grodscorp@grods.comCompare and contrast
 | Posted by The Editor on Friday 4 April 2008, 7:21 am Categories: Media, Politics Tags: AndrewBolt, KevinRudd, NATO, NicolasSarkozy, SecurityCouncil |
Just like GrodsCorp has been taking the piss out of Brendan Nelson’s Magical Listening Tour, Andrew Bolt has been taking the piss out of Kevin Rudd’s world tour. Bolta’s main argument has been that Rudd is doing nothing more than chasing photo opportunities with world leaders despite the fact that Rudd’s out there doing very diligently what national leaders are supposed to do. The latest target for Bolta’s derision is Rudd’s meeting with French pres Nicolas Sarkozy.
The great autograph hunt continues:
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has held a 15-minute meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the NATO summit in Bucharest.
Hello. Pose for camera. Goodbye.
But here’s a real journalist’s take on the meeting.
FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy has told Prime Minister Kevin Rudd that France will back Australia’s bid to get a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
France’s backing gets Australia’s campaign off to a good start because it is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council.
Mr Rudd, who launched the bid when he met UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the weekend, raised the matter during a 25-minute meeting with Mr Sarkozy before the start of the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania.
“The President indicated France would be happy to support that bid,” a spokesman for Mr Rudd said.
Mr Sarkozy also indicated he may be travelling to the French territories in the Pacific later this year and if possible he would also like to visit Australia.
The two leaders discussed areas such as Afghanistan, climate change, and stronger economic ties between Australia and Europe.
Security council. Afghanistan war. Possible visit by French president to Australia. How utterly trivial!
I actually find it rather disgusting that Andrew Bolt can dismiss the Prime Minister of this country networking with prominent world leaders at a NATO forum as autograph hunting. Can you imagine John Howard receiving the same treatment from Bolta’s poison pen?
GrodsThink Ep.31 (16/9/08)
Friday 4 April 2008, 8:46 am #Damian
I think Bolt’s arse has been pwned. Spot; on, Ed!!!
Bolt does indeed possess a poison pen. He also has a pernicious mind.
Friday 4 April 2008, 8:49 am #Damian
Hah! Just visited Bolt’s comment thread to see the response there. Only had to read the first comment. What’s that interwebs law about someone mentioning the Nazis?
Friday 4 April 2008, 9:18 am #John Surname
Godwin’s. I believe that qualifies.
Friday 4 April 2008, 9:37 am #Terry Wright
The two examples of reporting show the difference between a journalist and a goose.
Andrew Bolt is not a journalist anymore but a tired old blogger resorting to pop politics to attract attention. He wouldn’t have a chance in hell in acquiring a writing position in any other media group except the publishers of Mad Magazine.
Surely he gets this when his two biggest fans are Tim Blair and a unemployed hillbilly from country Queensland.
Friday 4 April 2008, 9:44 am #Chuck A. Spear
Bolt is a text book example of the good man’s law Damian. He is also another condom full of wind.
Friday 4 April 2008, 10:06 am #Ant Rogenous
I don’t remember Bolta criticising John Howard for his lovely harbour cruise with George
MuffBush and Condoleeza Rice during APEC. Yet Rudd’s hectic schedule of meeting relevant world leaders is, in his view, laughable and shameless.Oh, Andy.
Friday 4 April 2008, 10:23 am #THR
Bolt is just correcting the overwhelmingly ‘christian socialist’ political bias of the media, not just here, but around the world. Why, every day, Le Monde and Le Figaro are publishing puff pieces promoting Rudd, and Sarkozy could reasonably have been expected to rely upon these for info, rather than actually meeting our PM. Hell, they could have even used Google translate to send a few emails, rather than waste our tax dollars, the showponies.
He’s a lone voice in the wilderness, our Bolt. Who else would give us right-wing views in the Murdoch press, if not for him?
Friday 4 April 2008, 10:24 am #Wah
Did Bolt mention that the meeting between Rudd and Sarkozy wasn’t actually scheduled.
Considering the history between France and Australia, particularly with nuclear testing, I think France’s decsision to support Australia on the UN Security Council is significant - that said Sarkozy might say that to everyone.
