Howard's End

There was delight in the People's Republic at the victory of Kevin Rudd's Labour party over the coalition in Australia, not least because it brought to an end the ten year rein of error of John Howard's coalition.

John Howard epitomised the gutter politics of Anglo-Saxon conservatism, constantly spreading lies in order to promote his indefensible policies. These ranged from persecuting asylum seekers to ignoring Australia's moral obligation to the Aboriginal peoples, from failure to ratify Kyoto (despite originally agreeing wit it), to bombing a defenseless third-world country in order to protect Australia's economic wealth. He never missed a chance to attack those who struggled to defend themselves, and it just shows how illiberal (in the classical sense) the so-called Australian Liberal party were.

At the time of writing, it looks like he has also lost his seat. As the Aussies would say, good riddance. It is just a pity a few other western conservative leaders never succumbed, or indeed have the chance to succumb, to the same fate.