Has there ever been an Australian PM with a filthier mouth than TONY TURNBULL

Hello RandomUniverse. I can see why it is such a limited time offer. Your Trump seems so disrespectful and reckless it looks like an act but I am afraid that it's really not an act. Our Mongrel Turnbull has an smug, ugly, mean, cynical, vicious mouth who uses his time in Parliament to ridicule and lampoon serious opposition to his policies. It does not even look like a bad act. As far as I can see they're both on a fairly limited timeline. Trump may possibly bring down the whole post WWII western alliance which concerns me as much as you. The Turnbull/Abbott political association in Australia can not do as much damage to the rest of the world simply because they do not have as much power. Nonetheless it bothers us a bit down under even though they are small fish on a world scale. Australia is a relatively small pond with roughly half the population of California. Prime Minister Tony Abbott once promised to "shirtfront" Vladimir Putin (whatever shirtfront means). If the big bad Vlad ever found out about the threat he is probably still laughing. You could solve your problems with Trump if you could persuade your disaffected, disengaged eligible citizens that it is worthwhile to cast a ballot. Nearly all eligible Australians vote although I am not sure what the turnout would be if the election were to be held on the same day as an AFL Grand Final (Aussie rules football). An infamous and legendary Australian bushranger and outlaw is reported to have said "such is life" as he was being led to the gallows. When Trump first announced that he was running for president, Obama said "[b]don't boo, vote[/b]". A reminder that in a democracy governed by the rule of law there is always a mechanism for peaceful change. Really we need a new style of leadership (IMHO). Leadership that understands the problems and can explain the risks and opportunities to ordinary people in everyday language.

Hi Will,

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. I don't know why Aus has such a high voter turnout, and the US has a relatively light turnout. The fact remains that almost half who did turn out voted for Trump. That is scary.

The other problem is that Hillary probably was not the best choice as a candidate. She came with a lot of baggage, and shot herself in the foot a few times.

Trump's guerilla tactics caught the ossified Democratic and Republican parties by surprise. We're due for a viable third party candidate to reverse the divide and conquer strategy that Dems and Reps rely upon.

@will999: You must have a short memory remember Paul Keating attacking anyone he could

@nedkelly: Hello. Actually I do remember former PM Paul Keating's tirades of abuse in the House of Representatives. They did not go down very well with the voters did they? Mongrel Turnbull and the back benchers who laugh on cue at the his spite and bile are all complaining today (Thursday) about the hypocrisy of the opposition, not them of course, oh no, never them only those on the other side of the House who oppose their policies. We are Australians and we can do better than this. Our nation began as a penal colony, populated by the British Empire's rejects and outcasts, some of whom were deported for the term of their natural life for stealing a loaf of bread to feed to a starving family 240 or so years ago. That is not exactly a perfect pedigree but it did contribute to the development of a laconic code of informal mateship that Australians are famous for. We're no angels and I know it. Most of us thru our historic family connections and a free state primary education are familiar with the bitter taste of class privilege and discrimination. Mongrel Turnbull insults all of us when he lampoons his Parliamentary opponents calling them parasites. The political class are entertained by it seeing the brawl as sport, but the overwhelming majority of the voters hate it. Politicians are paid to clarify economic problems and other risks and opportunities that we face as a nation. The voters want to see them propose or recommend various solutions, not engaging in personal insult and attacks like a bunch of misbehaving school boys. Mongrel Turnbull is not the first PM to lose touch with the mindset of ordinary Australians. I have seen it happen to other Australian politicians of real talent who lost touch with the ordinary bloke and woman in the street. I have heard enough humbug about the hypocrisy and lack of character of the opposition. Mongrel Turnbull's days are numbered unless he changes his leadership style and there is no present indication that he is prepared to do that.

@will999: Paul Keating was fun to watch


[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3Lu6FCVkNs&list=PLn2RjxYNpcazm_8_ZSGH9u_ADXjRKA9Qf]

@RandomUniverse: Hello there. I lean toward companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft when they made a strong public statement recently that Trump is bad for business. It is not just the political guerrilla tactics is it? Trump is a wealthy man in his own right with a worldwide spread of business interests of his own. Who can really know what motivates his unpredictable and extreme decisions in office? As you have already mentioned his political popularity is worrying as there is little effective political opposition. If I were comfortably insulated from the consequences of his extreme decisions I would sit back and laugh at the gorilla dancing. The political antics in my country (Australia) are just as disappointing. Australian Prime Minister Mongrel Turnbull has revealed a troubling propensity for malicious personal attack on his rivals in the House Of Representatives. We don't pay them to behave like miscreant schoolboys. Fortunately we still have a constitutional separation of powers which divides the institutions of government into three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. Trump's legal battles may not be won as easily as his political battles were.

Greetings,

My name is Mark. Can I move to your country? Please. Or would New Zealand take me?

Trump is out of his league. I predict he will self-destruct, and either resign or be impeached. I suspect that all but the most rabid of his supporters will see that he is truly unsuited for the position he was elected to.

He has some serious behavioral and psychological defects. I believe he is truly delusional. He lives in an alternate reality and feeds on 'alternate facts'. I read the news with wonder and amazement. His missteps are breathtaking.

To compound things, he doesn't realize the complexity and interconnectedness of the issues he has to deal with. He shoots from the hip, and doesn't acknowledge the consequences of what he has done.

I apologize to the entire world (except North Korea) for what this egomaniacal buffoon is doing. I know it has big ripples around the world. And tsunamis in some parts of the globe.

Mark

@RandomUniverse: Hello again. Mark is okay with me if you prefer to use that name. Australia and New Zealand are separate countries with close ties based on locality, history, trade, tradition and genuine mateship, something like the relationship that exists between the USA and Canada. The locals see the differences but everyone else sees the similarities. I meet a few Americans down under but not as many as one might think. My honest opinion is that very few Americans ever really want to leave the "Home Of The Brave". In fact I am sure there are more Australians who want to live in the US. I am not ready to give up yet on America just because it has appointed a silly leader. The American constitution contains checks and balances such as the Emoluments clause to affirm that no American president can serve two masters. If you choose to live below the equator remember that about 90% of the Australian mainland is permanently uninhabitable. Just this last week Australia experienced a heat wave with temperatures rising above all previous records and with catastrophic fire hazard indexes [i]that were off scale[/i]. At the same time, during this last week volunteers tried to rescue hundreds of pilot whales that beached themselves in New Zealand with questionable benefit to the surviving whales. Nobody seems to know for sure why whales do this. As far as I can see Americans who decide to live down under adapt better than the whales to our way and have no particular trouble finding and keeping work and friends once they adjust to driving on the left hand side of the road and using metric units of weights and measurement.
Australia has a large land area with a relatively small population. It is something like the total land area of the USA occupied by about half the population of California with about 80% of people living near the eastern seaboard where residential housing prices are second only to New York. If you live near one of Australia's big cities Google, Apple, Microsoft, phone- out pizza franchisers and Japanese cars are ubiquitous. The further you live from one of the big cities the lower the price of residential housing, but it takes a special type of character to endure the isolation of life in a remote area with few of the benefits of civilization. As you may have already guessed I like my internet and pizza. I agree Trump lacks political experience and diplomacy and I think he faces a serious risk of being impeached for conflict of interest between his personal business and the affairs of state. His handling of foreign affairs with Russia does not fill anyone with confidence either.
I may always call Australia home but it is not perfect. We have our problems too.