Apart from Japan’s posturing (and the Lib’s decision to risk Australia-Japan relations by making a big thing out of it) Rudd has not put a foot wrong on this trip.
Friday 4 April 2008, 10:35 am #Suburban Marxist
Bolt is surely a lowlife. But what about Rudd, geeing up the imperialists to go in harder and make life even worse for Afghani’s?
Friday 4 April 2008, 10:41 am #THR
But what about Rudd, geeing up the imperialists to go in harder and make life even worse for Afghani’s?
I wonder if he’s just sending a message to the superpowers, namely, that his lapdog credentials are all in order. Despite the mockery from RWDB blogs, the Europeans already have quite a few troops in Afghanistan. Having said that, I think Sarkozy is offering more troops, and cosying up to the British and the US, Rudd-style.
Friday 4 April 2008, 10:50 am #Suburban Marxist
“I wonder if he’s just sending a message to the superpowers, namely, that his lapdog credentials are all in order.”
I’m sure that’s a big part of it, and going in hard in Afghanistan is part of paying the dues in order to maintain Australian imperialism’s US insurance policy. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Rudd actually believes in the War in Terror and wants to ‘win’ the war in Afghanistan.
Friday 4 April 2008, 10:55 am #Suburban Marxist
“Despite the mockery from RWDB blogs, the Europeans already have quite a few troops in Afghanistan.
It never ceases to amaze me how the Right can continue to lampoon the French as ‘cheese-eating surrender monkeys’! The French, aside form conquering most of Europe under Napolean, fought dirty colonial wars in Indo-China and Algeria in the 20th Century, whose Foreign Legion is involved in all sorts of nastiness in Chad and the Ivory Coast, whose anti-terror laws are even more stringent than those of the US or the UK and whose authorities treat their native-born Muslims with the contempt that would spark a major urban uprising if applied to Afro-Americans in the US…
Friday 4 April 2008, 11:19 am #Bron
Just shows how delicate and precious those RWDB’s are, Suburban Marxist.
Friday 4 April 2008, 11:36 am #Suburban Marxist
True dat Bron. I don’t why I am even mystified by it…
:-)
Friday 4 April 2008, 11:41 am #Jeremy
This post at Grods: 14 comments.
This post at BoltWatch: 4 comments.
GrodsCorp: BoltWatchier than BoltWatch.
Friday 4 April 2008, 11:44 am #THR
There are lots of contradictions in the way the RWDBs view the French. For instance, the French are accused of ‘multiculturalism’ (by virtue of a relatively large African population, I presume) when in fact the country has been strictly assimilationist since Napoleonic times. The hijab is banned in schools, for instance.
The French are also accused of having ‘leftist’ governments, when in reality, they haven’t had a lefty in charge since Mitterand, and I understand his talents lay mostly in womanising rather than social justice.
They do eat cheese though.
Friday 4 April 2008, 11:56 am #Suburban Marxist
But no doubt that cheese is produced by strictly Le Pen voting agrarian clerico-fascists…
;-)
Friday 4 April 2008, 1:09 pm #EC
I’m sure many of you have already, but if you haven’t you’ve gotta to read the blurb for Andy’s ‘Still Not Sorry’ -
http://newstext.com.au/AndrewBolt/default.aspx
“..you’ve only heard half the story until you’ve heard the must-know rest from Bolt.”
I wonder if the whole book is made up of 20 word chapters?
Friday 4 April 2008, 1:25 pm #THR
It’s interesting the way Bolt changes his tone quite substantially, depending on the audience. If it’s a private speech, or a bile-filled piece of idiocy on his heavily-moderated blog, he’s quite prepared to make ludicrous statements. I could be wrong here, but I think he’s a lot more moderate on ABC’s Insiders, for the most part.
Friday 4 April 2008, 2:08 pm #Bron
No, I don’t think you’re wrong, THR. I’ve often thought Bolta was more “rational” (and I use that word advisedly) on the TV show than in his rantings on his blog. I guess he feels that since he’s sitting next to real people who oppose his views on Insiders, that he has to shape up a little, whereas on his blog, it’s just free-all, nothing to really restrain him.
Friday 4 April 2008, 2:20 pm #Ant Rogenous
I agree. Bolt shares the Insiders couch with intelligent people who would make a meal of some of his sillier opinions and humiliate him on air if he dared state them. He’s a dickhead, but he’s not that stupid.
