Pixelated Semantics

The return of the unrepresentative swill

Remember the post-election haste for newly re-elected extremists to brand themselves as compassionate, centrist conservatives? Well that lasted about as long as the public's memory: today they are back with a vengeance, having mouthpeice Tony Abbot "redefine conservatism as a radical force for deployment when other measures failed", as he sideswiped the States for being "hooked on state socialism". And the wagon train of fellow-travellers seems to have arrived in Canberra, with Abbott's comrades spruiking things like "smart cards" for those on welfare "that would restrict their buying options", while opining that theirs is "a new 'sophisticated' conservatism" - with a line of ideology strikingly similar to that of national socialism and other fascist tendencies, which the phrase "radical conservatism" clearly demarcates.

Within hours of publication, the Media (particularly News Ltd) have reshaped this story away from the blatant defense of authoritarian government, towards a typically guileless PR handout on the benefits of tax cuts (to be compassionately paid for by reducing welfare) in a very short space of time; no doubt wanting to put the "radical" tag back in the closet until it's needed to bludgeon the socialists again, rather than confuse the voters with notions of accurate labelling of political vices.

Item posted by AutoEditor at 9:42 am ::