Page one of the Sydney Morning Herald today said it all. It�s gunna be the beds are burning election, alright. There�s Garrett glaring at the camera, strong, passionate and angry, nailing his colours to the �Anyone But Howard� mast. And beside him, the Bush administration�s latest, most extreme threat to dump the American Alliance if Australians dare elect Mark Latham: “Think about life without the US, says Bush�s man.” (and see Armitage on Lateline last night).
Howard knows he�s got his 2004 Tampa: director George Bush and Latham knows it too. In 2001 the fear politics was headlined �WE will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come�. In 2004, it is �We will do everything the Republican Americans tell us to because we hope that if we do they�ll look after us in the course of their endless empire wars.� This time, it�s Latham who might defiantly assert: �WE will decide when we go to war and the circumstances in which we go and leave.�
To save their careers, Howard and Bush have made a Faustian pact to change Australia into the 51st state � without voting rights � after making Australians too frightened to freely exercise their democratic vote. Bush led the campaign, then Richard Armitage turned the screws in serial interviews with Australian media. Today, a convenient charging of David Hicks, whose incarceration without charge or trial in Guantanamo Bay for more than two years was getting excruciating for Howard. And on Sunday, Colin Powell will join the pack through an interview with the ABC Insider�s program. There�ll be more, much more, as Howard presses more firmly on his red button before, if his scheme goes well, calling an early �Say yes to the Yanks or else� election.
Garrett�s recruitment to Labor symbolises Latham’s determination to call Bush�s bluff in Tampa Mark II. Wild politics, folks. Seriously wild.
Howard and Bush -v- Latham looks like the sort of David and Goliath battle Australians might enjoy. Will they be consumed with fear of America deserting us and put back Howard? Or will they realise that this extraordinarily brutal Bush administration bullying is all about helping Bush and Howard win their respective elections. A vote for Howard is a vote for Bush. A vote for Latham is a statement that we�d like the American presidency to return to sane, competent and decent leadership.
John Howard knows how high he�s raised the stakes with his devil�s deal to put the Alliance on the table to save his career. Yesterday, Perth ABC’ radio�s Liam Bartlett asked Howard to reveal his favourite Peter Garrett song:
PRIME MINISTER: Oh, I quite like Beds are Burning.
BARTLETT: Do you? What about US Forces?
PRIME MINISTER: Pass!
So here it is, Australia�s John Howard�s election theme for the most important election in my lifetime. Funny it�s about Land Rights. A fair Go. A statement of who Australians are and what we believe in to which Howard does not subscribe. Maybe he liked it because it reminded him what he hated about Australia. Then, �US Forces�, the Oils anthem Howard passed on.
Midnight Oil – Beds are Burning
Out where the river broke
The bloodwood and the desert oak
Holden wrecks and boiling diesels
Steam in forty five degrees
*
The time has come
To say fair’s fair
To pay the rent
To pay our share
The time has come
A fact’s a fact
It belongs to them
Let’s give it back
*
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
*
Four wheels scare the cockatoos
From Kintore East to Yuendemu
The western desert lives and breathes
In forty five degrees
***
US forces give the nod
it’s a setback for your country
bombs and trenches all in rows
bombs and threats still ask for more
*
divided world the CIA
who controls the issue
you leave us with no time to talk
you can write your own assessment
*
sing me songs of no denying
seems to me too many trying
waiting for the next big thing
*
will you know it when you see it?
high risk children dogs of war
now market movements call the shots
business deals in parking lots
waiting for the meat of tomorrow
*
everyone is too stoned to start emission
people too scared to go to prison
we’re unable to make decisions
political party line don’t cross that floor
L. Ron Hubbard can’t save your life
superboy takes a plutonium wife
in the shadows of ban the bomb we live.