Mr Bolt time and again acts as an apologist for Rudd. Bolt does not always agree with Rudd, but he excuses Rudd's mistakes by suggesting the Conservatives are insincere, or suggesting Rudd is lying to be clever.
Maybe it is time for Bolt to admit he was wrong to endorse Rudd. Rudd is not, as Bolt claims, an economic conservative. Rudd is demonstrably populist, and beholden to Chinese government bureaucratic technique. Rudd will not make hard decisions, but he will make decisions seem hard.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
In Rudd's Defence
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In Rudd’s defence
Andrew Bolt
It’s time to say something in defence of Kevin Rudd. I’ll let Janet Albrechtsen say it for me:
IT happened sooner than expected. The so-called progressive Left has given Prime Minister Kevin Rudd his riding instructions. Conveniently gathered in a single book entitled Dear Mr Rudd, Australia’s leading left-wing voices offer a blueprint of what they expect from the Rudd Government. On climate change, the economy, human rights, the republic, water and so much more, each letter to Rudd is, according to the blurb, “passionate and imaginative”. No doubt true.
One hates to be the bearer of bad news, but the left-wing letter writers are destined for disappointment. So disappointed that in three years they will be joining forces for a new book called Not Happy, Kev. All the signs suggest that Rudd is more interested in what Joe Public thinks than the pleadings, no matter how passionate, of the Left…
The Left became understandably delirious when he signed Kyoto and apologised to indigenous people. But if they imagine that these actions herald the return of symbolism over pragmatism, their hopes will be dashed. Rudd did not become Mr Me-Too during last year’s election because he revered Howard. He appropriated conservative policies because, being the ultimate pragmatist, he recognised that the centre of Australian politics is, and will remain, profoundly conservative.
I suspect Albrechtsen is right, although Rudd’s “sorry” was a betrayal of his conservative instincts.
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