Perhaps I'm over the whole Democrats fiasco, but Meg Lees' latest "don't blame me, I'm not a Democrat" defence is more entertaining than Pauline Hanson looking for Xenophobia in an Arabic dictionary. It was a predictable move as Lees is the champion of plausible deniability.
What was less predictable is the frantic scurrying of the four isolated Senators (Lees, Murphy, Harradine and Harris) trying to leave their final mark on Australia before surrendering their seats in July next year.
We may all wonder what they hope to gain from reopening negotiations on media ownership (and probably every other shelved bill) before the Government can wield full control of the Senate. Whatever it is they hope to achieve, it certainly won't render the legislation any less offensive to Australia's best interests than we would expect under a Coalition run Senate. Are they posturing or simply naive?
Meanwhile the eternally optimistic and teetotalling gothic Democrats leader, Andrew Bartlett, continues to herald the return of the party in 3 years time by implying that voters will soon realise their mistake when Howard pushes through with his bad reforms.
Fair go, Andrew! First you stuff the Democrats around playing suckup to Andrew "Doberman" Murray, then you carelessly forget why the Party was in turmoil and do nothing to repair the damage. Now you want to blame the voters for abandoning a sinking ship?
The demise of the Democrats can only be blamed on the party processes that stifled the one principle that set it apart from any other party - member led democracy. The numerous books expected to be published over the coming years will provide a welcome analysis of this and other factors as we bid a long goodbye to the party once hailed for 'keeping the bastards honest'. Becoming one of the bastards was, perhaps, a natural progression in the evolution of politics.
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