What's behind Tony Abbott?

Thoughts on the one who has taken Australian politics so far from Australian traditions.

Tony Abbott is a diabolically effective liar. In discussion with people who prefer him, some seem to regard him as perfect. Any mention of Abbott's shortcomings, such as his habit of saying whatever he thinks might win votes in the audience of the moment, triggers a response redolent of cognitive dissonance. Even the government is dancing to his tune, apparently mesmerised. Evidently, judgement about Abbott is almost universally clouded. How could that be, unless our Tony has powerful backing?

I know of just two entities capable of clouding judgement on the scale evident here. Whatever we name our deity; be it Jehovah, Allah or God, He is unlikely to favour one mob of liars over another. That leaves but one candidate for Tony's ally.

I reckon the alliance probably began with John Howard. On manipulating the populace, the likes of Stalin, Hitler, Mao and North Korea's Kim dynasty showed the way; Howard refined and adapted it for Australia's circumstances and current technologies. That would not have been enough, however. How could "Lazarus with a triple bypass" have become prime minister but with supernatural help?

Tony Abbott learned at the feet of the master, then enthusiastically took on Howard's mantle as The Great Deceiver. He famously described himself as the ideological love child of John Howard and Bronwyn Bishop.

Among other things, Abbott is playing politics with global warming[1]. We risk centuries of increasing misery leading, in the worst-case scenarios, to extinction for humanity and sterilisation for the planet[2]. I know of only one entity whom that might please. So consistently does Abbott indulge in behaviour that would bring pleasure to the one in question that I've come to think of him as Satan's pleasure-boy.

On the record, Tony has said that scientific evidence and impartial expert scientific & economic opinion are irrelevant to him. He says he'll be guided by the electorate, but I wonder whether he follows another guide. When the vast majority of those most knowledgeable in any field warn of substantial risk, wouldn't a mentally competent and morally responsible adult support effective precautions?

A majority of scientists show that we're smart enough to figure out what we need to do. Tony Abbott reveals that we're not good enough to do it.

Abbott studied for holy orders; he was evidently a man of faith. Now, he's ignoring Christ (Mark 8:36) "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?". If he still professes faith, then his behaviour belies it.

Tony's a pugilist; in competition, he acknowledges few limits. Perhaps that narrowed his vision, so he didn't realise what he was losing.

A while back, in discussion of Westminster Democracy, a revealing phrase from the past came up: "Her Majesty's loyal Opposition". There was a time, it seems, when oppositions opposed in the interests of something greater than themselves. In England, that something is personified in the Monarch; in Australia, it would probably be the people or the nation. For Abbott, there's evidently nothing greater than himself. Abbott, it seems, cares little about anything beyond winning the next election; even if it means fire & brimstone, death & destruction. So long as he satisfies his need to feel that he's won.

Association with the infernal is not good for the health of mere mortals. The excesses of WorkChoices and the way that, at the end of his reign, John Howard clung to power like a Mugabe or a Gaddafi may be manifestations of mental health impacts due to prolonged exposure. Could it be that the bizarre behaviour of Alan Jones, Andrew Bolt and their ilk has similar foundations? I'll be watching Tony with interest, to see how his health holds up.

Psychopathology

I encountered this while researching another issue and decided that it bears repeating here. Whether and to what extent each characteristic applies to Tony Abbott I'll leave to the reader's judgement.

Psychopathy is described as characterised by " a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow emotions, egocentricity, and deceptiveness".

A key diagnostic tool is the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, factor 1 of which lists characteristics associated with narcissistic personality disorder or Aggressive Narcissism:

Diagnosis does not require every trait to be evident in an individual.

March 2013

Following the recent revelation that Abbott holds weekly collaboration meetings with News Ltd, it occurred to me that the alliance established by John Howard and inherited by Abbott must have been negotiated with an Earthly manifestation or agent of the entity. Could Rupert Murdoch be that manifestation or agent?

[1] Abbott's direct action proposal is smoke & mirrors. The Soviets tried for seven decades to get similar models to work; their empire collapsed. The Chinese tried for four decades; they gave up.

[2] Gifted scientists warn against assuming that we can't make such a mess of the world that it's no longer capable of supporting us.

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