Oh, my heart is breaking:
PAUL Keating is so consumed with hatred for John Howard he is working on a way to preserve his legacy by creating a library devoted to his prime ministership.
Or he could try, like, getting over it. I mean, it's been nearly ten years mate.
Time to move on!
It's bad enough that in Year 12 English I had to sit through Mr Tatham and Simon Cowan waxing lyrical on the "great man", but a decade later?
Can't he just bugger off and keep his personal problems to himself?
Git.
Former Keating cabinet members told the magazine that the former prime minister had been ruled by his hatred of Mr Howard and his devastation over the loss of the 1996 election.
"He's become obsessed about John Howard to the exclusion of the rest of his life," one former cabinet colleague said. Another said: "I can't bear the way he still goes on about why he lost the 1996 election."
Reason Number 1 - He was Paul Keating.
Former cabinet colleague John Button told The Bulletin he was horrified by Mr Keating's "recession we had to have" comment.
"(It) confirmed my view that at that time he was totally out of touch and a political f...wit."
Wasn't the fat that he was "totally out of touch and a political fuckwit" common knowledge? Geez. Talk about living in a bubble.
[[Phillip]] Adams said part of Mr Keating's difficulty in accepting the defeat was that he "craves love". "He's not a happy man. I think his condition is a combination of personal disappointment and sadness at what he sees as the ingratitude of the electorate."
Those damn uppity voters. Where's their gratitude? I mean, come on, the BIG PICTURE was damn exciting.
Additionally, Phil's not the guy to talk to if you want to get over an obsessive hatred of Howard.
The article details Mr Keating's use of colourful language towards journalists and, at times, his own cabinet, despite a vow to restore camaraderie.
"He failed to know how to lead cabinet. Everything leaked. Everything," said a colleague.
"Paul's legacy is that he gave us 10 years of John Howard, and counting," said an unnamed colleague. "He cannot get around that."
Take a bow, Placido Domingo.
Posted by Quentin George at August 24, 2005 05:43 PMSounds like the article you're quoting (link?) is pretty much the same as this character assassination in The Bulletin:
http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/bulletin/site/articleIDs/3DC0F6FE2C004EBDCA25706000011445
I liked Crikey's spin on the article:
"Keating kept savaging the Packer family and has subsequently copped his former wife Annita using The Bulletin to launch a bilious attack and now, a year later, The Bulletin has again decided to rake over the coals.
The Bulletin's chief criticism of Keating is that he is bitter, foul-mouthed, bent on revenge and can't stop talking about the past, which is precisely how Kerry Packer comes across given his flagship magazine thinks the antics of a reclusive private citizen 10 years out of office is worthy of a cover and 10 pages inside.
Given the verbal abuse that Keating has dished out over a life-time, we shouldn't feel too sorry for him, but the vicious attack in The Bulletin was a salutary reminder of media power and what can happen if you get on the wrong side of a proprietor."
Posted by: Flashman at August 24, 2005 11:07 PMYeah. I think it's from the Bulletin.
I just wondered....what was the point of it? Does anyone really care about Keating anymore?
Posted by: Aidan at August 24, 2005 11:31 PMYou're probably right though, with the article being score-settling.
Posted by: Aidan at August 24, 2005 11:32 PM