Elect a date!

The election. It has inundated the media for the past few months and there is still no official date. John Howard mentioned last week that he was confident it would be at the end of this year. Well I hope so. The competition between Howard and Rudd has been obsessive and the election date is long overdue. The IR laws are getting overplayed like a Nickelback song on the radio. I really question the amount of money being spent on the current Workplace advertisements. If the government needs so many advertisements for this new legislation to convince the public that it is a "Fact" not a "Myth" then it is questionable as to how worthwhile it really is. Especially as the Howard Government has spent the most money on advertising more than any other government, think the GST ads!

The high attention given to Kevin Rudd's visit to a strip joint four years ago really grinded my gears. It is suggested that the leak came out of Alexander Downer's office and when the media rang up to investigate if it was true, the office didn't say yes but they didn't say no either. Is this the best they could do? Let's not attack the policies of Labor, let's make it personal. Rudd's calm response to this bully tactic was impressive. Since when is it shocking that men visit strip clubs? They are legal venues and what male hasn't or hasn't wished to do the same? Why do politicians put themselves up on a pedestal to think they are different from the rest of the public? Do they really think we are that naive? Does this mean that the rest of the MPs are innocent and pure? That they have never had one too many red wines? Please! The private life of a public figure should only made public when it has a direct interest to the public. This is not a direct interest and did not affect the public. It is hard to justify when the private life of a public figure is a matter of public interest as the only reasons stated by the MEAA code to do this is when “only substantial advancement of the public interest or risk of substantial harm to people allows any standard to be overridden” (MEAA Code of Ethics n.d.). There is the claim that public figure such as Rudd who lies to their partner will also deceive their country.This notion is quelled as most people can recognise both in moral significance and motivation, between a personal betrayal and public disloyalty. This issue is not in the public interest as it does not directly bear on his performance as a government minister. Glenn Milne the journalist responsible should take note of the Code of Ethics he is supposed to uphold.

Just like the lonely comic guy out of the Simpsons, it's about time this election got a date.