Party to get it.
He is also so politically stupid that his blundering about is likely to damage the Party even if he doesn’t intend to.
Conroy must be thanking his lucky stars to be attacked by this damp lettuce.
johno
28 Dec 12 at 3:50 pm
Far from being any fan of his political intelligence whatsoever, the one thing I am prepared to give Turnbull is that not only is he fully aware of the damage to his party that his public appearances cause, but it is very much deliberate.
roger
28 Dec 12 at 3:55 pm
I’m watching Homeland at the moment (great series BTW). I feel as if we could do a series in which Turnbull was Brody, except I feel that Turnbull had never been “turned” and was a left-liberal all along and the Libs were quiet silly to recruit him.
dover_beach
28 Dec 12 at 3:58 pm
roger
I can’t decide whether Turnbull is stupid or malicious.
johno
28 Dec 12 at 4:13 pm
Refer to jupes’ 3:15 pm comment.
roger
28 Dec 12 at 4:15 pm
Dover beach, while there is no proof that Turnbull is a Labor mole, we can say that he does as much damage to the Liberals as any Labor mole could. He treads a fine line: he does his worst without getting kicked out of the party.
braddles
28 Dec 12 at 4:19 pm
Turnbull isn’t a team player. That’s a dangerous man to have on a team.
Gab
28 Dec 12 at 4:21 pm
By far and away, the best political move Abbott could ever make in his life is to grab Turnbull by his ears and throw him out the door, taking great care that when he slams the door shut behind Turnbull, it doesn’t hurt his huge arse. Abbott’s major political problem, however – and that is why he is unlikely to act anytime soon – is being controlled by fear that he is perceived as too “extremist” by the public. (“What will Tony Jones and Michelle Grattan Say if I sack Turnbull?”)
roger
28 Dec 12 at 4:30 pm
Heh. Turnbull is Abbott’s Rudd.
Gab
28 Dec 12 at 4:32 pm
Sinclair, when precisely did Turnbull say that Obama was “innocent”, “scrupulously honest” or “beloved”?
PSC
28 Dec 12 at 5:44 pm
He didn’t. I did. Did you see any quotation marks?
Turnbull said he got what he deserved.
Nice try at the McTernan Squirrel.
C.L.
28 Dec 12 at 5:50 pm
Clive Palmer congratulating Turnbull on the woodford BS on twitter
Dan
28 Dec 12 at 5:51 pm
My apologies Sinc.
C.L., you say in black and white that Turnbull says that Romney got what he deserved by losing to the innocent, scrupuously honest and beloved Obama.
When did Turnbull say this?
PSC
28 Dec 12 at 5:55 pm
Gab you say
”
Turnbull isn’t a team player. That’s a dangerous man to have on a team.
You know – a team with a team mentatlity is a dangerous thing to have in government.
Alice
28 Dec 12 at 5:58 pm
Turnbull needs to go away already… It really is beyond a joke. The only people that cheer him on and say what a great leader he would be, are those who have no intention of ever voting Liberal – and everyone knows it.
Fleeced
28 Dec 12 at 5:59 pm
Sinc – Im with PSC. Where actually did Turnbull say that? Is there a link?
Alice
28 Dec 12 at 5:59 pm
Catallaxy needs a Tweet button. Would have tweeted this to @TurnbullMalcolm.
Harold
28 Dec 12 at 6:01 pm
He didn’t. I did. Did you see any quotation marks?
Turnbull said he got what he deserved.
Nice try at the McTernan Squirrel.
C.L.
28 Dec 12 at 6:03 pm
It is even worse than described, because the particular ad Turnbull refers to is one where a remark from Obama in 2008 s quoted out of context when he was talking about something the McCain campaign had said, but then he says “When the Romney advisor was asked about this”, meaning the ad he had just referred to, the Romney advisor replied in this way. Problem is the quote from the Romney advisor was in response to a completely different ad, nothing to do with the ad in Turnbull’s lead up remarks. Turnbull must have known that, thus he has just given the perfect example of what was complaining about. Sad man, needs to change Parties.
