the PM's lack of authenticity

Janet Albrechtsen gets closer to the core of the fundamental hypocrisy of Rudd and Labor in a cracking piece last week.

She correctly points out that Labor had no response to the excellent article that Turnbull wrote in response to Rudd diatribe in the Montly.

She notes 'they were forced to resort to using Rein because they had no other comeback to Turnbull’s criticism of Rudd.'

But this is where it's really at:

The man who sold himself as a safe pair of economic hands prior to the 2007 election has now unmasked himself as just another old-fashioned class warrior - when it suits. The Prime Minister’s performance on Channel Seven’s Sunday Night program was the ultimate exercise in spin where he felt the pain of “you good people”—the Pacific Brands workers—and unloaded yet again on the “unrestrained greed” of corporate executives. He even uttered a swear word for effect. Presumably, he thinks this is how you enamour yourself to workers. But it’s all an illusion.

Rudd has more personas than Sybil, the girl with 13 different personalities portrayed by Sally Field in a 1976 film. At business functions, Rudd is the epitome of rationality about the role of business. Among workers, he says the relocation by Pacific Brands “absolutely stinks”. Rudd worked as a senior China consultant with KPMG from 1996 until 1998. Does he honestly expect us to believe that he would have told his KPMG clients not to run more cost effective manufacturing operations in China? Does he now tell the Chinese Government that he doesn’t want Australian firms to run manufacturing operations in China?

Rudd and his comrades in government are the very worst form of class warriors. They feel the pain of the underclass when it suits and then enjoy the fruits of the overclass. As Strewth reported on Monday, there was a fear of awkwardness when Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Industry Minister Kim Carr boarded a plane last week with Pacific Brand’s CEO, Sue Morphet.

Alas, the only awkwardness emerged when the workers’ pals in the Labor Government slid into their business-class seats for the arduous flight from Melbourne to Sydney while Morphet travelled in economy. Indeed, pass through that deliberately nondescript frosted glass door to Qantas’ exclusive Chairman’s Lounge any day of the week, where Labor MP’s waft around enjoying free food and drink far from the workers outside. It’s not free of course. Rudd’s friends, the workers, are paying for it.

Spare us, Prime Minister. The real lesson is this. If you are going to write the kind of dishonest and hypocritical claptrap as you did in The Monthly, you can expect to have people pointing out the intellectual and moral weaknesses in your arguments. And you have to understand this battle of ideas can get a bit willing. If you’re going to dish it out, you need to stand your ground when someone belts you back in an obvious weak spot. Glass jaws have no place in politics. And with due respect, PM, if you are going to start a fight like this, don’t hide behind your wife’s skirt when battle is joined.