"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." Hanlon's razor.
As we enter year 7 of the biggest fustercluck in our political history the ongoing, mind-numbing incompetence of this "government" may lead some to overlook the malignant mendacity and grift that is archetypical of our Tory kakocracy. Hanlon's razor may be valid in many contexts including the ballot box behaviour of about half of the voting public but it does not apply to the malicious L/NP nightmare itself.
The primary, defining characteristic of a Tory is avarice. Many of them even reimage their deity to accommodate their greed and selfishness. The party once shaped by an old-fashioned protestant work ethic is now captive to hypocritical religious nutters, of creationists and exit-through-the-gift-shop Mammonites.
Hand in glove with their covetous, bespoke piety is their fear and paranoia. Fear of the unknown, fear that science challenges their ooga-booga superstitions and biases, fear that change will threaten the inherent privileges of the status quo, fear that equality jeoparises their rightful place at the top of the pile. Their paranoia is that for them to win others must lose. Where rational people see opportunity in change and equality they see only danger.
They fear anyone with alternative opinions or agendas, they fear those with facts and figures. They fear dissent, they fear Labor, the Greens and greenies, unions, investigative journalism, whistleblowers, GetUp, Extinction Rebellion, knitting nannas, Lock The Gate, school kids, Greta Thunberg, the ABC, the CSIRO, an apolitical public service, the BoM, NASA, social media, moderates, lefties and anyone not like them. They fear you and me.
Their fear manifests itself in their attacks on scrutiny, their autocracy, their bullying, their constant lying and misrepresentations, their abuse of trusted institutions and conventions, and in their protection rackets for their fellow-travelling carpet baggers, corporate grifters and thieves. But above all, what they fear is being found out.
What they want is "quiet Australians" - the uninterested, unquestioning, complacent sheep who'll keep them in power. Unfortunately for them the signs of a ruined environment and its consequences are becoming too obvious for all but the morons to ignore. This is THE issue that will remove these malicious, corrupt cretins from power. Unfortunately for us, until that happens, irrevokable damage will be caused to the planet and to democracy. It's up to the noisy Australians to make sure the Tory's worst fears are realised and that collectively they all shit their pants one last time.
Also published by the Australian Independent Media Network.