Greg
28 Dec 12 at 6:04 pm
I’d take a bet that there is a majority of solid liberal voters who think the GOP is a racist infested evil political party supported only by red necks.
There was an australian poll as to which candidate Australians supported and the Kenyan received something like 91% against Romney.
91% support would have been strong support coming from Libs.
Turnbull is only rehashing what most libs think anyway….. you know Americans are stupid, racist and have extreme inequality brought on by extreme capitalism.
It’s so pathetic it’s not really laughable, it’s embarrassing.
JC
28 Dec 12 at 6:06 pm
Turnbull isn’t a team player. That’s a dangerous man to have on a team.
Depends on your objectives. At the right time a devil’s advocate can be your salvation. A non-team player is less likely to fall into a group cognition error, is more likely to provide a counter point to the status quo thereby stimulating input. It is not a co-incidence that creativity and rebellion are related, the work of Frank Sulloway, while going too far, does have something going for it in that regard.
So we want all our pollies like Bill Shorten, who agrees with PM even though he doesn’t know what he is agreeing too?
Dead Soul
28 Dec 12 at 6:07 pm
I’ve reread the article and I think that what C.L. is saying is that at least some parts of this article against glibness, spin and dishonesty he made up out of the whole cloth.
The first reference to Obama: “With Obama as the victim.” is not a fabrication at all, because Turnbull does actually discuss how Obama was apparently misrepresented.
But – correct me if I’m wrong – the second reference, where Turnbull is meant to say something to the effect that Obama is innocent, scrupulously honest, and beloved, is a complete fiction.
PSC
28 Dec 12 at 6:08 pm
Bottom line: Turnbull gave an address on honesty and accuracy in political communication in which he blatantly, deliberately, lied to ingratiate himself with left-wing bobos. Of course, the most infamous, egregious example of dishonesty and spin to come out of the 2012 campaign season – if not, out of world politics in 2012 – was Barack Obama’s lies about the circumstances leading to and surrounding the murder of the US ambassador to Libya, which he blamed on YouTube. But mocking Barack the Magic Negro at a folk festival wouldn;t go over well so he invented something about Mitt Romney instead. For this alone, Turnbull proved himself to be a mendacious clown and a moral coward.
C.L.
28 Dec 12 at 6:10 pm
Turnbull has a good personal story. Its a pity he seems more preoccupied these days with updating the world about his leather effing jacket
Dan
28 Dec 12 at 6:13 pm
A team player can be an effective devil’s advocate – and still be a team player. A team player can be rebellious and nothing wrong about arguments within the team – all still being a team player.
But Turnbull is none of these and he certainly is not a team player. Turnbull looks out for one thing and one thing only: himself. Not the team, not the Party, not the country. Somewhere, someone at sometime has to ask what is Turnbull’s motivation? It’s certainly not being in a team or part of a team. He wants to be apart from the team, as leader. Head honcho, the glory days of 2008.
Gab
28 Dec 12 at 6:14 pm
No, the complete fiction is your claim that I quoted Turnbull to that effect.
We see these McTernan Squirrels all the time from wounded lefties.
C.L.
28 Dec 12 at 6:16 pm
I said team player, not sheep. John.
Gab
28 Dec 12 at 6:16 pm
Well a lot of repblicans in the US think Romney got what he deserved if you read this comment
“Carlos Gutierrez, who advised the Romney campaign on Hispanic issues and voters, says he was “shocked” by Romney’s most recent comments.
“Frankly, I don’t think that’s why Republicans lost the election,” he said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think we lost the election because the far right of this party has taken the party to a place that it doesn’t belong.”
I might agree with that comment. Are the US repblicans working for the majority of people in the US and trying to win their votes honestly or are they working for the likes of the Koch Brothers and other 1% tax evaders?
