aClarkBingle

I’m introducing a new term to the media vocabulary, aclarkbingle story. One that is vapid, vacuous, chauvinistic, voyeuristic, morally questionable, tediously boring, and of no interest to anyone.

I just fail to understand how the people in charge of the media outlets in the country seem to be so immune to any sense of what (or who) people want to see on TV. That or our country is actually populated by morons.

I could not care less about the private life of Lara Bingle, nor do I know anyone who does. Michael Clark seems to be living up to his reputation by flaking out from his job, so no one is really surprised at that.

The whole story just irks me. The media outlets get to take the most two faced stance I’ve ever seen, and when referring to programs such as A Current Affair and Today Tonight (who make a living clucking about how terrible the media is in giving teenage girls problems with body image, and coming right back after the break with informercials about breast implants and diet pills) that is quite something.

Every person in Australia has seen Lara Bingle’s breasts. The Federal Government paid her to jiggle them about in a publicly funded TV ad. The fact that there is assumed to be something noteworthy about a photo of her in the shower has a odour of slut-shaming about it.

The fact she was dating the ape who took the photo calls into question her personal judgement, but that was a fact already in evidence.

The TV execs must just light up with glee at the fact that each time the story is on, the can show footage of this woman in the skimpiest (is that a word?) garments that a PG rating will allow, whilst the presenters make sympathetic noises about how terrible is must be for her to have the shower pictures published.

The photo was quite obviously taken without her consent, and yes that is a legal issue that has been of  some public interest. I’ve not seen any real discussion on that point. Samantha Armytage did make one telling comment in revealing that she wasn’t aware Australian’s don’t have a right to privacy. Seeing as she works on a TV program which makes it’s living invading people’s privacy with the morals of an alleycat, one would have though that to have been evident to anyone working as a “journalist” on TV.

Watching Max Markson spin Bingle’s decision to give an interview to the very magazine who published the photo in the first place was so dizzying it made be nauseous.

To have this be the lead story on major TV stations nightly news for four nights running should be an embarrassment to those organisations, but sadly one knows that it really isn’t.

Self interested Bureaucrats

The current debate about the health system in Australia is marked by a phenomenon that I find peculiar. It appears that the only species of animal whom it is socially acceptable to accuse of self interest are “bureaucrats”. Apparently, nurses, doctors and politicians are motivated on by a deep devotion to the wellbeing of the masses, and don’t give a thought to their own.

And as this post would require such as declaration, I am (as you would guess by the tone I’m taking with you), one of those bureaucrats.

I personally prefer the term public servant.

Having those you are employed to serve assess your role with a does of healthy (and warranted in most cases) skepticism is good.

My main gripe is that the public, as spoon fed to them by a self serving media, apparently exempt a lot of people from this skepticism. The hero worship of emergency services workers and volunteers is an example of this. No one holding any position in our system of Government should be exempt from scrutiny. When the NSW Government tried to extricate the NSW Ambulance service from their role as a rescue agency, the howls of complaint from the Amublance officers could be heard across the city.

To a man (and they are all male), they cried that they were truly horrified that the Government would put people’s lives in danger.  I know a lot of emergency service personnel, and know that they do have a deep dedication to their jobs, and a genuine concern for people. But when the Government wanted to transfer the role from one agency to another (having the NSW Fire Brigades take over from them), their concerns were for their jobs, not the public, as would be the case with anyone.

My point isn’t that they aren’t entitled to try this on. If it works for them, great. But it shouldn’t.

The same goes for teachers, nurses, doctors, police, ambulance officer, firefights, surf lifesavers et al.

The only thing that sets doctors apart in some respect, is that they are virtually guaranteed of a huge paycheck under whatever system the Government puts in place that in some respects that does make their opinion independent, but for a completely different reason this is also part of the problem….

The Constitution, and why it’s important

The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act is possibly the most important document written in Australia’s history. Australians are, however, generally ignorant of both the content and concepts contained in the document, and why the affect our day to day lives.

The general lack of true responsibility shown by our politicians is simply a reflection of this situation.

Even in debates about creating an Australian Republic, politicians have put every effort into obscuring the concept that they should be accountable to anyone. One of the most moments in Australia’s political history (the dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975) was referred to as a “Constitutional Crisis”, where in reality the Governor General of the day simply exercised a power specifically granted to him in the Constitution.

I frequently question people as to their understanding of what would happen should the Governor General decide to appoint a member of the opposition to the office of Prime Minister.

Think about it, the result would be entertaining, if nothing else. And don’t argue that it is impossible, unless you think that a person has some genetic inability to act against the advice they are given.

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