The reports in the news sites say that Australia really swung behind getting a meaningful resolution out of the UN, in the aftermath of the MH17 event. The SMH is really giving our diplomats a pat on the back - seems to me they're just finally earning their keep after years of cushy livin' in New York on the public purse! Besides, suddenly beset with Julie Bishop's death stare, how could the unsuspecting people of the world say no?
Of course jokes about Julie Bishop's death stare aside, the dynamic diplomatic deal-making does stand in stark contrast to the way this government minces words and tries to parse interpretations that do not exist (let alone be supported) from our commitment to the UN Charter on Human Rights and how we treat refugees. On that score, we're one of the worst violators but we keep on coming up with legal fictions as to why it's okay to run concentration camps on Manus Island and Nauru. Millions have been displaced by civil wars in places like Syria, and our government is buys telling them they can't come. 37 Australians die in a plane hit by a Russian missile an we're all over it at the UN. No mater how you look at it, it's a kind of double standard.
In the mean time, PUP senator Jacqui Lambie has made international press on the back of an interview where she claimed her ideal man would be rich and well hung.
Later, when a prospective suitor called up the show, Lambie enquired (sic) if 22 year-old Jamie was "well-hung".
This induced great mirth from Kim and Dave (ratings gold!), but just imagine if a male politician had offered a similar opinion, about say, a woman needing to be "really rich and have massive boobs".
It would be a career-ending, resigning offence. Facebook groups would spring up in protest. People would make t-shirts and take to the streets in outrage.
In recent months, Tony Abbott has weathered howling storms for suggesting a Liberal candidate had sex appeal. And for winking when a talk back caller revealed she worked on a sex line.
Clive Palmer has also raised the eyebrow of disapproval for calling female journalists "madam" and "my dear".
And yet, Lambie is sure to stroll away from her Heart appearance and into her next set of public comments with nary a scratch.
Yes, they are lighting up the internet - but only for their "omigawd" value. Not because they might be construed as demeaning and well, sexist.
The thing is, it probably is some kind of double standard that lets Lambie off the hook when if she were a member of another party and a male, she might not have gotten off so lightly. I'm not saying she should be condemned or that this bit of double standard is particularly noteworthy - merely that double standards seems to be the notion of the day.
Obviously there's a fine line between the double standard thing and the deliberate hypocrisy inherent in the double think we are asked to endure with all its cognitive dissonance, but this is a country made up of inherently contradictory ideals. It stands to reason that there's a different rule or standard applied to everything, based on the values of nothing-in-particular.
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