Mr. Eddie McGuire, hugely respected President of AFL CLub Collingwood, and a nice bloke, who handled the recent incident which so upset Adam Goodes with dignity and aplomb, over an (inexplicable) national outrage over a (just turned) 13 girl supporter's abuse of that great Swans player - is now to be frogmarched by AFL CEO Andrew Demtriou off the their "re-educational" Gulag! To be lectured and "re-trained" (By whom, one might ask?) on the finer points of what silly Demetriou called "racial" faults they see n Mr. McGuire (think he meant "racist" don't you?)
So here we have, yet once more, an AFL operational sporting only entity, setting themselves up as public arbiters of what we all must think right or wrong (controlling and dictating what that is, according to them!) Yes, Dictating HOW we should think. This, a deomocracy?
Already having Anzac (always same two teams - very undemocratic to the rest) - Indigenous (Dream Time) special weekends matches, (the main one again, always the same two teams) and now they talk of having a special "proGay footballer" weekend round too - intent on telling us all how to live/think!
What the HELL this all has to do with this now rampantly arrogant and self-absorbed AFL CEO and his underlings is anyone's guess. But it;s an ugly trend. The very beginnings of the social engineering George Orwell so warned us about.
Yes, McGuire, very early one morning on his radio show, in the circumstances stupidly mentioned the King Kong musical coming to Melbourne - but hell - this show DOES exist.
This huge national furore over nothing! Much more serious issues for Aussies to get angry about - right under their noses. Such as (as yet, ONLY) allegations currently out there re. a certain top level politician, and their dealings with the AWU when their lawyer). Vic Police Fraud Squad ARE investigating, allegedly, as I write. Yet nothing's ever said?
A politician who, herself, terms all redheads "rangas" - supposedly funny - a term I'd never before heard, let alone used. And what does this mean - that all redheads are therefore classed by hair color as "orangutangs?" (Apes?) Anyone getting steamed up about this??
My Sri Lankan relative by marriage, an Aussie, honey skinned, here since she was a tiny girl, has met up with racism often - sometimes in vilest circumstances, usually in shopping centres, in front of her Aussie white husband, and their kids.
If she took to leaping under her doona each time this had occurred in her lifetime, she'd never get out of bed in the morning.
It was very disappointing then to see Swans Football Club's John Longmire telling us Adam Goodes might not be playing this weekend.
Why on earth NOT?
Time all of us stopped this Aussie trend to navel gaze - looked at our fortunate circumstances compared to many part of the world now descending into savage madness, and got ON with life! Most Aussies are inherently decent. No better, no worse - whatever their heritage or color.
Of course there are the bad apples. Ugly, ignorant, bigots.
But let's all go out and find that sense of humor, again - that knowledge of irony so well known in Aussies - are we now so dour, so sour - we can't have a laugh any more?
African Americans are now right at the top - and why? Because they refused to look backwards (despite their ghastly sufferings under slavery and unbelievably cruel discriminations and segregations). They, with help from others who did give a damn, looked the world in the eye, went out, under great hardships, but looked forward - and got ON with it! and they've has a huge victory of spirit - and the winning of good over evil. But petty minded hatreds will always be bubbling away. No one can eliminate them.
Now an American "Black" President. who cares what skin color there is. As long as he/she does the job! We all bleed red blood.
I for one cannot believe the mental cruelty now being fished out against McGuire by the media and the Swans football club - and this obsession with wanting to "punish" McGuire for an unfortunate slip of the tongue - him just making a fun quip! His wife and kids must be hugely upset, and sadly unecessarily mortified. He does NOT deserve this un-Australian thumping!
Just for the record, I follow Carlton - NOT Collingwood.
This just another case, to me, of not only tall poppy syndrome, but much worse, petty politically correct spite and revenge. I do not agree with McGuire on all things, (especially politics) but in this IO am firmly in support of him.
I abhorr this "Drama Queen" over-reaction by Demetriou and his henchlings! Demetriou now way over the top with his arrogance.
Wake up Australians! There are far more serious matters you minds should be addressing - right under your noses. But the media won't "go there" and inform you. All too petrified.
I hope Goodes plays his usual "slashing" game! Come on Adam - the doona isn't for you, great champion.!
I wish him, and McGuire, and the silly young misguided lass who started this fracas - each of them all the best.
A storm in a teacup. Whilst I have written this, hundreds of innocents have been slaughtered, in Syria, alone. Let alone world-wide.
