You know, I came back to my computer today after a week off - a blissful week of doing manual labour, not even watching (much) the evening news on TV - and I thought to myself, "Who needs it? I am sick of this crap. It's time to turn a new page and do something different. Maybe I should quit the blog...?".
Then I read David Sirota's article saying that every peace activist should have a picture of an Iraqi child on their desk. That made me think. And now I read that PM John Howard welcomes the idea of US bases in Australia. For fuck's sake...
Just look at the language employed here:
"We made an announcement some time ago ... to the effect that we were going to expand the capacity for training and operations exercises ... in northern Australia for Americans..."You see, this is old news that was announced "some time ago". And it's clearly nothing new, just an "expansion" of existing "capacities".
"Whether you describe that as bases or not, I don't know."It's up to YOU to be a responsible journalist, got that son?!?
"As far as I'm concerned, ...Hey, I'm just the PM, you know? Just an ordinary bloke. It's not like I decide everything...
... subject always to the proper arrangements to fully respect and maintain and continue to observe Australian sovereignty...Hey, who really CARES what goes on at Pine Gap?
...the notion of bases or operational facilities or training facilities by Americans is something I would warmly welcome."Why don't we call them Day Care Centres? Or Interrogation Rooms? Get the PR Dept onto it, would you?
"My understanding is that all the Americans want at the present time is to have a capacity to train. I don't have any difficulty with that and I imagine it would be quite warmly supported by the Australian public."Like I said, I am just an ordinary bloke so "my understanding" could be wrong (nobody ever tells me anything important, as you know). But come on! It's just training, OK? Anyone who opposes that is bloody un-Australian, in my book.
BASTARD.
