Election Season 4:08 am / 12 March 2010 by Royce Christian, at .urbandissent
Soon South Australian’s everywhere will go to the polls. It’s election season and politicians are out kissing babies and visiting places they would normally avoid like the plague to score cheap votes. Signs have been erected at bus stops urging people to ‘Vote4You’ and all those annoying posters have been put up on street lamps around the place, with the particular candidate in a suit, sporting the faux grin, looking confident and, most importantly, competent.
And it’s that slogan, ‘Vote4You’ that’s the object of my current distaste. You’ll see it around the place, on the static posters as bus stops and on buses, or you’ll see it on TV with the people jumping and pulling rebellious rock and roll-esque poses in order to connect with the young people of South Australia. And just think about it for a moment; Vote–4–you.
Really?
Because last time I checked, I wasn’t the one going into parliament to vote on things such as whether or not the State government can attack freedom of association by first targeting unpopular groups such as the Bikies. And let’s face it, we don’t get much choice in the matter. Mike Rann has run the state with an iron fist since coming into parliament. With an excellent Public Relations team preserving his public image, keeping the papers quiet, keep journalists on their toes so their too busy to be assignment with real issues and then allowing them just enough time, in a controlled environment, for Rann to get a final rebuttal to some opposing argument on a key issue.
Add into this the obscene focus on rebuilding the State’s hospital in front of the UniSA CityWest Campus, which has been the cause of so much mud-slinging between the two major parties, and it makes me sick into my own scorn — bottom line, lot’s of money is going to be spent either way.
Which brings me Isobel Redmond, who has just about as much charisma as Rann, zero. She makes a point of walking Hindley Street late on Saturday nights to meet and greet all the youngsters out there and talk to them about her policies. She even went so far as to be visiting Tea Tree Plaza to do the same to young people while they shop and suck their boost juice.
Rann has now promised ‘police-trained security guards’ for trains to improve the use of public transport. They are to be armed with guns, batons and pepper spray. Because placing armed, trained ‘officers of the law’ on public transport in a confined space is not going to get anyone killed, at all.
Yeah, that’s really going to go down well. And I’m saying this as someone living in the Salisbury/Elizabeth area.
Which brings me to my point. These people don’t care. They’re focussing on getting re-elected so they can continue to enforce their particular brand of morality of morality on the rest of us. Sometimes that morality comes in the form of Trevor Grace, other time’s it’s Rann kissing a baby somewhere in a city park.
So I end this by saying, simply, that I do not accept any of these candidates as my leader. I do not want a leader and refuse to legitimise their positions. In fact, our political leaders are no different to the Gang of 49, the Bikies Rann loves to hate and the ‘NewBoys’ street gang. Only difference is that they wear less tattoos, more suits and employ a media management team.
So, when it comes time to perform my ‘encouraged’ democratic duty I will truly Vote4Me and by not casting a ballot. Simple.
