Unfortunately the balanced, measured wisdom of your post will fall on deaf ears because you refuse to march to the beat of the HotCopper drum.
Not many people wish to face the ugly truth about their prejudices: they hate Gillard because she is a woman who has had the temerity to be elected Prime Minister. Nothing she does will ever be right for them. If she leads fearlessly (as I feel she has with this flood levy initiative, knowing it would be unpopular in some circles) she is branded "non-consultative" and "wasteful"; if she had not introduced it, she would have been branded "heartless and insensitive to the needs of those who have suffered." To the extreme Right, she will always be wrong.
And shame on Tony Abbott for appealing to the meaner side of his constituency. He learned his lessons well at the feet of his master, Howard, didn't he!
Who honestly cannot afford the minuscule levies imposed?
Whatever has become of the big-hearted Australian image on which we pride ourselves? I am ashamed to hear people whinge about being asked to give what amounts to a pittance.
To see the approval ratings received by some on this forum for what amounts to sexist ranting makes me cringe. I wonder how many out there are prepared to face the ugly, partisan, misogynistic truth about the rationale for their "thumbs-up" responses.
By all means disagree with a government's policy but at least substantiate your views with more than "I hate Labor and Gillard's nasal drawl."
Have a look at yourselves, people! Don't be deceived into thinking a positive HotCopper rating means you've somehow channeled some universal truth. It could just mean you've pandered to the crude instincts of the mob.
And no, I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool-Labor-supporter. I just can't stand the braying of the mob and the back-slapping it seems to generate on this forum.
There may be a chorus of condemnation in response to this post, but if you feel angry, be honest enough to ask yourself whether it's because there's a grain of truth in what I've written.
