Former US president Gerald " Jerry" Ford's lack of nous was attributed to the fact that he had played gridiron without a helmet, see below. President Lyndon Baines Johnson , LBJ , who said Bloodhound dogs love being swung about by their ears, derided Ford by saying he could not fart and chew gum at the same time . Gridiron has not yet been blamed for the disastrous presidency of George Dubya Bush.
It is , however , no laughing matter. President Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger gave the Indonesians the green light to invade East Timor before they tip-toed out of Jakarta and the tiny nation on Australia's doorstep endured nearly a quarter century of brutality.
On reading the superb Niki Savva book , The Road to Ruin How Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin Destroyed Their Own Government , published by Scribe, one wonders how Abbott , a Rhodes Scholar no less , became a ferocious head kicker in opposition and in government ran a toxic, dysfunctional regime, unable to see the bus coming and could not put together a winning Budget .
Psychoanalysts, political scientists and the chorus of right wing commentariat, miffed little Vegemites , could advance why this was so. In the interests of healthy, balanced debate , herein is a brilliant possible explanation:
During his Sydney University rugger bugger days Abbott was reportedly violently beaten at a university conference ; he openly admitted punching his uni cobber Joe Hockey , later the Treasurer and now our gilded ambassador in America , telling him to get in there and mix it with the players. At Oxford , Abbott received two Blues for boxing . Therefore , both obviously may have suffered accumulated trauma from all this good clean boyo biffing.
Wielding the pen with surgical precision, Savva has indeed produced an instant classic , so described by veteran political reporter , Laurie Oakes. The highly detailed book , the best forensic work about Australian politics this reviewer has read in many a day , presents overwhelming evidence of the bone headed , incompetent reign of Abbott , the turmoil and despair within the ranks , the incredible influence of Peta Credlin .
After reading Savva's description of the bizarre happenings inside Abbott's office after he was voted out , it is absolutely astounding that no photos, videos have yet surfaced of the event. This was a momentous episode in the political history of Australia and it seems implausible that nobody in the room took stills or filmed the astonishing hijinks, akin to a Hollywood wrestling tag team match and a drunken footy club party .
Savva quoted an unnamed person who was there as saying the scene resembled a " debauch" . Phew ; thank God there is no nuclear attack button in the PM's den or else our Kiwi cobbers could have been accidentally reduced to rubble . Hockey danced on the famous marble topped table and it broke ; male MPs tore off their shirts ; Abbott himself stripped off his shirt and singlet and revealed his hairy chest and jellyfish bite scars ; oaths , not related to swearing allegiance to the Queen and her knighted consort, rent the air ; Credlin delivered a bitter speech ; Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was referred to as Lady Macbeth ( Shakespeare would have been impressed ) ; Jamie Briggs injured his knee when he tried to crash tackle Abbott and ended up in a wheelchair ; the boozing went on until dawn .
All this and much more...and nobody captured any of it on their smart phone ? It defies belief . Channel 9 would have been better off offering a wad of cash to those there for exclusive fractured flickers instead of engaging in the crazy Lebanon stunt .
NEXT : Savva's next book and other fascinating aspects and overlooked follow up angles from The Road To Ruin .
**** Umpteen Koala Bear stamps for Niki despite drowning Prime Minister Harold Holt two years early (P80), the correct date,December 17, 1967 , at the time a mysterious Chinese submarine was reportedly seen dredging sand in the area , later run in the text .
NEXT : Savva's next book and other fascinating aspects and overlooked follow up angles from The Road To Ruin .
**** Umpteen Koala Bear stamps for Niki despite drowning Prime Minister Harold Holt two years early (P80), the correct date,December 17, 1967 , at the time a mysterious Chinese submarine was reportedly seen dredging sand in the area , later run in the text .
