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All sides of Australia politics must be loving this. Not only are they on their long parliamentary winter recess but the nation's attention is firmly focused on the drama in the US.
Awkward domestic issues - allegations of construction union corruption, cost of living, housing, energy - have conveniently made way for the American soap opera. It's the perfect distraction in this winter of discontent.
Sure, the US is important and interesting. Whatever happens there will have ramifications here, but I'll wager I'm not alone in thinking it's time to ease off on the saturation coverage. Joe Biden fluffing the debate was newsworthy. So, too, the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, Biden pulling out of the race and Harris stepping up to replace him.
All good stories but the dog-in-the-schoolyard energy devoted to telling them from every conceivable angle has become over the top. Saturation coverage in the US? Perfectly understandable. But here, endlessly, I'm not so sure. We are, after all, different countries.
Of course, not all media have gone down the rabbit hole - mercifully, most local papers are covering important local news. But the main media players have and, thanks to time zones, the live channels of their websites look a little silly. Not much happens in the middle of the night in America, which is when those channels are live on Australian websites. So what we get are live channels that appear dead - or at best on life support.
The whole thing reached peak absurdity last week when the ABC broadcast Trump's acceptance speech in full. The producers were probably expecting an hour maximum but what they got was 92 minutes of mainly rambling nonsense with cutaway shots of supporters sporting panty liners on their right ears in sympathy.
So here's a plea to our news organisations. Refocus on the domestic issues that have been consigned to the background. The worst road toll in a decade. The ongoing domestic violence epidemic. The nuclear energy debate. The housing crisis. The cost of living (not helped by the global olive oil shortage). The use of AI by the Queensland LNP to create a fake video of Labor Premier Steven Miles - a new low point in our political discourse.
Refocus, too, on the other important stories from around the world overshadowed by this dark America comedy. Gaza. Ukraine. Sudan. Bangladesh. Oh, and the Olympics.
We still have more than 100 days of this American farce to play out. It will be fascinating. There will be more moments of craziness. We will be exhausted by it. But we should not allow it to become a smokescreen for all the issues here that need and deserve attention.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Are you growing tired of the endless coverage of US politics? Has it become a little over the top? Are local issues being swamped? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Appointing an administrator to the embattled CFMEU won't be enough to address allegations of criminal ties within the union, a former head of a construction sector watchdog says. As Coalition oppositions in two states push for tougher action against the union, ex-head of the Australian Building and Construction Commission Nigel Hadkiss said the federal government needs to do more.
- Stronger political advertising laws are needed to prevent misinformation following outrage over a deepfake video of the Queensland premier dancing, experts say. The Liberal-National Party in Queensland posted a video on the social media platform TikTok showing Steven Miles grooving to a popular 2000s song.
- Australia needs to make bigger investments in research and development projects to avoid falling behind global competition, a conference has been told. The call came at the Collaborate Innovate conference, which heard from entrepreneurs, scientists, academics and government agencies.
THEY SAID IT: "What a newspaper needs in its news, in its headlines, and on its editorial page is terseness, humour, descriptive power, satire, originality, good literary style, clever condensation, and accuracy, accuracy, accuracy!" - Joseph Pulitzer
YOU SAID IT: The old signposts of left and right are no use when trying to navigate modern politics.
Murray writes: "The political definitions 'left' and 'right' used to mean 'for the worker' and 'for business'. Now the terms have lost all definite meaning. Labor governments, which were once the stronghold of the working man, now despise him. They are the party of immigration and minorities. Conservative governments had too much momentum when moving to the centre and are now about where old Labor governments were. It's confusing. The worst bit is left and right are now epithets. The left call conservatives 'right wingers' with a derisive sneer. Conservatives constantly amuse themselves with memes about what the loopy left are up to now. It's not politics, it's infantile behaviour."
"Cynically, I take the view that, short of a Trumpian autocracy, left or right can only change a few things at the margins," writes Bill. "All spin, no turn. Onya Warnie! No party can shake out the big end of town (some corporations, both union and business) because, frankly, they are too big. And then there is the utter hypocrisy of our political classes, controlled by political donations. I used to be an ideologue. No longer. Now at 77 I care about the issue, not the polemic. Based on my values, of course."
Jennifer writes: "Ideology has given way to marketing for power, popularity and funding. Is any party a champion of the working class? Not consistently. Only when it enables more media/marketing support for popularity, power and funding. There have always been champions of the disadvantaged, as well as those who pretend to be their supporters to get more power. Individual politicians who remain true to their causes are often isolated from their parties via preselection and eviction. Others become, or begin as independents so they can stick to their objectives, resulting in stronger independents and weaker parties."
"Forget leanings left or right. Politics is blatantly about power: first, getting it; second, holding it," writes Ross.
Joan writes: "I think all parties work really hard at their jobs, wherever they lie within the spectrum, with one main purpose only. Sadly, not for the betterment of our country, but simply to get reelected. Trying to find the magical policy that will have voters saying 'Yes, he/she is the person.' I'm quite disillusioned with the lot of them!"