Blaming Abbott for Jones

Cartoon: By Pickering  

Many of the news commentary people on TV and radio have little to recommend them, like Labor shill Kerry O’Brien, Media Watch’s supercilious, sanctimonious snark, Jonathon Holmes, and the foul mouthed and intemperate Kyle Sandilands.  The skin crawlingly odious Allan Jones though, takes the cake with his comment that the recently deceased father of Julia Gillard died of shame, to think he had a daughter who told lies.

Few would disagree that Gillard lies as natural as a cowhide rug on sedatives, especially since her ‘no carbon tax’ statement but her parents always indicated that they were proud of her.  To use his death as a pretext for an attack is wrong, insensitive, and disgraceful, especially given that the man has only been buried a couple of days ago.

What is also disgraceful is the way Foreign Minister Bob Carr has attempted to blame Opposition leader Tony Abbott for it: 

… "I've heard some indecent things in politics but never something as thoroughly indecent as this," Senator Carr told Network Ten's Meet The Press program. 

"Tony Abbott ought to do the decent thing and say today loud and clear that he apologises to Julia Gillard for unacceptable remarks, made at a Liberal party gathering attended by frontbench liberals. 

"Tony Abbott ought to send a message that the extremists at that gathering who cheered and applauded and laughed at that appalling utterance, Tony Abbott ought to make it clear that those people are denounced by him as well." …

Carr is drawing rather a long bow in referring to the Young Liberals as a Liberal Party organisation; it is more of an affiliated youth group, mainly joined for the better class of parties, pissups, and hot chicks there.  They are represented within the party but mainly as a nursery. 

In any case, Abbott had nothing to do with it and Carr’s insinuation smacks of desperation to lay the blame somewhere that suits him better.  Abbott has condemned the comment but has no need or reason to appologise.

The greatest irony to this story is that Mark Latham regards the Jones comment as coming from a ‘culture of hate.’  Is Mark accusing someone else of being intemperate?

Update: (H/t Andrew Bolt) Carr has just found out why the expression, “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” exists.  His longstanding speechwriter and courtier of controversy, Bob Ellis wrote a scathing post on Gillard leaving the APEC conference owing the death of her father.  If Abbott should apologise over Jones’s remark, perhaps Carr should do the same over Ellis’s. 

In reality; neither owes anyone an apology.