Well, it’s been a while; almost a month actually, and not a single post. Rest assured though, this President is alive and well – bracing himself for the flurry that the election season will no doubt bring. A big contributor to my leave of absence was the failure of my (until now) trusty Acer laptop. From its keys, this very Administration sprung to life – only to wither and die just when I needed it the most. In retribution I’m vowing never again to buy an Acer product, employ officials on my staff who use them, or to stop if I see an Acer employee crossing the road. The wheel of justice has turned.
Still, if I’m going to be honest, my new $1500 paperweight wasn’t the only reason for my time off. The same old news cycles had begun to wear me down: Bush is dumb and getting dumber (“the childrens do learn”); the UN bumble on, powerless to solve small problems, let alone global warming and Darfur – and here at home the Liberal election machine was firing up to dupe us again. It was this last point in particular, that weighed down on me. While many are saying that Kevin 07 is inevitable, I have the cold, horrible feeling the Howard may have one more in him.
At this time in the last election cycle the Labor faithful had cause for optimism. Mark Latham, the young firebrand was at the helm, promising fresh ideas and enthusiasm (not to mention a new take on using the term asshole in press conferences). Howard lagged in the polls and the ‘time for a change’ line was getting trotted out country wide. The leaders debated on channel 9 and as the ‘worm’ turned in Latham’s favour, even the doubters dared to hope that Howard’s time was up. History reflects though that the opinion polls weren’t worth the $13/hour call centre employees that had gathered them. The Libs refocused the campaign on the War on Terror and Interest Rates (they threw in a tax cut) and sprinkled in a bevy of spending promises for health and education. Levering off our fears and pandering to our hopes – Howard’s Libs were clear winners.
Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Put like that, its no wonder I’ve got déjà vu. Howards trails in all the opinions polls. We’ve already been promised our $20 a week tax cut, some action on Aboriginal reconciliation (finally) and the same increased health spending we were promised last time. Interest rates (which are out of the governments control of course) and economic management are again key issues. The occasional Terror Alert adds icing to what is starting to look like a (familiar) but edible cake. I guess I'd be laughing too.
Naively though, I’m back in the Oval Study, daring to hope that this time it’s different. Kevin Rudd is no Mark Latham and Peter Costello is no John Howard. Another term has passed and we’re all just a little bit sicker of the getting screwed over by ‘the man’. The next few weeks promise to be full of dirty, personal politics – but your President has returned, and we’ll get through it together.
Well, it’s been a while; almost a month actually, and not a single post. Rest assured though, this President is alive and well – bracing himself for the flurry that the election season will no doubt bring. A big contributor to my leave of absence was the failure of my (until now) trusty Acer laptop. From its keys, this very Administration sprung to life – only to wither and die just when I needed it the most. In retribution I’m vowing never again to buy an Acer product, employ officials on my staff who use them, or to stop if I see an Acer employee crossing the road. The wheel of justice has turned. 
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