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September 30, 2005

Latham as Samson

And Samson said, 'Let me die with the Philistines!' And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. (Judges 16:30).

Samson fell in love with a Philistine once, and deeply. Their sex life isn't detailed, but Samson was divinely bequeathed super-strength and a hot-head, so I assume it was rough... but in the end she betrayed him, and Samson carved out a life of psychotic vengeance against the Philistines.
The Bible records one incident where Samson uses the jaw-bone of an ass to slay 1000 of his enemy, and in another incident Samson sets fire to Philistine farmer's foxes, leaving the flaming creatures to howl and die under the moon. Our Samson was pissed.
The secret of his super-strength was, in the end, discovered. His head shaved, the Philistines captured him, tore his eyes out, and set him in prison to crush grain. But the Philistines weren't careful enough, and Samson's vengeance was allowed to take its famous course, resulting in what may be the first recorded kamikaze attack...

***
I don't suppose there are any great myths of decency left supporting Australian politics, but, if there are, Latham has surely pissed on their shadows.
In his second appearance on Lateline since the publication of his diaries, a kinked Mark Latham spat his way through the interview, attempting to claw the eyes out of any number of politicians and journos. So much so, that the interviewer, Tony Jones, had to block three allegations of Latham's that surely would have resulted in slander suits. It was a wild exchange.
As notable was the savage way Latham went about destroying whatever hint of credibility he had left. Latham set about attacking the sexual lives and (alleged) soft-drug habits of ex-colleagues in a smarmy, juvenile fashion--this was the same damned man that screamed bloody murder against his old party for an alleged smear campaign. It was pure hypocrisy, and Jones called it, and so Samson finished pushing on those pillars.
Latham's approach was certainly Samson's, but whether it will be as catastrophic is another matter. Latham exhibits the same vengeful bent, but not the strength, and Labor should recover before the next election.
What's left, though, is this question: was the Labor party so bankrupt of leadership qualities that a paranoid misanthrope was deemed a suitable candidate for future prime minister? It boggles the mind, and we are owed a satisfactory explanation.
I'm sure it'll never come.

Posted by Martin McKenzie-Murray at September 30, 2005 8:11 PM