Embarrassing? Get real!

Not even a senior moment
Today John Howard forgot the name of a Liberal candidate in the upcoming election. This is being described in the media as “embarrassing”. And we are being reminded that Kim Beasley used the name of a public figure in the US when referring to an Australian television personality. Much was made of that too. It was even said to be the beginning of the end of Beasley’s leadership. To this is added the fact that Howard refused to hand over to Costello last year, and that as a result of today’s slip up, some people might be regretting he didn’t go when he was at the top of his game. Really! Why don’t people in the media who beat these things up get a real job – not to mention a life? The last thing I want to do here is to barrack for John Howard. But even I can’t stand back and hear such drivel without expressing my contempt for the drivellers. This really is a case of the eye of the beholder at work. Howard’s brief mental block is exactly the kind of thing that happens to everyone (not just seniors) from time to time. I was embarrassed last time it happened to me. I was introducing someone to a friend of long standing whose name escaped me at the exact moment I needed to introduce him to the newcomer. The embarrassment was only momentary, however, because all three of us recognised it for what it was and we all got on with our business. That’s how it should be with Howard’s lapse of memory today. Making it out to be a real embarrassment is what I call journalism, because, regrettably, that is what journalism has become. Oh sure, there’s some integrity around as well, but this sneering misrepresentation events, especially involving people in public life, is what makes the headlines most of the time. And I refuse to believe that it is we, the people, who “demand” such sleaze from the media. We would not complain if we got real reporting and analysis rather than sniping and simpering.