The Political Landscape

I have watched with great interest events within the Australian Labor Party from afar. The demise of Mark Latham although not unexpected has been quite entertaining, or so I have thought. Of course I have been relegated to following events via the Internet and the occasional clip that I have watched on broadband. The one thing that has struck me is how civil the Australian press is in comparison to the US. The Liberal versus Labor story is relatively staid although I was interested to note the emergence of commentary like Margo Kingston's during the last election.

It was awesome to sit on the sidelines here in the US during a presidential election year. The Conservatives versus the Liberals is in comparison a more thoroughly entertaining show. I may be strange but there is a lot of entertainment value listening to some of the Conservative commentators on the radio. They make Australian commentators such as Stan Zemanek, Ron Casey or Derryn Hinch appear like choir boys. No subject is taboo and as long as it involves bashing the Democrats then it is open season. All of society's ills, world disasters and the moral unraveling of society can be sheeted home to John Kerry (and now that he has lost the election Senator Kennedy has resumed his position as the Conservative's favourite whipping post). I haven't found any Liberal commentators that are as cutting or as entertaining, but then again my car radio only receives a single radio station.

I hope my view of American politics hasn't been coloured by my choice of car!