The conservative parties want to do some navel gazing. Maybe Turnbull is on the vote winning path for conservatives (and I dont mean just Murdoch media spin because people are now starting to grow out of mass media spin and can do their own fact checking) and not on the far right of the party.
Another comment on Romney
“Veteran Republican strategist Ron Kaufman, who advised Romney’s campaign: “The bottom line is we were perceived to be intolerant on some issues. And tone-deaf on others.”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who ran against Romney in the GOP primaries and caucuses: “We were clearly wrong on a whole range of fronts…. There are whole sections of the American public that we didn’t even engage with.”
- and who would have thunk Newt Gingrich an able politician? An able party strategist yes – a competent politician whilst in government? No way. He obstructed so much, thats what he was known for. Incapable of working for the people whilst in government, only capable of working against the opposition and to stymy committees whilst he was in government. The filibuster rates went through the roof thanks to him.
Sore losers – thats what conservatives have become known for. Not that the democrats are much better.
Alice
28 Dec 12 at 6:16 pm
What?
His mother bolted and he struggled through life at Riverview?
C.L.
28 Dec 12 at 6:17 pm
The Sun God is Time Magazine person of the year. I won’t be renewing my subscription.
Biota
28 Dec 12 at 6:22 pm
You actually paid them money?
Dude.
JC
28 Dec 12 at 6:22 pm
Bottom line: you made shit up to make Turnbull look bad, right when you were arguing that people shouldn’t make shit up to make others look bad.
Your defence is … Turnbull does the same thing.
Every word that you use to excoriate Turnbull applies equally to your own post above.
PSC
28 Dec 12 at 6:23 pm
…..father saved to send him to private school, Went to uni, Made a ton of cash, stood up to Packer. It is an interesting story. His own modern day crapulence is a major problem.
Dan
28 Dec 12 at 6:25 pm
Trading on the lefty “a pox on both houses”, this is just another Turnbull “look at me, look at me” PR exercise.
By the way, Turnbull has asked a grand total of three questions without notice in Parliament this year regarding the NBN.
Gab
28 Dec 12 at 6:26 pm
CL
You say
Turnbull proved himself to be a mendacious clown and a moral coward.
Soke might say he proved himself to be an astute politician.
The GOP has been claiming for years its supports “small businesses” ie local stores, barbershops, hardware stores etc with its marketing directed at a nostalgic idea of small community life
Yet how have the republicans acted to protect small businesses in the US/ The answer is they havent and they dont. Have they ever supported changes to the tax regime to help small businesses fight off larger retailers (no). Did they ever oppose trade bills that jeapdarised small and medium manudfacturers? Did they oppose the tax advantages that large companies can accrue through buyouts of competitors?
Where is the damn evidence that republican (or for that matter democrat) policies have done jack shit to protect small to medium businesses
Or for that matter in Australia.
No we are to be turned into $2 wage slaves because of some big fat arse large entity party donators around town (while their CEOs help themselves to a big fat arse salary they dont need at shareholders expense).
Thats the tragically sad reality.
The parties are both (are all the same) – scum! So why whinge about what Turnbull said?
What does it matter? They all lie.
Alice
28 Dec 12 at 6:29 pm
Gab
A pox on both houses and its not lefty – its honest these days.
Alice
28 Dec 12 at 6:31 pm
PSC
I haven’t read the link, however if Turnbull used Romney’s campaign as the bad guys in offering examples to support his arguments against spin and general lying, then CL is correct. Turnbull was acting like a mendacious prick. To anyone aware of the US election you couldn’t go past the Kenyan for lying and general dishonesty.
As for spin and lying here… FFS how can you go past the modern ALP. The level of dishonesty and lying they have introduced in the Australian political scene is unprecedented. Why didn’t Turnbull used the Liars Party as an example?
I know what he was doing. He was attempting to portray himself as Mr Integrity to that fucked up leftwing audience and the only way to do so was to attack Romney and ignore the lies and distortions coming from those lowlife grubs in the ALP.
