The Editor, John Surname, Ant Rogenous, The Happy Revolutionary, Andy Blume and Craig discuss:

* Costello’s cocktease
* Ramos-Horta loves Vanstone for evah
* Come on, Sam Newman
* Myki: fuck you
* Beheading is the new black
* TardWatch (formerly known as Funniest Things On The Intertubes)

** Because Jeremy is desperately downloading this episode from Heathrow Airport Seaport, use only the “Play in popup” link or the “Download” link. **

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If somebody put a gun to my head and forced me to choose one Liberal politician with which to have a boozy session at the pub I would choose Amanda Vanstone.

Let me explain.

Like many Liberal politicians I strongly dislike much of her personal politics and the policies she supports, but there’s something about her personality that I respect.

Let’s look at it this way: even if Philip Ruddock, Kevin Andrews, Tony Abbott, John Howard and Peter Costello had identical political opinions to my own I wouldn’t go out of my way to have a beer with them because I think they’re soulless, slimy bastards. I’ve never fallen asleep in a pub before (well, maybe just once but it was 4.30am — long story) but I reckon John Howard would have me snoring before I finished my first pot of draught.

However, the glimpses of Amanda’s non-political persona over the years have revealed that she’s got a wicked sense of humour, doesn’t mind a good session over a few bottles of wine (eg. one extraordinarily boozy lunch/ dinner with a Bulletin journalist, if memory serves me correctly), and she’s not afraid to speak her mind, often coming out with some absolutely brilliant one-liners. Who can forget the “sandwich and a milkshake” jibe at her own government’s tax cuts, or the “let me put my dancing shoes on” remarks after Christopher Skase’s death.

I get upset at how callous and heartless she is when defending current Australian immigration policy, and think she showed a frightening lack of remorse over cases such as Cornelia Rau, but on the flip side she continues to support an Australian republic and this week has been arguing that Australia should legalise voluntary euthanasia. You gotta respect that.

Which Liberal politician would you have a piss-up with and why?

After being reported missing yesterday Kim Beazley has been sighted on the opinion pages of The Age. Accusing Amanda Vanstone of distracting attention from work visa issues by calling him a racist, Kim does the same, distracting attention from his being called a racist by focusing on work visa issues. Apparently it’s a race to the bottom in the brave new world of WorkChoices — and I can’t much argue with that.

So some ticks for Kim’s efforts to turn the debate around and have it on his terms, but some crosses for his continued oversimplification of the IR debate with lines such as this:

And in the end, this is not about xenophobia or rogue bosses — this is all about the Prime Minister’s wages race to the bottom. Labor will halt the race to the bottom by ripping up the mechanism that allows it — Australian Workplace Agreements.

And Kim even found the space in his article for an opportunistic plug for his pathetic and xenophobic values pledge policy:

But I am strongly of the view that workers who come to Australia should understand the Aussie work ethic, and a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.

It’s one of the reasons I want these workers to sign up to these values when they come to Australia.

But most offensive is Kim’s ongoing pursuit of mediocrity, with his continued pitching of all policy to “middle Australia.” The article was bookended with claims that John Howard and WorkChoices are “delivering a one-two punch to middle Australia.” Can’t really argue with that, but I’d like to think that a Labor government would govern for all Australians, not just the middle, with a vision for greatness, not ordinariness.

Amanda Vanstone called Kim Beazley racist today and after the Bomber’s comments this week I wasn’t falling over myself to disagree with her. However, I do think that both sides of politics are a bit too keen to throw accusations and smears such as racism back and forth at each other. All day today Labor MPs were screeching “pot, kettle, black” at Mandy while John Howard refused to specifically distance himself from her comments, saying only that “this country is not a racist country.” However, the purpose of this post is not to wade into the murky waters of what constitutes racism and who are its practitioners.

My point is where the hell was Kim today? He’d been branded a racist person with racist policies and he couldn’t haul his arse out the front of Parly House for a quick retaliatory doorstop. At least, I don’t think he did. There was no sign of an interview on either SBS or ABC news tonight so I think my assumption is safe. He found the time yesterday to speak out in support of his stupid immigration values test policy but couldn’t be bothered defending his character today.

Kim Beazley’s gotta go.