The End Of Empire
Yes, it was true, we stood for you on a distant shore.
Stranded in a valley, his human life in brief turmoil, the latitude, the longitude, the geo-spatial distortion, the fact that even the greatest sceptics knew that something was coming, that these styles of consciousness, as much studied as they were, remained rare.
He had ignored all entreaties.
He had ignored the super smart and the gracious, the military gronks and the esoterics; and they ran across thousands of variations until they found a match.
Afghanistan had fallen and it marked in the most dramatic way the end of American empire. What happened next, after the Legacy of Ashes, when America declared another war. A futile war, because all their wars were futile. Their democracy, once some sacred goal, was now a gerontocracy, a laughing stock of all the world. With the Taliban, their alleged sworn enemy, now freshly equipped with billions of dollars of American equipment.
In some strange parallel, the farce that was Australian democracy had also overstepped the mark, and now the rotten edifice was crumbling.
The daily derangement of press conferences provoking fear, hysteria and confusion into the population while placing their own utterly dysfunctional incompetence front and centre of everybody's lives. And destroying their own credibility with every passing breath.
Derangement. It was a derangement. Overstepping the mark. Plundering. Perhaps it was always thus, the conquerors took the spoils, but here the parasites were imprisoning their own populations, with millions upon millions of Australians now in what amounted to a permanent lockdown, imprisoned in their own homes, monitored, surveyed, abused, imprisoned, fined. That it had come to this seemed too improbable to be real, but thus it was.
He cranked up the gears, drew the oil, reached backwards and forwards, saw in that valley an unimaginable hi-tech future, a teleport, vessels coming and going, staggering technologies, he smelt, or at least saw, the incense of thousands of years gone and the future they now fought so desperately to preserve.
For here they were at the limits of what was possible; even for them, fluid in time. Ex tempore. Not so much out of time, as outside time.
We come at the end of empire. And for a human marooned, so it seemed to be; amidst these dispirited, beaten people. Amidst their humble dreams, their impoverishment, their backward, primitive technologies.
These were a people who had lost all faith in their leaders and their government; the instabilities in the system building by the day.
Millions and millions in lockdown; their own futures destroyed, their children's futures destroyed, while the fat cats grew fatter, oilier, more unctuous.
While the man at the centre of this debacle, that worshipper of false Gods, flew between his taxpayer funded mansions in taxpayer funded planes, with taxpayer funded security increasingly deployed to hold back the anger of the mob.
Which was about to rip through the fabric of a country once known as Australia.
Welcome to my world.
NEWS
https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/its-a-cheap-shot-prime-minister-scott-morrison-defends-fathers-day-trip-after-public-backlash-and-labor-attacks/news-story/9c3730d45f21904121515726b8cbbf32
'It's a cheap shot': Prime Minister Scott Morrison defends Father's Day trip after public backlash and Labor attacks
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has hit back at claims of double standards over his flight to Sydney from Canberra to visit his family on Father's Day, labelling them a "cheap shot".
Jonathan Talbot and Dominica Funnell
2 min read
September 7, 2021 - 10:18AM
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Prime Minister Morrison hits out at criticism over Father's Day Sydney...
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended his recent trip to Sydney over the Father’s Day weekend stating "misinformation" is being circulated about the visit.…
In an exclusive interview with Sky News Australia’s Kieran Gilbert the Prime Minister said he understood people’s frustration but denied there had been any “misinformation” around the trip.
When asked about former Labor leader Bill Shorten’s claim that the trip showed “appalling judgement’ Mr Morrison labelled it a "cheap shot".
“Well it’s a bit of a cheap shot to be honest. I mean Bill knows full well what these rules are…in fact he took advantage of them. He went home and spent the last three weeks there rather than being in parliament.
"Bill knows that. Bill knows the prime minister needs to go backwards and forwards between these places to do the work. He understands that secure documents, secure discussions need to be held. So he understands all of that. So frankly it's a bit of a cheap shot. It's just cheap politics."
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Mr Morrison had flown to Sydney to visit his family before returning to Canberra for a meeting of the national security committee of Cabinet – a meeting which could not be conducted remotely for security reasons.
The reference to Mr Shorten followed comments the Labor front bencher made on the Today show on Tuesday where he said it was inexcusable there was one set of rules for Mr Morrison and another for everyone else.
“I think Mr Morrison has exercised poor judgment in this case … It’s not that he doesn’t deserve to see his kids, but so does every other Australian.
“And I think when your people are doing it tough, you’ve got to do it tough too," Mr Shorten said.
Mr Gilbert also questioned the Prime Minister on whether his exemption to travel back to Canberra from Sydney was similar to those granted to NRL wags by the Queensland state government.
"I guess the perception among many is that there’s a double standard that if you know the right people you get special treatment…. while people who are grieving family members can’t," Mr Gilbert said.
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PM Scott Morrison granted travel exemption to Sydney for Father's Day
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The Prime Minister reportedly travelled on a taxpayer funded flight to Sydney for Father's Day weekend after securing a travel exemption. Despite 14 day quarantine restrictions the PM relocated to Sydney on Saturday afternoon and returned to the…
The Prime Minister responded there was no double standard as he had not brought his family to Canberra "outside of the rules in place."
"I haven't done that. My family has remained in Sydney in lockdown. There have been no special rules provided to my family."
The Prime Minister has also expressed his confidence in New South Wales' hospital capacity, promising it would cater to anticipated spikes in hospital admissions.
Mr Morrison conceded the system would be under increased pressure but vowed it would deal with those pressures.
“Parts of the system are under more pressure than others and so the workforce, the systems are being optimised to deal with our pressures,” he told Mr Gilbert.
“They’ve done very good modelling on the peaking of cases and then of what the pressure will be on the hospital system.”
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There were heartwarming scenes on the Queensland-New South Wales Border as separated families united to celebrate Father's Day. Hundreds of people lined up along the plastic barriers sharing a meal with loved ones. Some brought tables…
Mr Morrison said Premier Gladys Berejiklian had been “very clear” that there would be a two-week lag in COVID-19 hospital admissions after the expected peak in early to mid October.
“They’re planning for it, they’re preparing for it – will it come under stress? Of course it will. Of course it will as it has all around the world but this is part of our passage through to live with this virus,” he added.