Why the fuck is he talking to them anyways? They would never vote for him.
JC
28 Dec 12 at 6:33 pm
Yep, in hindsight a waste. Wasn’t too bad a couple of years ago but now I hardly read it.
Biota
28 Dec 12 at 7:07 pm
Here’s the full 58 minute
soap boxsegment.At ~12 minutes he’s on about how wonderful renew balls are and how China will stop building coal-fired power plants in the future.
At ~15 minutes he dives into the diversity and mulitculit schtick and a how it’s good to provide a “generous welfare net”.
At ~16 mins it’s the “creative, innovation, research, education” shpeel.
From 18 mins onwards is the Q&A. First question: “How do you survive your party’s views on climate change?”.
Gab
28 Dec 12 at 7:41 pm
Turnbull was an incompetent and fairly useless Leader of the Opposition. He was unimpressive in Question Time and in doorstop TV interviews. He landed no punches.
He is Labor’s dream candidate for the next election: an ineffective rich pussy cat. Ideal.
Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.
28 Dec 12 at 7:51 pm
It’s one interpretation.
Another interpretation is that, as a debater trying to move the opinions of an audience, he chose an example of Romney telling porkies rather than Obama. Because when anyone uses an example of someone from the other side telling porkies, it has an air of partisan hackery. But when anyone criticises someone from their own side, it’s much more effective.
And perhaps Turnbull holds his own side of politics to a much higher standard than the other side – a sense of fairness and self criticism which leads him to assume the best in his opponents but not to extend the same generosity to himself.
Maybe a similar harsh but precise sense of fairness and generosity drives the right-leaning Catallaxy crowd so hard on Turnbull for what appear to me to be mostly unobjectionable comments.
PSC
28 Dec 12 at 7:54 pm
The best thing about Woodford is that it rains on their parade every year. Just watched a nice storm across the mountains over that way .
Must be hard to stoke a toke when your’e soaked..
Steve of Glasshouse
28 Dec 12 at 7:54 pm
“Maybe a similar harsh but precise sense of fairness and generosity drives the right-leaning Catallaxy crowd so hard on Turnbull”
LOL
Jarrah
28 Dec 12 at 8:06 pm
The fact check that Newhouse was whining about was by the WaPo, which gave Romney four Pinocchios but also gave Obama three Pinocchios for its spin on the same subject. Is the WaPo a front for the Democratic Party, Sinclair?
The rest of the ABC America article on Newhouse after that quote is fascinating in retrospect. So much delusion.
Is that the sort of conclusion to a piece that a front for the Democratic Party would publish, Sinclair?
m0nty
28 Dec 12 at 8:12 pm
Is the pope Catholic, is the lying slapper a lying slapper, are you supersized?
JC
28 Dec 12 at 8:17 pm
Is News Ltd a front for the Republican party, JC?
m0nty
28 Dec 12 at 8:29 pm
No, but as an unthinking leftwing troll, you think it is, Fat boy. You’ve said so many times.
You hypocritical twat.
JC
28 Dec 12 at 8:34 pm
Dead right Gab ,in Any Soshalist Decromatik Pardee ,he would have been Neutered by now. grow some Cojones Abbot !Sort these Leftos Out!
Borisgodunov
28 Dec 12 at 8:36 pm
Piss off Turnbull – you and the other mega-rich bastards just want to control Liberal politics to pump up your personal mega-assets for as long as you can get away with same. For years I’ve thought you would join the Labor party when the time suited your personal agenda and Labor was down the toilet as it is right now. SEE BOB CARR AND HIS PARACHUTE OPENING INSTRUCTIONS FOR ENTERING THE SENATE, MR TURNBULL. The best thing Tony Abbott has going for him is HE AND HIS WIFE ARE COLLECTIVELY WORTH LESS THAN HALF WHAT GILLARD AND THE HAIR PRODUCTS SALESMAN ARE COLLECTIVELY WORTH.
davey street
28 Dec 12 at 8:36 pm
I remind the court that Rupert Murdoch promised he’d “bankroll” General Petraeus to run for the GOP nomination this year, with Roger Ailes quitting Fox News to run the campaign. As reported by the WaPo, albeit underplayed.
m0nty
28 Dec 12 at 8:40 pm
The Liberal Party is a broad church.
sdfc
28 Dec 12 at 8:51 pm
“renew balls” lol!
