Gillard’s “badass” speech falls flat

Cartoon: Paul Zanetti 

After Tuesday’s ‘smack down’ of Tony Abbott and ‘spirited defense of disgraced Speaker, Peter Slipper by Julia Gillard (as described by the Canberra Press Gallery) the video clip of the incident went what the Canberra Press Gallery described as “viral.”  The next day her staff and the Canberra Press Gallery were waving information sheets around like confetti informing us of the ‘favorable’ response it had received overseas.

The personal favorite of all of them, was from ‘Jezebel’ which said “Australia's prime minister Julia Gillard is one badass motherf**ker,” calling it “The best thing you’ll see all day.”

In the cold light of day and with a bit of objectivity breaking through the murk, it is now being seen as what it was; another episode of gender based histrionics in the continuing effort by a failing and unpopular government to paint the Opposition Leader as a woman hater. 

The ‘war on women’ meme was imported from Britain with her spin-doctor, John McTernan and echoed in the US by the Democrats, who have the added advantage of using the term ‘racist’ to attempt to blunt any criticism. Unfortunately for Gillard, it’s a sales pitch for a product that nobody is buying.

Gillard is not being criticized as a woman and knows it.  She is copping it for being a poor leader of a dysfunctional and venomous government propped up by whacko independents, Luddite Greens, and disgraced MPs who have been ousted or forced to resign from their parties.

In Australia, the speech, or at least diatribe of abuse has been seen as either intemperate or whiney.  The PM on her ascension to the role, along with the Canberra Press Gallery alluded to her being the Australian Margaret Thatcher albeit a rather Bolshie version.  It is difficult to equate in any way the strength of Thatcher to this self-pitying, navel gazing, whinging sook, seeking to make excuses for her own failures.   Thatcher didn’t ever blame reverses on the odd occasions that they occurred on ‘sexism’ or ‘misogyny’; she got on with the job.