By the looks of it, the social media is running this country, or why else would our Prime Minister recall our ambassador to Indonesia, or the director of the National Portrait Gallery (which until then I had not even heard of; great publicity stunt, Angus!) remove a portrait of Indonesian President Joko Widodo from the exhibition, or Professor Julian Oldmeadow at Swinburne University in Hawthorn ask any Indonesian in his class to leave the classroom and refrain from attending his classes?
Anyway, the mass hysteria seems to gradually diminish as yesterday's "Artist" and "Reverend" have again more fittingly been referred to as 'Bali 9 ringleaders' and 'drug smugglers' in today's news - although I can already see the hoi polloi queueing up for the book and/or movie.
Woe is the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker who gets up each morning to do his work and pay his taxes. Recognition for achievement is no longer the issue. It's the achievement of recognition that matters.
P.S. As for boycotting Bali, what an excellent idea! After all those drunk Australian louts have stopped going there, it may once again be a safe place to visit - read more here.
P.P.S. And here's another take on this by a police officer regarding the hype around the Bali executions; it's something more Aussies need to read:
Benjamin Connor posted this on FB
"I can’t believe the mentality of people. I have been in law enforcement for 34 years and have worked in many areas within the force. After 9 years in, I spent nearly 5 years working as a UC. (Undercover) attempting to infiltrate traffickers of all types of drugs including amphets right down to simple choof. What a world of pain and misery. I was encased by the filth and self-destruction where I witnessed numerous deaths by either ODs or in a lot of cases suicides. Young girls selling their bodies for 10 bucks a go just to get their hands on their next fix. I remember one particular girl who hung around with the collection I was trying to set up. She was 14 when she was hooked and on the game by 15. Her body was so ripped and torn by drug and sexual abuse she had intestines falling out of her rectum as a result of numerous rapes and sexual encounters where she tried to get payment. Her child was taken off her when she was 15 by Human services but they could do nothing for her but supply treatment when they could. She died at 19. Alone in a back street.
Where were you do-gooders. I saw you pass her on the street and avoid her all the time. I would give her food but she preferred to starve and get some smack rather than eat. I became depressed with my job after this time and had to eventually get into some other area. I guarantee any police officer who reads this will be thinking of some person they have dealt with in their career that fits this build. But all I see is you fucking wanna be Samaritans who treat these two drug kings as heroes. Ok I accept that you dont believe in the death penalty. I don’t like it either. But I am sure as shit not going to call on the PM to “Bring our boys home” No boy of mine would do this.
The media and the solicitors have played you people for the fools you are. You have never lived in the world of drug, crime and despair. You have been protected from it so much you live in the fantasy world where you believe you can hug everyone and all will be better. You are not qualified to even comment as to whether these guys should get parole or not. Have a look at our system. Or have you forgotten already. Adrian Bayley. You paroled him. You say the parole board stuffed up and parole him. But the parole board consists of people just like you. With your opinions and beliefs. That was a complete and utter failure. This piece of shit was a career rapist and the only ones we can blame for what he did is all of us. Not the judge. Not the Parole board or the police. Us.
The decisions like this that are being made are by people who never have to deal with these shitheads when they are in street mode committing crimes. You see them all clean shaven and in their court suits or white shirts becoming born again etc. You poor misguided fools. You don’t even care about the effects of what they have done to our society. Our penalties used to be tough and crime was low. When I started in the police force 34 years ago we called it “Marijuana” It was the biggest thing on the street. Crime was not rampant. Then the drug importing began and the addiction, the shift to powders etc and suspended sentences and here we are. Well your system has worked hasn’t it.
Then you voice how much you hate police. But you ring us and run inside and hide whilst we come out and deal with the shit you don’t have the fucking guts to deal with yourself. But you are right up there on your keyboards bravely shit canning the police for excessive force and filming it on your cameras. Here we are in Australia expecting the world to fall at our feet. “Lets boycott Bali. Wow you heroes. That will fix them. Won’t mean shit. You think Australia props up Bali. There are more tourist from Europe than Australia there. And its mostly the bogans one and only overseas holiday destination.
Henry Chinn. Know him? Bet not. Well he is on death row in China for trying to smuggle 270 grams of meth into our lovely country in 2004. Have you given a shit about him yet? No. Why? Cos the media hasn’t spoon fed you the crap to hype you up. Who are the two Aussies who were caught in China in last year trying to cart 75kg of ice to here? Davis and Gardiner. They are a couple. China has executed in excess of 1000 people in a 12 month period. But you still buy their shit every day. You hypocrites. These two Australians will be executed and you will still buy their product. Second chance you say. You think these people have no prior convictions. You think this is their first attempt. Wake up fools. Stop hugging yourselves. Two men died today because they broke a law in a country where they knew they faced death if caught. Had they have got away with it, there would be a countless number of 19 year old girls laying in the gutter dead. Quick run inside and tell yourself what a great person you are."
