A few day ago i did my block against the Conservative Weasel and mentioned in passing, Australia's own left wing wiener, Bob Ellis; in stark contrast to the right wing nut-job, Piers Ackerman. Since then a reader has pointed out one of Mr. Ellis' little rants at his book launch. The bit that really amused the reader was this little piece of hyperbole:
If that isn't playing to the gallery, I don't know what is.Bob Ellis hasn't been sleeping well lately.
For this he blames the state of the world, and more pointedly, a "pack of greedy Texas Christo-fascists" led by US President George Bush, media magnate Rupert Murdoch - owner of "the multi-national police state that is News Limited" - and John Howard, whose prime ministership has been "a long, long tale of lies upon lies upon lies"."I am thinking of offering a $400 prize to anybody who can supply me (with) one
statement of John Howard's that over time proved wholly true," Ellis said yesterday in Parliament House.
What the hell is a Christo-Fascist? I've heard of crypto-fascists, but Christo-fascists? As in the Count of Montecristo-Fascistos? Multi-National Police State? Come on, Bob, get a grip! But I guess he wants to have a shot at being Australia's Michael Moore.*Ugh*.
What exactly is Mr Ellis' claim to being Australia's-commentator-of-the-Left? Why does he get a lousy page in every issue of Encore magazine? Why do they keep letting him write that stuff? Who made him the spokesman of the Film Industry, and don't they think he actually hurts the cause? These things, we will never know or understand. Groan, groan, groan.
- Art Neuro
4 comments:
Bob Ellis gets spokesperson status for being a communist in his university days. A joke of his, as broadcast on tv at the time (1974, Norman Gunston) 'Why did the chicken cross the road? For its own fowl purpose."
Nowadays, Ellis speaks to ALP leaders .. and they believe that he has his finger on the pulse of Australia's anti conservatives.
The left, traditionaly is not noted for its logical thinkers/ fetishists. Tradition places it in the working class. Hence university students hoping to ape a cause they are divorced from have it as an option. This is where Mr Ellis comes in.
I have met and worked with a foster sister of Mr Ellis. She is a decent caring human being. She has no time for his airs. Her story is one of hardship. I understand that Mr Ellis has a similar one. The Left don't need intelligence to oppose Bush or Howard, they appeal to shared (or aped) misery. Logic is not the hook. The hook is cameraderie. Obscene and stupid jokes are de rigeur.
Any ways, Christo fascists is a reference to Christian fundamentalists like Mary Whitehouse or Fred Nile. No longer part of the political scene, they can still motivate those that oppose religion. Fear is a key to understanding the left. Fear and the cameraderie of those who will never get a fair shake of the tail because they aren't very bright.
Darwin was noted for his non sequential, vis evolutionary, thinking style.
Marx and Engel were outsiders in their own lifetime.
Einstein's best work was done with his wife and challenged the establishment.
All of them outsiders who challenged the establishment. I think there is plenty of room to argue that they were not logical thinkers. However, they were clear thinkers. They used the signs and markers that others viewed as solid and reshaped them into a better image. I wouldn't place Ellis in the same category as any of them, as his work seems to involve confusion and promotion of antagonism, as opposed to clear thinking.
Whatever grounds that says Darwin, Marx, Engels, Einstein and Freud were not logical thinkers is pretty strange by normative standards of 'logic'..
Please Explain.
Well put Chris. I think it's like that Johnson anecdote about a rock that is kicked by someone seeking to prove the reality of reality.
Logical thinking is not the issue .. it is only my shorthand description for a member of a school of thought that isn't mine.
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