Spacehamster’s Blog

This article in The Age newspaper shows the true extent of the former Prime Minister’s close ties to The Exclusive Brethren.

CORRESPONDENCE between the Exclusive Brethren and John Howard reveals the religious sect had a warm and familiar relationship with the former prime minister and offered regular political advice.

The Age has obtained four letters in which unidentified sect leaders congratulated Mr Howard on the Iraq war and gave political advice about Medicare. The group also recommended massive water projects funded by the sale of Telstra.

How can the former Prime Minister claim to govern for all Australians, when he maintained close ties to a Religious group which doesn’t allow its own members to vote? It shows just how out of touch the former PM was during the last term of office.

By all rights I shouldn’t love this show as much as I do. Unlike the three hosts, I’m Left-wing and I believe in Climate Change. But I resent being patronised and lectured on what I should believe, which is what most political commentators on the Left and Right do quite often nowadays. So I enjoy seeing these three hoon about in cars. Watching it is a sheer act of joyous rebellion against the thin-lipped humourless political commentators that dominate both sides of politics.

I also learned quite a bit about what makes a good car. Until I watched Top Gear I didn’t even know what Torque Steer was. Or that the Bugatti Veyron and the Aero TT were the world’s fastest cars (250mph). It’s a public service, don’t y’know.

And it’s also unashamedly fun. Over the past few years they’ve performed stunts like building amphibious cars across the English Channel, been chased by racist rednecks in Alabama, driven across the African desert, and raced by car and dogsled to the North Pole. And that was only in the last 12 months. My only complaint is that the BBC hasn’t released a Complete Boxset for each season. The current DVD’s are only badly edited compilations, and they just don’t compare to the full episodes.

This show isn’t for everyone. If you’re an environmentalist that thinks the Car is the enemy of humanity, then avoid this show like the plague. But oddly enough, I love it.