Paul Sheenhan and Peter Garrett

This isn't much of a diary entry. Just a place to jot some reactions.

Paul Sheehan makes a go at explaining why Peter Garrett joined the ALP rather than the Greens in New-found Greens trot to an old beat .

I'm actually not overly familar with Paul Sheehan; I seem to be remembering him as similar to Piers Ackerman. Certainly the linked op-ed suggests that he is another Ackerman.

The environment is merely a flag of convenience for a large faction of the party, a mother-earth issue onto which they have parasited their real agenda.

I imagine that if the Greens were a one-note party, he'd be bucketing them for having nothing other than enviromentalism to offer. Instead he criticises them for being a mouthpiece for 7.19% of Australian voters, the third largest share of the vote ( AEC ). If you don't like what the Greens stand for then argue the merits; don't bag them for representing a chuck on Australia that is largely ignored by the main parties.

I can do without all the Communist party bashing as well. Haven't we moved on from the fifties yet? Guilt by association is ugly.

Lastly, I think Occam's Razor may be applied to his entire line of reasoning about why Garrett joined the Labor party rather than the Greens. Labor has a louder voice, and he got a commitment out of them. Mind you, Sheenhan says he knows Garrett personally, maybe this is all coming from Garrett anyway. Garrett is sending a message to the Greens, and he couldn't quite bring himself to put a chainsawed tree in Bob Brown's bed. Whoops, I think I need that razor again.
Permalink, Paul Sheenhan and Peter Garrett, Dec 2004, avocadia
siento: Relevance and power: The other reason for joining the ALP is that the Greens have little, if any power. If there had been an ALP government then they would have had more sway, but basically they are a party of people pushing things into public light but not to be expected to put things into legislation.

Garrett presumably wants to actually try and do something about the environment. Which actually poses an interesting question of whether if you were a left leaning green trying to get into the liberal party, as they are in power and likely to be for some time, would be worth lessening the effect of some values while trying to get more environmental legislation in.

Communist Party bashing still has some validity. Failed economies and murderous totalitarian states are not something to be proud of.
avocadia: Two points of clarification:

When I said "loud voice" I meant more power, but I think I see that the two are probably different. One Nation had a loud voice, or at least was given one, but they had no real power.

What I object to is the scarlet lettering of anyone associated with a Communist/Leninist/Marxist/Trotskyist/Maoist/(did I forget anyone)-ist organisation as irredeemably Evil and Wrong. David Horowitz was once involved with some very very Leftist organisations and nobody suggests that he is...well, okay, bad example. Consider the Manning Clark kerfuffle a few years ago.
siento: Yep: Power and noise, related, but not the same. Like power and money.

It is relevant to point out that someone was a member of an extremist or totalitarian party. If someone was a member of Australians Against Further Immigration or the Australian Nazi Party it is important to know, likewise with membership of an extreme Left organisation. Neither means that a person is not to be read or thought about, but it is important.
avocadia: I find that...:

...when I get annoyed by references to prior memberships in an extreme Left/Right organisation, it is because I feel the author\'s intent was for it to be entirely prejudicial. The surest sign of this is when the author tells me about a prior membership and that\'s all they say. Not that the person did this and they did that; just that they were a member.

It is a fine line that I walk. Sheehan didn\'t tell us that these ex-members of various communist parties actively campaigned for the violent overthrow of the middle-class; he didn\'t tell us they marched the streets advocating putting the intellectuals into the fields to work. He told us nothing but that they were members of a political party.

So yes, it shouldn\'t mean that these people should be shunned. However, Sheehan veered within spitting distance of McCarthyism.
cam: If Sheehan commented on teh intarweb: ... rather than the SMH, he would be considered a troll, and a poor one at that. Cant say I find much value in his words.

One thing that has arisen in the last five years is the statist commentator, who parrot government talking points and spin. Rather than the minister doing is themselves they now coordinate with lackey op-ed writers who act as an extension of government policy and spin. I think these are the ones to be wary of.

I consider Sheehan in that class.

cam
avocadia: Statist: Yes, I can agree with that. Sheehan and Ackerman both. (Ackerman is my mortal enemy. He probably isn\'t aware of it though :- )

Most Popular on South Sea Republic

The articles that have been viewed the most:

Most Popular Restaurants in Phoenix

Phoenix Eats Out is the restaurant review site for Phoenix, Scottsdale and Old Town Scottsdale which lists the modernist and contemporary restaurants, taverns and bars in the greater Phoenix area. This is the list of the most popular restaurants pages from phoenixeatsout.com that have been viewed the most; My personal favourite restaurants in Phoenix are AZ88, Postinos, Bomberos with Grazie, Humble Pie, Orange Table, The Vig, Fez and others coming close behind. View the complete list with the photo-journalistic style images on phoenixeatsout.com

Most Popular Hikes in Arizona

Arizona is an outdoor state and has lots of hiking in the city and around the state. Phoenix is unusual for most cities in having several large mountains in the center of the city with great hiking. Anyone who comes to Phoenix has to do the Echo Canyon trail on Camelback and the Summit Hike on Squaw Peak or Piesta Peak. The views of the city, suburbs and surrounding mountains are wonderful from Camelback and Piesta Peak. For more experienced hikers there is the McDowell Mountains in North Scottsdale that has several difficult and strenuous hikes in Tom's Thumb and Bell Pass. Alternatively, you can hike the highest mountain in Arizona. At 12,600 feet Humphrey's Peak is a long and difficult hike.

Alternate Australian Constitutions

Between 2004 and 2009 this site, southsearepublic.org, was a constitutional blog based on scoop which focused on Australian and global constitutional issues. One of the strongest aspects of it was the development of constitutions by those involved in the blog. These constitutions are the outcome: The constitutions were built using principles from Montesquieu's separation of powers, the enlightnment's universal political rights and the ancient Athenian technology of sortition and choice by lot.

Archives For South Sea Republic

South Sea Republic started in 2004 as an Australian constitutional blog in 2004 based on scoop software. It was an immigrative outgrowth of Kuro5hin. The archives for each year since then; The articles are ordered by views.

Who Is Cam Riley

Cam Riley I am an Australian living in the United States as a permanent resident. I am a software developer by trade and mostly work in Java and jump between middleware and front end. I originally worked in the New York area of the United States in telecommunications before moving to Washington DC and working in a mix of telecommunications, energy and ITS. I started my own software company before heading out to Arizona and working with Shutterfly. Since then I have joined a startup in the Phoenix area and am thoroughly enjoying myself.

I do a lot of photography which I post on this website, but also on flickr. I have a photo-journalistic website which lists the modernist and contemporary restaurants in phoenix. I have a site on the Australian Flying Corps [AFC] which has been around since the 1990s and which I unfortunately lost the .org URL to during a life event; however, it is under the www.australianflyingcorps.com URL now. The AFC website has gone through several iterations since the 90s and the two most recent are Australian Flying Corps Archives(2004-2002) and Australian Flying Corps Archives(2002-1999) which are good places to start.

Websites Worth Reading

Websites of friends, colleagues and of interest;