Let me guess…iPhone spellchecker?
The Beer Whisperer
28 Dec 12 at 8:55 pm
Turnbull doesn’t actually get to decide how many questions he asks though – that would be up to Abbott. Though I do think its a bad situation that MPs as individuals don’t really get much of a chance to ask any question at all without party approval. So much for being representatives of their electorates….
Chris
28 Dec 12 at 9:00 pm
Chris,do you know if Turnbull had more than three questions to ask? Do you know if Abbott prodded him to ask some questions as for most of the year nothing had been asked until October?
Gab
28 Dec 12 at 9:05 pm
As an older female voter with a predilection towards the Libs, Turnbull leaves me COLD – smug, self-serving, fancy-man type, no real life experience in so far as knowing how most people make their living, no guts. Not at all surprised he said the above at Woodford, Abbott should ease him out forthwith. Ideologically, Turnbull is Labor.
Abbott should be DOING SOMETHING soon…..the Libs WILL lose the 2013 election if they remain invisible and negative.
hzhousewife
28 Dec 12 at 9:05 pm
m0nty – address questions to CL its his post not mine.
Sinclair Davidson
28 Dec 12 at 9:12 pm
What really irks me about Turnbull – more than his stupid idea of legislating for mercury-filled light globes – is that he refers to people who don’t agree with climate alarmism as “deniers”.
Gab
28 Dec 12 at 9:20 pm
Apparently not.
sdfc
28 Dec 12 at 9:24 pm
LOL.
Pretty much, yes.
Reposted:
C.L.
28 Dec 12 at 9:35 pm
No no. Lefties always declare a pox on both their houses only and exclusively when their preferred leftist parties and principals so beclown and disgrace themselves that they can no longer be credibly defended.
C.L.
28 Dec 12 at 9:38 pm
“Abbott should be DOING SOMETHING soon…..the Libs WILL lose the 2013 election if they remain invisible and negative.”
hzhousewife, I agree with you on that, but they are more invisible than negative perhaps.
candy
28 Dec 12 at 9:39 pm
No, I didn’t make anything up.
I described Obama as innocent, scrupuously honest and beloved.
Your claim that I quoted Turnbull to this effect is a lie.
Nice try with the McTernan Squirrel, though.
C.L.
28 Dec 12 at 9:40 pm
I was thinking of writing Turnbull enquiring of his assessment of the NBN, Quigley etc and what grand plan would be implemented if he became the responsible Minister given he’s had 3 years to work it out.
Think it better to write him and simply say Fuck Off.
JimD
28 Dec 12 at 9:43 pm
Another hilarious aspect of Turnbull’s folk festival debacle vis-a-vis mendacious political rhetoric was his laboured brown-nosing of Bob Hawke – the man who once promied that no child would be living in poverty by 1990. Also the man who recently declared Tony Abbott “mad as a cut snake.”
C.L.
28 Dec 12 at 9:44 pm
promied = promised
C.L.
28 Dec 12 at 9:44 pm
The first PM in a government that left a far more robust economy than they started with. Don’t know why you would praise him.
sdfc
28 Dec 12 at 9:46 pm
Ahhh, Hawkie. The man whose wife looks like a melted plastic chair
Dan
28 Dec 12 at 9:48 pm
It is very clear after watching the 58 minute version that Turnbull is lusting after the top job in the party. Maybe he’ll launch a challenge in 2013?
