Comrades,
Jeepers. The Miracle of Democracy is getting out-of-control world wide at the minute. After more than two years, the rest of the planet has finally given up taking any interest in what is happening in the US of A, because only God knows what is going down in D.C. The Trumpotus, after being let off by Bobby Three Sticks, with in his own tautological words "complete and total exoneration" [he might as well have put "utter" in there for emphasis], the steam has gone right out of it as The Donald continues to slide effortlessly into international irrelevance as he disappears up his own not inconsiderable arsehole. Over recent months, the New York Times has quietly stopped reporting DJ Trump!'s "Twitter storms", simply on the grounds that they are no longer news. The US has forfeited it's hard won status as the leader of the Free World, and no one cares, least of all the Chinese.
A television comedian with no political experience best known for his role as The President in a slapstick soapie is elected as the real President of the Ukraine, on an anti-corruption platform. Go figure. Let's see how he takes on Vlad the Impaler of the Kremlin, who had no trouble blatantly thieving all 27,000 sq km of the Crimea off them in a "don't argue" five years ago. Good luck with that.
There are two rival Presidents of blighted Venezuela, after blatantly rigged elections, but that's now turned into a classic Mexican Standoff, as the people who used to live in poverty after the Glory Days of the Hugo Chavez-era ended, now eke out an existence in total misery. The poor, poor bastards. Little wonder they are fleeing the country en-masse.
That hard-bastard strong-man who's running Turkey after surviving a coup d'état in 2016, Recep Erdoğan, got a very good whack from voters in municipal elections in Ankara and Istanbul, appearing to accept defeat one day, then contesting the results on another. But, he'll still run the joint as an autocrat, and that will be a very small thorn in his side.
The largest and most fractured democracy in the world, India, is set to go to the polls next week as that Hindu fundamentalist nationalist Narendra Modi seeks another 5 years in power from the 879 million voters on the books, who are being bombarded on Facebook in an astonishing fake news deluge produced by the Govt. - "the likes of which has never been seen before, world-wide". One of the many things the Indians do have down pat is the twisted manipulation of yr "Social Meejah". Just the voting in the Indian election will take five weeks, given the mind-boggling logistics involved. So the scope for electoral fraud is enormous, not that Modi will particarly need it.
In a fortnight, our nearest neighbour Indonesia is also set to easily re-elect President Joko Widodo, who's known nation wide simply by the contraction of his name, Jokowi. After four years in the job, he's got approval ratings in the 70% range due largely to his impressive spending on creative world-class infrastructure, and will win in a casual canter. Also, to his credit, Jokowi, at age 57, like many Indonesians, is a huge heavy metal fan, and the sounds of Metallica, Led Zeppelin, and Napalm Death can be heard emanating from his office at the threshold of pain, when officials start jibbering on at him about shit he don't want to hear.
In Thailand, the Miracle of Demorcay is all but dead after the latest election, which is entirely objectionable to say the very least. The Govt. refused to release the results at first blush, as they feared they might lose to the Red Shirts, which they did - technically. But it doesn't matter, the pro-Army party - who's sole platform is to maintain the current status quo of the military running the shop - will get the nod, as the Army appoints the majority of the members in the Senate, anyway. I did note that former PM Thaksin Shinawatra wrote a furious letter to the New York Times from his current hideout in Hong Kong, which the NYT editor saw fit to publish, decrying the fact that the vast population in Isan - the area in the north and north east of Thailand and home to the 'Red Shirts' - would easily win every fair election hands down through sheer weight of numbers and because they turn out to vote. To counter this, there were reports of widespread ballot stuffing in Bangkok, with some electorates reporting a turn-out of 200%. But, as Thaksin well knows much to his chagrin, there is no beating the Thai Army or the Bangkok Elite, and if you run foul of the Royal Family, then you are toast, plain and simple. So, in the Military Kingdom of Siam, it's same, same, only not very different. Isan will continue to be fucked-over for their support of the wildly popular Thaksin, who is still a hero in those parts, despite being hounded into exile in 2006 over his unfortunate habit of accepting bribes that should have gone to the State's coffers. But that's small beer, when Thaksin gave them free primary school education and a fair, regulated price for their rice.
And if all that wasn't enough, then there's elections tomorrow in the Solomon Islands, where a slew of Independents will win most of the 50 seats in the Parliament, and then it's a matter of furious horse trading as to who will become Prime Minister. After Chinatown in Honiara was trashed during riots after the 2006 elections, a total liquor ban has been imposed 2-6 April; public drinking is banned, all bars are closed, and there's no take aways, so the local wino's will be beside themselves. I encountered a weekend booze ban in Bangkok some years ago during a half-Senate election, but Mekong Whisky was being served in tea cups, and the few bars who had "arrangements:" with the cops were charging three to four times the RRP for beer. I asked a shopkeeper why he wasn't allowed to peddle the drink, and he simply replied "alcohol and guns don't mix". Fair comment.
In the light of all of the above, the New South Wales State Election pales into insignificance in comparison, especially as the good burghers of NSW voted for the status quo. Nothing happened, nothing changed. Never mind the poor campaign run by Labor, and Uncle Mike forgetting his numbers in the final Leaders Debate, and being caught out by the Govt's Dirt Unit the week previous. The Tories ended up losing six seats, but still hung onto power, with only two of them going to the Pinko's, the rest to right wing extremists. The commentariat has been saying that voters west of the Divide were waiting with baseball bats at the ballot box for the National Party. It was more than that. Much more.They were waiting with fully-loaded double-barrel pump-action shot guns, with a fairly firm uniform swing of 20% against the Country Party, with all those voters switching allegiances directly to the Shooters Farmers and Fishers Party, who picked up three lower house seats in various Hicksvilles. [I have often wondered if they had a schism with the folks who hunt with dogs? The Pig Stickers Party would no doubt be very popular in certain parts rural] The message for the Pinko's is simple enough - they have to be very very careful in maintaining their heartland in the vastness of Sydney's West - that's where the numbers are, and if they want to win Federally, then that has to be locked up and nailed down flat. No leaking of votes to the Populists and Fascists. Solidarity in the nation-wide poll in six weeks time is more important than ever for the workers. Of minor concern is the election of the extremely strange former Pinko Mark Latham - a rat in the ranks if ever there was one - on the One Nation ticket to the NSW upper house. Here's hoping that sometime in the not too distant future, the fat weirdo will be struck down with another bout of pancreatitis, and bow out disgracefully once again; his nose is looking a bright shade of vivid red and the conker is more bulbous than ever; so there's no doubt he doesn't mind a drink in a crisis. The only saving grace is that no one ever pays any attention whatsoever to anything anyone ever says in the NSW Legislative Council. The bad news is the electors didn't have a chance to toss out that freak The Rev. Fred "God Hates Fags" Nile, who's still got another four years to run on his term, by which time he'll be 88. A prime candidate to die in office, with any luck.
And then there's nothing like an Election Budget, due to be handed down tonight. The Tories will have a massive campiagn war chest at their disposal, and if the series of well orchestrated leaks from the budget papers are anything to go by, then the Pork Barrel will be the biggest, fattest and greasiest in living memory. Free money for everyone! Happy days! But not even that will be enough to save ScoMo, who by all reports has been the subject of scurrilous viral fake news on the "Meejah" this week along the lines that he "shat himself, violently" in the Engadine McDonald's after the Cronulla Sharks lost the 1997 Super League Grand Final to Brisbane.
I want to believe.
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