Bob Ellis
How pomp and ceremony bedazzles the naive and the weak
The ruling class has many tactics to ensure its hegemony. Duchessing, as explained in this article is the soft power mode . The carrot as opposed to the stick. Past politicians would visit the “home country” and have tea with the queen, but for the last 50 odd years the White House and Washington were the places where they were feted. They would get an audience with presidents and officials. Another compulsory destination was Rupert Murdoch for a compulsory kissing of the ring and hopeful annointment.
In July the new Defence Minister Marles went to Washington where he was given the treatment and his orders. The ALP government’s nose is firmly embedded in the U.S. arse. The massive contributions of Australian taxpayer funds to Yankee arms manufacturers plus the integration of Australian defence forces with those of the U.S. makes a mockery of the exhortations to sovereignty by ALP politicians
