Confected Outrage

Israel luvvie, Sunday Telegraph columnist and national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, Paul Howes, is in high dudgeon:

"The Melbourne Age carried a front-page story last week about the employment status of the Prime Minister's partner, Tim Mathieson. He works as a salesman for a Melbourne property company, chaired by Albert Dadon, prominent in the local Jewish community. The article implied that, somehow, because Mr Mathieson works for a company associated with a Jewish community member, this would somehow impact on the PM's stance on foreign policy, particularly in relation to her views on Israel.... Ludicrous, isn't it?" (An age-old bias rears its ugly head, The Sunday Telegraph, 4/7/10)

No, not really. Not if you'd bothered to mention that Dadon is a leading Israel lobbyist with a history of sponsoring our politicians, including La Guillotine herself, to Israel for brain transplants. Or to let on that Mathieson was certainly not employed for his expertise in real estate. Or to tell your readers that you were part of the push which ousted Rudd and installed La Guillotine as his replacement. Or to let those not yet in the know that you yourself simply can't do enough for Israel.

Predictably, Howes reckons La Guillotine's "the best person for the job." Her latest deeply thought out foreign policy utterance will probably tell you why: "The Prime Minister said she had no plans for big changes in foreign affairs. 'Sitting here now it's not my intention to change any of the fundamentals of our foreign policy', she said. 'So, obviously, support the American alliance; support the continued deployment in Afghanistan - I had a comprehensive briefing about that; our support for Israel; focus on our region. I've had the opportunity to speak to a number of people around the world in the sense of congratulation phone calls and other things so I don't have any short-term or any dramatic policy changes in mind'." (Gillard rejects Rudd's Asia vision, Peter Hartcher, Sydney Morning Herald, 5/7/10)