Gab
28 Dec 12 at 9:48 pm
hzhousewife, the Libs know there is a large pool of people out there who want to vote Liberal, but are holding back because they appear to be LINOs. If the Lib strategists refuse to address this issue, they will quite possibly lose the next election.
I’ve never done it before, but would be happy enough to spoil my vote, take a photo of it and send it as an attachment to an email to the local member.
I’ve had a gutfull of voting for either one of two Leftist parties.
Winston Smith
28 Dec 12 at 9:49 pm
You mean the man who presided over the worst economic downturn and the highest unemployment since the Great Depression?
C.L.
28 Dec 12 at 9:49 pm
“Maybe he’ll launch a challenge in 2013?”
I hope not, because he’ll only be able to do so if he has good reason, ie if Labor has a steady and substantial poll lead.
Jarrah
28 Dec 12 at 9:51 pm
What drives Malcolm’s new-found penchant for fact-checking?
Could it be his brief encounter with that unhinged froot-loop in Treasury, Godwin?
Leigh Lowe
28 Dec 12 at 9:53 pm
The early 90s recession was a watershed in our eocnomic history. The fall in GDP was less than in 82-83 however the larger decline in RGDI intensified the downturn.
sdfc
28 Dec 12 at 10:05 pm
SDFC
Stop talking tautological shit. Every single recession in the history of the world has been a fall in GDI.
You’re drunk again so not thinking straight, because no one sober would make that comment.
JC
28 Dec 12 at 10:10 pm
The fall in RGDI was much greater in the early 90s obviously. Sorry I was assuming you know what you are talking about.
sdfc
28 Dec 12 at 10:15 pm
…. and this is exactly why Tony Abbott kicked Turnbull’s political arse clear across the continent. Turnbull just couldn’t be honest on Carbon Dioxide legislation and Tony Abbott was very clear… Abbott called it crap actually.
Turnbull should join the Labor Party…. I think he has a higher approval rating with Labor voters than both Gillard and Rudd….. However with Liberal voters, Turnbull’s popularity is in the toilet. Hows that for weird irony or whatever!
J.Hansford
28 Dec 12 at 10:25 pm
“and Tony Abbott was very clear… Abbott called it crap actually.”
Eventually.
Jarrah
28 Dec 12 at 10:30 pm
He nearly did.
This little fact has gone down the memory hole.
twostix
28 Dec 12 at 11:06 pm
Know why they didn’t snap him up?
sdfc
28 Dec 12 at 11:07 pm
That would be quite a list – as the libs have found out.
twostix
28 Dec 12 at 11:17 pm
He didn’t have a union background?
He was/is a filthy capitalist?
Gab
28 Dec 12 at 11:29 pm
Actually, he never called ‘climate change’ crap.
He said claims that the science was settled were crap.
C.L.
28 Dec 12 at 11:36 pm
Actually, the most recent Morgan poll on this issue has Turnbull as leading Abbott overall by 50% to 15%, and with Liberal voters 40% to 28%. Abbott is completely on the nose, even with his own mob.
Amusing that Nationals voters give Abbott a big fat asterisk (i.e. zero) in that survey, with 74% of them wanting Turnbull over Hockey and Bishop with 13% each. Small sample size of less than 50 Nats voters, though.
m0nty
28 Dec 12 at 11:43 pm
Link to that Morgan poll.
m0nty
28 Dec 12 at 11:45 pm
Yeah, that’s why his party is 10 points ahead of the ALP in the polls. A lead gillard would kill for..
Gab
28 Dec 12 at 11:48 pm
Fat boy
What’s the voting make-up for the lying slapper vs Rudd?
You’re such a poisonous creature, aren’t you.
We own you fat boy. We own your mind.
