political hubris

George Bush's man of steel and closest war ally Australian Prime Minister John Howard was totally annihilated at the 2007 election and, unlike other commentators dwelling on homeland issues to account for Howard's demise, Danella believes that the election-eve announcement of the death of another young Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan had a lot to do with how voters voted. It didn't surprise her that Bush and Blair's Brown were also booted out soon after, for such is political hubris.

"Compared with the horrendous number of young American and British lives totally wasted in Bush's war on terror -- not to mention the thousands of innocent civilians slaughtered -- the number of Australian soldiers who've lost their lives may seem minuscule," says Danella, "but Australia is a very small nation -- it doesn't have an endless supply of gung-ho cannon fodder like the US and the UK appear to have -- and its people don't have the same cavalier attitude towards wasted young lives like the US and the UK appear to have, too."

"The whole nation mourns every young life that comes home in a body bag," says Danella, "and while the politicians and the apologists do their best to justify these senseless deaths with platitudes about fighting terror and bringing democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan, they know that the average Australian six years down the track from 9/11 couldn't give a toss about Iraq and Afghanistan (many of them, indeed, being grateful escapees from that and other lunatic parts of the world)."

"Australians -- most of whom are immigrants -- expect their government to keep them out of wars."

"To his credit, Howard did negotiate a deal with Bush whereby Australian troops would operate in relatively safe war zones," explains Danella, "and he made a point of attending the funeral of every young soldier who came home in a body bag -- I don't think Bush or Blair batted an eyelid over any of the young soldiers they sent to their death -- but the fact remains that by joining the Coalition of the Willing Howard became a warmonger and consequently has blood on his hands."

"Let's face it, Australia's contribution to Bush's war of revenge was a mere token, hardly worth sending, and because it was mere drop in the bucket Howard should have opted out," sighs Danella. "George Bush would hardly have torn up the ANZUS treaty in a fit of pique had Howard opted out, especially if Howard pointed out that with a gazillion Indonesian Muslims as northern neighbors it was not in Australia's interest to antagonize Muslims elsewhere in the world. So, it was to his discredit that he joined the warmongers in the first place and went against the wishes of the Australian people."

"Up until the election, everyone, most especially Mr Howard, seemed to have forgotten that many Australian tourists were killed horrifically in not one but two terrorist bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali indirect retaliation for Australia's participation in Bush's war," says Danella. "The husbands, wives, parents and friends of those who were killed didn't forget, and never will, and the death of a young Australian commando killed in a battle with Taliban forces in Afghanistan on the eve of the election must have acted on some level to remind those who had forgotten what was at stake if Howard was allowed to continue as Prime Minister."

"Nobody came out and said it -- it was a subconscious thing -- and it must have been a deciding factor for thousands of Australian voters who had yet to make up their minds," explains Danella. "Why else would they have voted out such a successful government?"

"Under Howard, Australia had prospered -- unemployment was at a thirty-three year low and the economy was booming -- and to clinch what he believed was his for the taking, he sweetened the deal with further tax cuts and generous handouts."

"A decade ago, when faced with a referendum to stay with the Queen or become a republic, Australians showed their conservatism with the catch cry 'if it ain't broke, why fix it?' and that's exactly the sort of sensible thinking that Howard banked on," explains Danella. "What he didn't bank on was news of another senseless death of a young Australian soldier in Afghanistan on the eve of the election."

"Compared to the alternative prime minister -- an earwax eating inexperienced socialist, a caricature straight from South Park -- Howard's prospects were looking good," says Danella. "So good, in fact,that Howard presented himself for re-election for a fourth time. Imagine that. Four terms in office!"

"Some say that Howard suffered from a bad case of political hubris and should have done a Tony Blair and shoved off before he was booted out," says Danella, "but Howard is no fool. He took a calculated risk that with the economy so good, and the sweeteners so sweet -- and the Kevin Rudd opposition looking so inexperienced and wishy-washy -- that Australians would welcome his continuing steel hand on the economy, even if he was retiring eighteen months down the track."

"The opposition differed from Howard on four major fronts -- youth vs. age; Union negotiation vs. work contracts; Kyoto ratification vs. independent goals; and troop withdrawal vs. all the way with Bush."

"Knowing the demise of the UK under the Blair-Brown PC socialist government, I don't believe that Australians wanted to go down that track -- and if age were an issue then Howard would have been booted out years ago," says Danella. "So, of the four issues, I believe that the opposition's take on troop withdrawal was their only redeeming feature,made all the more relevant by the sad and senseless death of yet another young Australian soldier on the eve of the election."

"Without that death to remind Australians that a war was still going on out there, and people were still getting senselessly killed, I believe the Howard government would have squeaked back in -- and the body bags would have kept on coming."

"Ensconced as the new prime minister, there is every possibility, of course, that Kevin Rudd -- like his fellow-travelers Blair and Brown in the UK -- will be so dazzled by Bush and his gazillionaire warmongering buddies that he will renege on troop withdrawal and join them. Let's face it, if hubris is excessive ambition rather than taking a well-calculated risk, then it is something the new prime minister is likely to have in spades."