Immigration minister Scott Morrison has angrily slammed allegations by Labor Senator Sue Lines that the federal government was using the “war on terror” to distract voters from its cruel and deeply unpopular budget.
And fair enough, it was a ridiculous comment when you consider the huge number of terrorist attacks Australia has been subjected to in recent times.
I mean all of that death and destruction this nation has suffered at the hands of all those evil jihadis in the past few weeks alone really does put into context the Tony Abbott government's planned destruction of universal health care, demolition of the social safety net and the opening up of our natural wonders — from old growth forests to the Great Barrier Reef — to be plundered for the Coalition government's corporate mates.
And Morrison sure put Senator Lines in her place, responding to her accusation in an August 28 ABC interview by calling her a “muppet” who should leave the debate over national security to “the adults”.
Because if there is one thing that really marks out the “adult” way to conduct a debate, it is calling someone who disagrees with you a “muppet”.
It is no coincidence that the greatest speeches in history are famous for their use of the term. Perhaps there is no better case than Nelson Mandela's history-making statement to the apartheid court trying him for treason in his 1964 trial, in which, facing a potential death sentence, the great democrat and revolutionary stood with simple dignity and declared: “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities, you stupid fucking muppets!”
Surely even the harshest critic of the Abbott government's “war on terror” rhetoric and planned new “anti-terror” laws must agree that it has at least sought to make its case in a truly adult fashion. I mean, just listen to what our prime minister said after speaking to representatives of the Muslim community on August 21.
Abbott told the media after meeting with representatives of the community most targeted by the new laws — who have therefore been the most outspoken against them — that “even if not everyone agreed with everything I said”, they all agreed they were “part of Team Australia” and that Abbott “was the captain”.
Well there you go. They agreed Abbott was the “captain” of their “team”. I mean, they probably had to because Abbott looked like he was about to burst into tears and storm out unless they did, but still. They said he’s their captain so obviously it is fine to ratchet up the harassment and persecution of members of their community.
Case closed, senator, you muppet! You're off the team!
Anyway, it is not like the government and its slavish supporters in the Murdoch media simply resort to demonising Muslims to divert attention away from their policies hurting the vast majority of us. They frequently resort to demonising welfare recipients too.
In fact, to save time, they can even resort to demonising both at the same time, like when the Herald Sun ran a front cover on August 14 with just two words that screamed: “JIHAD BLUDGERS!”
This story, about how there are some alleged Islamic fundamentalists who receive some form of benefits, must have seemed like the ultimate gift from God to a Murdoch media headline writer.
But I gotta admit, I kinda liked it too, because it implies that the Murdoch press would actually take a much more favourable view towards Islamic terrorists if only they got off their arses and got a job. Because, sure, they might be plotting to kill all infidels and impose Sharia law, but at least they'd be paying taxes.
Meanwhile, more NSW Liberal MPs are exposed for taking bribes from developers, Abbott gets caught arranging a brief visit to a cancer clinic to justify taxpayer-funded travel to a private function and the latest figures show we now have the second-highest unemployment rate in the English-speaking world.
But don't let any of that bother you. The real threat to our wellbeing is clearly a Muslim on the disability pension.
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