JC
28 Dec 12 at 11:49 pm
Ah yes, but the party room numbers have been tested on that one, and Rudd has been found sorely wanting. I wonder how close Turnbull is to a reheated souffle flip? And how many of Abbott’s supporters will drift away once the poll-of-polls 2PP tightens up even more?
m0nty
28 Dec 12 at 11:56 pm
Fat boy
Your comment referred to voter sentiment not inside the party, you dishonest oaf.
There’s no way Turnbull will ever lead the party again. He’s the libs version of Rudd. In fact less so.
As for the 2PP tightening… talk to us if they do, otherwise fuck off and stop dreaming.
JC
29 Dec 12 at 12:01 am
“Actually” Turnbull had a 14% approval rating when he was leader and was on a hiding to nothing against Kevin “Psychopath” Rudd. Abbott on the other hand won the 2010 election (an historic achievement – rolling a first term government) after forcing Labor to dump the increasingly emotionally unstable little bully Rudd then initiating the ALP “mens” standard retreat tactic: Installing a female leader and hiding behind her skirt.
twostix
29 Dec 12 at 12:04 am
Malcolm, we know your the smartest guy in the room, just get in your Ute and keep driving, Godwin sends his regards.
What ever it takes
29 Dec 12 at 12:25 am
“What really irks me about Turnbull – more than his stupid idea of legislating for mercury-filled light globes – is that he refers to people who don’t agree with climate alarmism as “deniers”.”
It serves you right for getting between Turnbull and carbon trading.
The Beer Whisperer
29 Dec 12 at 12:44 am
LOL
m0nty
29 Dec 12 at 1:58 am
LOL.
Abbott won.
Gillard – never elected prime minister – was appointed by Rob Oakeshott.
C.L.
29 Dec 12 at 2:08 am
Abbott lost the popular vote and lost the Reps vote. Abbott lost.
m0nty
29 Dec 12 at 2:18 am
No Monty, Australia lost.
We have the stupidest, most vapid, incompetent, bungling, government we’ve ever had.
Gillard is not only the worst Prime Minister Australia has ever had, she is likely the worst current head of government of a liberal democracy.
This is one of the most shameful periods in Australia’s history.
Steve at the Pub
29 Dec 12 at 2:43 am
Steve at the Pub – for God’s sake stop vaguing things up and tell us what you really think of the creaturette and the comrades.
HRT
29 Dec 12 at 7:03 am
M0nty
I wouldn’t be in the least surprised that Turnbull would have a higher popularity than Abbott in the Liberal(sic) Party. The interest group he represents is similarly pandered to by the Trade Union Party.
This is the same interest group that wants a cut of the massive Tree Food Tax driven derivatives market and has no qualms about forcing the poor to fund it.
Austrian Economists have warned about them for a long time.
Forester
29 Dec 12 at 8:05 am
Turnbull is a Globalist shill-for-hire. He stands for nothing but delivering Australia into the control of his Masters from the Conservative side. Gillard has already taken care of things on the Left for those same Masters.
You never really leave Goldman do you Malcolm.
paul
29 Dec 12 at 8:51 am
I have found that someone who has been deserted by his/her mother at a young age has self worth issues. Always trying to prove themselves and maybe a few trust issues as well.
min
29 Dec 12 at 9:14 am
Here’s some facts for Turdbull to check.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/alcatel-links-that-secured-labor-power-deserve-scrutiny-20110106-19hi8.html#ixzz2GNiZ2P00
JimD
29 Dec 12 at 9:47 am
It is that – the names discussed here include a dead set evil lying bitch, a narcissistic madman and a fabulously wealthy fool with Mummy issues who is famous for doing something clever as a barrister 30 bloody years ago! He’s got no idea why he’s there as Member for Goldman Sachs.
The only one of the top few who is anything like a stock standard Australian, with the intention of serving the electorate rather than himself, is denied a fair go by the media which has successfully portrayed him as someone dreadful which he clearly is not.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
29 Dec 12 at 9:59 am
Dan says
“Ahhh, Hawkie. The man whose wife looks like a melted plastic chair”
priceless LOL – what a description!
