Why Malcolm Turnbull is the ‘talking dog’ of Australian politics
OPINION
There is an old joke about a tradie driving along when he sees a sign outside a house saying: “Talking dog for sale – $20.”
He can’t believe his eyes. He pulls up, gets out and knocks on the door.
“Yeah, he’s just round the back,” the owner says, and sure enough there’s the dog with his elbow on the fence chatting away to the next-door neighbour.
“I can’t believe it!” says the tradie. “You can really talk?”
“I don’t just talk,” says the dog. “I have a double major in English and philosophy, I’m a qualified architect, a pretty handy mechanic and I also play the French horn.”
“I’ll take him!” says the tradie to the owner. “Just one question though: Why so cheap?”
“Meh,” says the owner with a dismissive wave of his hand. “He can’t do half the sh*t he says he can.”
Malcolm Turnbull is the talking dog of Australian politics.
While he is clearly a man of extraordinary capabilities, he promised too much and delivered too little – and that’s why he is judged a failure. Even the title of his book A Bigger Picture is deeply ironic. It may well be that Malcolm saw the bigger picture – but he certainly never painted it.
This is not to condemn the former PM – Lord knows there are more than enough voices in that chorus – but his fate perfectly underscores the beauty and terror of Australian democracy.
As many have noted, Turnbull is the mirror image of his erstwhile nemesis Kevin Rudd.
Both had big brains, bad tempers and even worse people skills. Both were wildly popular with the public while unpopular within their own parties. Both ended up blaming News Corp for their demise, and yet both were defended by this commentator long after their own comrades had abandoned them.
They also both hate each other, so they have that in common too.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/why-malcolm-turnbull-is-the-talking-dog-of-australian-politics/news-story/082e7ac9eef0be2bd993b856d1b1418f
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