I ADMIT to being a little shocked and disappointed by the vitriol being meted out by some on the progressive side of politics towards a recently deceased Margaret Thatcher, both on the streets of the UK and online.

I am no fan of her actions in government. Far from it.

She was a force to be reckoned with, especially when it came to unions and the idea of the collective. Her actions, to many, meant unemployment and a loss of quality of life.

Entire areas, most specifically areas such as Brixton, which were very much working class communities were smashed to pieces by her unyielding approach. However, it is unpleasant to see people celebrate the death of anyone.

This isn’t how progressives should behave. Our values lead us to be better than that. Better people than that.

I’m not saying we should mourn or fawn over her in death.

We should however have respect for her place in history and her will to achieve her vision at all costs.

That’s politics. One side wins and they set about implementing their agenda. The opportunity to have a say about that agenda is given to electors every election where they pass judgment on where the country is heading.

Civility needs to remain part of politics no matter how one feels personally about the program being implemented by leaders or proposed to be implemented.

Tony Abbott is a perfect example of not remaining civil in politics and that is why many truly despise his approach.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/margaret-thatcher-divisive-in-death-attacks-and-celebrations-unsavoury/

-----------------------------------

I must say, I'm not a pollie but I have some unsavoury things to say about Abbott that are true, unlike what he says about Gillard which is false.... 

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has laid out her vision for a "new level of partnership" between Australia and China, locking in a major new agreement that will see annual leadership talks.

Ms Gillard and new Chinese premier Li Keqiang formally agreed to the partnership at a meeting in Beijing this evening.

The annual talks will feature the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Foreign Minister in face-to-face gatherings with their Chinese counterparts.

Ms Gillard said the new partnership was "a big step forward" and would build on the existing level of cooperation.

"It's a step forward for us as a nation. It's important to peace, stability, the ability to talk about those things, the ability to talk about our economic relationship in a structured dialogue every year," Ms Gillard said.

Some see the agreement as potentially the greatest single leap in relations for the two countries since diplomatic recognition back in 1972.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-09/australia-locks-in-annual-leadership-talks-with-china/4619230

As Julia Gillard seals off this historic deal with China, the ugly nasty merde-och press has this in a low priority as it is more interested in a crappy doll for dogs:

A DOG toy called "Droolia Julia" with red hair and oversized breasts being sold in Adelaide shows we still can't deal with female leaders, feminist and author Leslie Cannold says.

The toy, a caricature of Prime Minister Julia Gillard, is being sold by Stepney store P & K Pets as a "momento" (sic) of Australia's first female PM.

Dr Cannold said the world struggled with female leaders who were "trailblazers  ... suffering on our behalf" and that male leaders were not subjected to the same "vicious ridicule" over their appearance.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national-news/pets-doll-droolia-julia-being-sold-in-adelaide/story-fncynjr2-1226616272712#ixzz2PyHSxPz1

Should Tony Abbott become PM, it would be likely that he would fuck up the agreement, by being well, Tony Abbott — the idiotic wrecking ball...

Here we studiously study the Archibald Prize in Gus' studio (an old computer with a palette) which encourages finger painting and turp sniffing...

For those who don't know, the Archibald prize is awarded for the best portraiture of the year in Australia.

In 2016 Gus felt the Archibald selection started to look like the Bald Archie on a bad acid trip... The Bald Archie is a parallel universe of bad paintings by bad painters and drunk cartoonists. And by bad painters I mean skilled painters armed with real BAD-will against their loony subject.

This year, one could be at a loss to see how the Archibald packer's prize of a masterchef painted by a nearsighted half-gifted amateur just out of third year college got the laddle. Possibly it was the best out of a bad lot and the only one that looked nearly like someone. Sure the brushstroke is competent but the overcooked face looks only vaguely like the subject. The left eye (seen on the right of the painting) is all wrong... It looks like a Gus cartoon of Tony Blair...

But enough bitching by Gus-the-Lesser. The computer made me do it.

And the winner, of course, was the portrait of Barry Humphries which made him look slightly like Humphrey bear, minus the hat, but still with the scarf. I say of course because the portrait is that of someone who, since he was not Humprey Bear in the 1960s, has thrown out more gladiolas to the guillotine of ridicule than can be counted. As well Barry is a right-wing satirist if one can call a right wing person a satirist. Say, he is a right-wing humorist who takes the easy piss out of ordinary people even if they are ambassadors of farts and boils, like Sir Les Patterson. But Barry can hit the porcelain at full strength and make a great speech to the right-wing sponsorship of the Art peanut gallery. Katching. I saw this one coming.

For my money, the portrait of the Aussie Bleeder, Norman Guston, was the best. As a winner, it would have been too depressing though, since it was about depression. The speech by Gary McDonald would have been like a lifeline phone-call and a katching negative.

Humphries character of Sandy Stone is more sympatico to death and loneliness, but I find it tediously predictable.

But enough of this sad parallel universe. According to the Betoota Advocate, the real winner in the real Archibald prize on this real earth was Andrew Bolt:

Victorian political commentator and author, Andrew Bolt has taken out this year’s award with a stunning portrait of the recently-elected Australian Senator, Pauline Hanson.

Titled ‘Her Time Has Come’ – the portrait was completed with oil-based paints on a 120 x 80cm linen canvas and depicts Ms Hanson nude with nothing but an Australian flag draped around her.

“This is Pauline, stripped down,” Andrew Bolt told 2GB listeners last night when appearing on the Steve Price show.

“All she has is her pride in Australia, her flaming red hair and her pink-white skin. This is her at her purest – this is her entire political ideology, in portrait,”

In it’s 95th [?] year, the Archibald Prize is touted as one of the most prestigious art prizes in the country – with approximately 800 entrants each year submitting portraits-of-photographs of B-list Australian actors, other artists, and moderately well-known politicians. 

Since learning that his portrait had won the prize, Andrew Bolt says that while he was thrilled, he had initially written off his chances – as he was sure that the likelihood of winning would be restricted because of the subject.

“People berate Pauline, but her time has come – and I feel honoured that she has given me the opportunity to paint her,”

“It took four hours in the chill of an early Ipswich winter. But we were both determined to get it done. We got where we needed to get. We came together – and this is our prize,”

“I am just glad the trustees of this prize were able to see the beauty that I see in her,”

“Often when I move in these circles, my political views are ridiculed. I only sold 805 copies of my last book because the sellers were hiding it – I was certain the art world would have done the same,”

The managing director of the Art Gallery of NSW, Michael Brand says he thinks the inclusion of both Bolt and Hanson was a good thing for the prize this year.

“It is an honest representation of where we are at as a country. If the portrait of Ms Hanson wasn’t included in this prize it could be viewed as revisionist,”

“5% of our nation voted this women into power – she is far more relevant to our country than whichever cast member of House Husbands ending up taking out the packing room prize,”

“I think this is a brilliant example of contemporary Australia in both politics and culture – when an untrained artist can take out the most prestigious art prize with a portrait of an untrained politician who just got voted into the senate,”

Andrew Bolt, who claims to have been completely self-trained, says he is a perfect example of how Australian can still maintain a stable of artist alongside our Government’s current cuts to the arts.

“The idea that cuts to our spoilt dinosaur of a national arts program could result in a cultural cringe is just hysterical left wing nonsense.”

“I am self-taught. I won the prize without a pointless four year degree and a Newtown sharehouse,”

“The age of entitlement is over,”