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Politicians no longer enjoy the low bar of Trump

Politicians no longer enjoy the low bar of Trump

Politicians no longer enjoy the low bar of Trump
Jan 22, 2021 2 mins, 2 secs

It was true again this week with the inauguration of President Joe Biden, with the sense of renewal and a new beginning only starker when you considered the drama that had taken place at the very spot where Biden took the oath of office: the storming of the Capitol on January 6; a historic second impeachment of a president a week later; and, finally, a national sigh of relief that four years of presidential mayhem was appropriately ending with a show of bad grace by Donald Trump.

In Australia, the federal government, for the first time in decades, is forced to share the day-to-day management of issues, and politics, with the states, rather than simply having a government-versus-opposition fist fight with federal Labor.

The outgoing president removed all vestiges of shame from political spin.

Equally important to ponder, though, is whether what has happened to US politics, and particularly to the Republican Party, has given our own political leaders pause to consider the long-term ramifications of particular political strategies, and what holding positions of leadership can involve.

In Australia, our leaders give implicit permission for wacky conspiracy theories and misinformation about the coronavirus and vaccines to be spread by party backbenchers – who take their strategies straight from the Trump playbook – while those same leaders spend their time and taxpayers’ money on trying to show that public confidence in vaccines is crucial.

In his inauguration speech this week, Joe Biden said: “We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal.

Which raises the question of how often does our Prime Minister, or the man who filled in for him over the holidays, Michael McCormack, ask themselves what it might feel like to stand in the shoes of any particular group in the community before they open their mouths.

In Queensland this week, Scott Morrison was putting himself in the shoes of locals in Gladstone, who apparently aren’t happy with the Queensland government’s idea of quarantining returned Australians in mining camps in the area.

But he seemed to have a bit more trouble putting himself in the shoes of Indigenous people who have a problem with Australia Day.

“You know, on Australia Day, it’s all about acknowledging how far we’ve come,” he responded.

“I think one of the great things about Australia – and I think we’re respected for this – is we’re pretty upfront and honest about our past.

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