In love with a flaming woman
March 22nd 2009 00:13
Yes, I have to confess my guilty secret. Despite my lifelong passions for the male of the species, I’m falling in love with a red-headed woman. So far she shows little interest in the things I care about, but nevertheless, I’m captivated.
Worse, I’m also being wooed by a man who at first sight has everything going for him. He’s charismatic, rich, handsome, and has the sexiest husky baritone voice – usually an absolute clincher for me.
He purrs like a rutting lion, while she sounds like a cat trying to climb a blackboard. His face is handsome and open, hers is as sharp as a rats. But nowadays he leaves me cold.
It just goes to show that first impressions are unreliable. I was prepared to swoon over Malcolm Turnbull. He appeared smart, engaged, modern - he stood up for gay rights in the Howard cabinet - a liberal in the true sense of the word. But now that he has emerged from the murk of the Howard era , his essential hollowness stands revealed.
Like the clever lawyer he is, he can take a slew of facts and spin from them an entrancing tale, which for an hour or two – which in a courtroom is all you need – seems utterly convincing. But when he takes those same facts, and a few days later, weaves from them an entirely different compelling story, the scales fall from our eyes. He’s nothing but a clever, charismatic storyteller.
First he supports the government stimulus package – then he renames it to sound like the money shot in a porn movie – a ‘cash splash’. One minute he’s working for the defence. Next he’s at the prosecution table. Ditto alcopops. Ditto WorkChoices. He’s the empty vessel making beautiful, loud, pointless booming noises.
Meanwhile our de facto Prime Minister powers on, doing all the heavy lifting of government while our titular PM jets around the world looking busy.
Julia Gillard has the biggest portfolio known to humankind, and handles every bit of it with skill and aplomb. She’s a great performer in the wrestling ring known as Parliament, with a fine talent for invective (though not yet up to Keating’s magnificent standards).
She’s not just de facto PM while Kevvie’s away (which is most of the time), she’s also Minister for Education, Minister for Social Inclusion, and Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. In the latter role, with masterly political skills, she neatly disposed of WorkChoices and deftly managed Senators Fielding and Xenophon into irrelevance.
Meanwhile she’s undergone a Thatcher-like personal transformation from snarling fishwife to something smarter, cooler and more poised. Someone has taught her how to use makeup. Her hair is now styled rather than just cut. Her voice has lost some of its harsh timbre and dropped a tone or two.
And unlike her boss (or that handsome political gigolo opposite) she appears to enjoy what she’s doing, and believe what she’s saying. She is a woman in her element – and what could be more attractive? I’m in love.
| 51 |
| Vote |
Comments (1)
Add Comments