Also, he’s unable to censor or delete their comments, or prevent them outright from speaking, as he does on his blog.
Gutless wonder.
Friday 4 April 2008, 3:20 pm #Dam Buster of Preston
Bolt’s blog is heading closer to “Sam’s Mailbag” from the footy show each day without the smut.
He is ever increasing the number of you Tube videos and old pictures. See todays ’story’ about the nail house in China, which was torn down over a year ago.
He has said a couple of shockers on Insiders when I have seen him in the past like commenting on 50 tamil refugee boat people saying we should send them straight home because sri lanka is a nice country and they play cricket. He wasnt held account because it was right at the end of the show.
I can’t wait for him to interview Krystal from Big Brother about her saying no to plastic surgery. Because his blog is going that way.
Friday 4 April 2008, 4:00 pm #broken left leg
And this coming from the guy who flew into Bagdad’s Green zone just long enough to get into some army gear and have his photo taken.
What a shallow shallow man.
Friday 4 April 2008, 4:14 pm #Bron
Stop picking on Bolta, you horrible people! You’ll make Timmeh cry.
Friday 4 April 2008, 4:42 pm #Damian
I agree. Just leave Andy alone!!!1!!!
Friday 4 April 2008, 4:51 pm #Terry Wright
Bolt’s blog is heading closer to “Sam’s Mailbag” from the footy show each day without the smut.
Yes, Dam Buster, exactly.
His forte is pop politics though. Dumb it down, connect it to some racial/Rudd bashing/moral issue and wait for the ACA watchers to appear.
He’s the thinking man’s bogan.
Friday 4 April 2008, 6:15 pm #Bron
Hi Terry, guess what? I eventually got to sleep last night through sheer will power.
Friday 4 April 2008, 6:20 pm #Bron
Er, yeah, my comment above looks odd for the uninformed. All I can say is I read something Terry wrote last night, it was so goddamned funny and when trying to go to sleep, I kept thinking of it and …
Yeah. You had to be there.
Friday 4 April 2008, 6:21 pm #Terry Wright
Sorry Bron.
Maybe it was in bad taste?
Friday 4 April 2008, 6:28 pm #Bron
Well, if I laughed, does that mean I have bad taste?!
Don’t apologise - it was hilarious. I loved it.
Friday 4 April 2008, 6:59 pm #Mikey
Demanding nuts’n'gum be a journalist is futile. He’ll never be one. Why? Because he missed all those objectivity classes at journalism school…
Friday 4 April 2008, 8:03 pm #Terry Wright
Well, if I laughed, does that mean I have bad taste?!
Did you taste it too? Ooooey, isn’t it.
Friday 4 April 2008, 11:12 pm #Damian
“Maybe it was in bad taste?”
Heh. That’s a nice double, Tez. I was still laughing from the first.
You know, had to share the Femfresh goodness with the missus today - “yeah, so, I was reading the Grods again, and this bloke said…” - but I did so while shopping with mum, and a little too loudly.
Still, smiles all round. And in Big W.
Friday 4 April 2008, 11:40 pm #Terry Wright
Thanks Damian.
I’m glad I could share the goodness. I’m trying to catch up with Ant on the one liners.
Score so far.
Terry: 1
Ant: 5337
Friday 4 April 2008, 11:48 pm #Damian
Are you sure that isn’t the Groupthink FC score from last week, Tez?
Saturday 5 April 2008, 11:49 am #John Surname
“Are you sure that isn’t the Groupthink FC score from last week, Tez?”
ZING!
Saturday 5 April 2008, 12:21 pm #Bron
Ohhhh ‘bad taste’! I geddit now! My shame.
Saturday 5 April 2008, 1:26 pm #Terry Wright
Are you sure that isn’t the Groupthink FC score from last week
C’mon guys, you need to practice and win some games. The RWDBs will stop respecting us if you don’t. You are playing for democracy you know.
Saturday 5 April 2008, 6:02 pm #Damian
Anyway, fucken Andy is still on about Rudd and autographs. Is that blog auto-generated? He’s also writing about Traceeee, per Timmeh. It wasn’t funny the first hundred times. Fucking sod.