Spacehamster’s Blog

I admit to being an initial supporter of Mark Latham when he was first elected as Labor party leader more than a year ago. As I’m not a politician, I’m not afraid to admit that I was wrong about him. Even though he can dish it out, the man has proven to be extremely sensitive to criticism and quite venomous when given half the chance.

This is unfortunate, as he probably has made a few good points about the corrosive nature of politics in this country - on both sides of Parliament. Unfortunately, this adversarial atmosphere has leaked onto the blogosphere and resulted into a virtual war between people on both sides of the idealogical divide. As for me - I’m more than happy to respect other people’s beliefs (providing those beliefs aren’t bigoted or prejudiced in any way), and carry out a civilised debate on issues. I just wish people on both sides weren’t so blinded by such narrow-minded political idealism. Faith is good - but faith can also sometimes be blind.

That being said, here is a speech from Mark Latham, made at Melbourne University. I think it encapsulates everything in his book, and makes for a fascinating insight into the enormouse ego and combative nature of national politics. Definitely recommended reading.