Mother Jones - Comments for "A Look Back at John Howard"

Wonderful to read this in the wake of Howard's humiliation.

The compliant and cowed mainstream media in Australia allowed Howard to get away with murder.

He was, simply, the worst and most dishonest leader in Australian history, yet he survived eleven years of dishonourable rule.

Howard was a bastard that Australians were happy to have lying for them while Bush was allowed to run unchecked.

Now that Bush is almost finished all the big-talking humanists are surfacing again.

As soon as America jerks the financial chain or starts up another regional conflict in our area, Australia will scurry back to Conservatism.

Yes Howard lied at every turn especially about Iraq but also about Global Warming as Bush has... the ' Tobacco' style campaign of misinformation works on people who are not smart enough or too lazy to read and get the information for themselves (ie 90% of the population). now watch the right wing try and turn him into a statesman,
He was and always will be sleazy in my book

Speaking of shredding machines, apparently they've been at it for weeks. Let's just hope there's enough evidence left on hard drives to get at the corruption. Was there anything Howard didn't lie about, manipulate, evade or spin? Children overboard, SIEV X, the AWB scandal, Iraq, whether the government knew anything about Abu Graib, climate change, it goes on and on... Ex-liberal Guy Pearce (not the actor), Andrew Wilkie, Mike Scrafton and Mike Kelly ought to get OAs for their whistle blowing.

You forgot to mention his big story re the 'people shredding' machines. Boy, that one really convinced us that we should invade Iraq. It is so nice to see the end of the Howard Government. We wake up with lighter hearts now.

Spot on Brett, couldn't agree more. Not only should Howard be charged as a war ciminal, his Foreign Minister Alexander Downer should be charged with treason over his turning a blind eye to the bribes by The Australian Wheat Board to Saddam Hussein's regime.

John Howard has done more to destroy Australia's sense of decency, tolerance and fairness than any other so-called leader before him. After eleven years of this man's lies and manipulation, we were beginning to believe he'd get away with it all. While I still think he (and B1 and B2) should be in The Hague charged with war crimes, I at least have renewed faith in my fellow Australian's ability to smell bullshit a mile away, even if it took 'em long enough.

Howard is a mendacious little fly, who thought he'd made the big time by hitching his wagon to Bush. He'd have a career as a second hand car salesman, but he's too well recognised.

Finall, RF, Jonathan Schwarz is happy to apply the same standard to Clinton. He's done so repeatedly at his own blog (tinyrevolution.com). News flash: not everyone opposing the current regime is a reflexive supporter of every Democratic candidate.

Hey RF -

Nobody's talking about what Clinton thought. This post is about the lies that John Howard told - points that you have apparently chosen not to challenge. Interesting.

Reality Fungus

Bu, bu, CLINTON!

Seriously, can you assholes ever enter any discussion about anything, ever, without trying to make as if Clinton did it too?

New theory: There is not a single conservative on the internet who has developed morally, or intellectually, from being a particularly whiny four year old. Not a single one.

You point out they lied, they come up with the "He did it too" defense - normally without even bothering to check if it is true or not.

They stuff up, they look for someone to blame and try to lay it all on the liberals - even when they have all the power in the world.

Conservatives are immoral, stupid, callous four year olds with about as much common sense as your below average candle seeking moth.

What Clinton did or didn't say is irrelevant to a discussion on John Howard. It is irrelevant to a discussion of GW Bush.

Clinton is his own bloody subject and if it wasn't for whinging, whining conservatives more interested in avoiding their own personal responsibility for the state the world is in today, Clinton would be largely remembered as being an okay-ish former president who presided over easy times which he kept easy.

Instead we have a world media which is trying its damndest to make GW Bush look less like a total moron by finding fault with the previous administration because the whiny whinging head-up-their-asses conservatives (Who loudly condemn political correctness and then shreak like little frigging wussies when they are on the recieving end of some truth) can't handle the facts going against them.

So what about what Clinton did or said? The subject of the discussion is John Howard lying. Clinton (Who history won't exactly remember as a paragon of truth) doing it or not doing too does not impact whether John Howard lied or not. It is irrelevant.

John Howard is one of the most disgusting political figures my country has ever courted, and his mendacity is wide and brazen. Thank god he is gone.

Plame/Matthews...No difference in what happened to them for standing tall.
Both ruined......
Now it's time to see Howard/Bush and all who support them brought to their knees, investigated and punished accordingly.

This is an absurd attempt at a post facto political type lynching.

Does Mr Schwartz really want to open that door? Does he want other political figures of different stripes dissected in the same manner?

As for Mr Schwatz's 'analysis' of the events leading up to the Iraq war and Saddam's WMD program, he would do well to recall President Clinton's speech given to the nation before authorizing the bombing of Iraq.

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/12/16/transcripts/clinton.html

Messrs, Howard, Blair, Bush, et al, were in good company.