Alice
29 Dec 12 at 10:03 am
CL
says
“No no. Lefties always declare a pox on both their houses only and exclusively when their preferred leftist parties and principals so beclown and disgrace themselves that they can no longer be credibly defended.”
CL I can assure you there is a pox on both houses. They spend more time fighting each other than fighting for what is right for the people, when they are in government. On that Turnbull is right. The debate, the bipartisanship, the willingness to work together, the ability to compromise when needed, the quality of communication with each other
…all sucks, especially in the US but the same modus operandi in the media and in parliament is soooooo obvious here.
Politics is now a two ring circus of mud wrestlers.
Alice
29 Dec 12 at 10:18 am
It has always been this way. This is not unprecedented but the new “civil” left collective have made it their cause du jour.
Gab
29 Dec 12 at 10:26 am
Robb on the equivalency defence:
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/bigideas/browse/video_popup.htm?vidURL=/tv/bigideas/stories/2012/03/12/3449467-mediarss-full.xml&vidTitle=The%20Endless%20Multiplying%20Banality%20of%20Politics&vidLength=Full (watch from 28m 40s)
Ivan Denisovich
29 Dec 12 at 10:36 am
“Politics is now a two ring circus of mud wrestlers.”
It became that way after the shafting of k. Rudd for reasons still unclear to the general public.
candy
29 Dec 12 at 10:36 am
Ivan, Love how Phillip Adams changed the subject at the end of Robb’s argument:
“I still think the create set arguments are within political parties, but let’s move on”
ROTFL
Entropy
29 Dec 12 at 10:45 am
Turnbull considering challenging Abbott? Surely nothing is further from his mind…
Note in the video, around the 49min mark, how Turnbull start saying “I can understand…” and then breaks himself midsentence to restart his sentence to say “You are perfectly entitled to…” [not like Tony Abbott]. Soon after he also says “…you might like my approach over Tony Abbott’s approach…”
roger
29 Dec 12 at 10:59 am
Unclear only to the ruly, ruly stooooopid ones.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
29 Dec 12 at 11:14 am
So, when is the member for Goldman Sachs defecting to the ALP where he belongs in his heart?
Jazza
29 Dec 12 at 11:21 am
Happy Kwanzaa all! Yes, CBS is run adds wishing us all a Happy Kwanzaa.
dover_beach
29 Dec 12 at 11:31 am
Oops, wrong thread.
dover_beach
29 Dec 12 at 11:32 am
Well, yes. He’s shown that:
Lying is easy: Turnbull.
C.L.
29 Dec 12 at 1:17 pm
So how many spin doctors does Turnbull have on staff?
Gab
29 Dec 12 at 2:20 pm
dover beach: wtf is “quansa”? (I presume by the name some sort of muslim thingamabob or shindig?)
Steve at the Pub
29 Dec 12 at 2:28 pm
Turnbull is a warmist and a Labor stooge. That’s all his therapist needs to write down.
John
29 Dec 12 at 6:34 pm
Turnbull keeps the Republican fires burning here with his longing to be Australia’s first President “takes the piss” out of Green Labor’s lost souls and their green gnomes at the bottom of the liberals for trees garden at the Woodford Folk Festival.
Dallas Beaufort
29 Dec 12 at 7:11 pm
SatP
Kwanza is Obamessiah’s “welcome to country” schtik.
kae
30 Dec 12 at 12:10 pm
For an explanation of Kwanzaa, see Ann Coulter’s “Kwanzaa: Holiday brought to you by the FBI”.
Deadman
30 Dec 12 at 12:19 pm
oic, Kwanza (I shoulda known by the ..er… spelling) is some manufactured form of yankee corroboree.
Kwanza’s relevance: Zero.
Steve at the Pub
30 Dec 12 at 12:28 pm
Yep, SatP. That’s it.
He’s been smoking The White House with it for a few years now.
kae
30 Dec 12 at 3:45 pm