More Dog Whistling TV Programs, Please!

Who says prime time current affair programs on free-to-air TV channels are rubbish? I propose that they can be edifying.

In a recently aired one such TV program, a colleague apparently heard the phrase "ethnic enclaves" for the first time. In a low, conspiratorial whisper to another colleague, my colleague gingerly pronounced the word "enclaves" a few times like a jittery rugby fullback juggling a high ball before gathering it safely into his arms.

It was apparent that my thirty something colleague had never come across this phrase before, but thanks to the current affair program, my colleague had finally learned a new phrase and, with it, a new category of evils lurking in the suburbs.

This got me thinking. If my colleague had never heard the phrase "ethnic enclaves" before, what about associated words and phrases such as "ethnic cleansing", "pogroms", "dog whistling", "xenophobia", "yellow peril", "Asian horde", "concentration camps", "Lebensraum" and so on? Surely, the Balkan wars took place within the living memory of my colleague’s generation?

Please, explain!

To sum up, we need more dog-whistling current affair TV programs advocating ethnic cleansings, pogroms and concentration camps so that the suburbs can be ridden of undesirable ethnic enclaves and this fair Continent of carefree surfers and cricketers shielded from the imminent dangers posed by the yellow peril and swarthy hordes.

End is Nigh for the Puppet Show

As if further proof was needed of the impending annihilation of the NSW Labour Government in next month’s state election.

In the large assembly hall of a government building where a crowd of people from all walks of life were watching Channel 7, every time NSW Premier Kristina Keneally appeared in the ad with the drivel about legislating to help struggling families if returned next month, she was greeted with hearty guffaws.

This state Labour Government’s goose is cooked. The only reason that it was not dumped in the last couple of elections was the disarray in the Opposition ranks thanks to the internecine factional warfare in the state Liberal Party. All that Barry O’Farrell and company now have to do is sit tight and do nothing. Their winning election strategy boils down to a single magic word: inaction.

Will NSW voters fare better under O’Farrell? They certainly seem to think so if opinion polls are anything to go by.

Keneally herself is an affable politician who inherited a poisoned chalice and the unflattering tag of  'puppet' of the NSW Labour machine thanks to the parting shot of her predecessor, Nathan Rees. On March 26, she will be the innocent lamb led to the slaughter house to atone for the sins of her party, which has been in power for far too long for its own good.