Tasteless

As I have previously stated in one of my blogs last year, I am not particularly interested in politics and I am not the biggest fan of Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. In that same blog, however, I defended her against the actions of radio personality Alan Jones, who stated on his radio show that Gillard's late father had 'died of shame' thanks to his daughter.

Well, how about that? Looks like I might have to take her side again thanks to a pair of morons who committed acts so dumb that they make the Barossa Valley's tourism ad that features 'Red Right Hand' (a song about a serial killer) as the soundtrack seem like a wise choice.

This past week has been horrible indeed for poor old Julia. Just a few days ago, at a restaurant where a fundraising event for Liberal party candidate Mal Brough was being held, a menu that made offensive comments about the Prime Minister was leaked. One of the items in the menu, a Moroccan Quail, was described as 'Julia Gillard Kentucky Fried Quail - Small Breasts, Huge Thighs and a Big Red Box'.

Ouch!

The menu also took shots at former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, in the form of an item called 'Rudd's a goose foie gras'.
Mr. Brough, naturally, was livid at the mishap, stating that the menu was not created by a member of his party and apologising for the incident. Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott also condemned the joke and commented that people should know better.
The owner of the restaurant, Joe Richards, stated that none of the menus were distributed on the tables during the event and that he had created the menu as a joke between himself, his son and staff members at the restaurant. Somehow, it was accidentally leaked and the rest is history.

A few days later, more pain for Ms. Gillard.

Yesterday, Gillard was being interviewed on a Perth radio show by the 'shock jock' Howard Sattler. Sattler quizzed Gillard about the menu incident, but inexplicably took it a step further by asking her about her religious beliefs, same-sex marriage and her partner Tim Mathieson's sexual orientation (Mathieson is a hairdresser). Sattler remarked that men in that field of work are viewed as being homosexual and so he asked Gillard if Mr. Mathieson is gay, to which a bemused Gillard answered 'of course not!'
Sattler was sacked by his radio station and is threatening legal action against them. He has also issued an apology to Ms. Gillard.

You know, I'll admit that I don't always act my age but there are boundaries that shouldn't be crossed and Joe Richards and Howard Sattler has crossed them.
Let's start with Mr. Richards. Ok, he did not intend for that joke menu to make its way into the public's consciousness but if that were the case then he should have been more vigilant in terms of making sure that only the right people had access to it. We'll never know how that stupid menu made its way into the public's consciousness but when it comes to private jokes such as these, particularly if they have the potential to tarnish people's reputation (including that of the creator), you'd go through great lengths to make sure that it is kept from prying eyes. Should have been more careful, Joey. Now look what you've done.

As for Mr. Sattler, all I can say is that you are a complete idiot who needs to grow up. I honestly don't understand guys like him and Kyle Sandilands who call themselves 'shock jocks'. Do they honestly get a kick out of behaving like jerks on the air and setting themselves up to have the label 'most hated' slapped across their foreheads? Well, who knows? Maybe Sattler isn't the biggest fan of the Prime Minister and wanted to humiliate her, even at the cost of his job. If that's the case, well done mate! Here's hoping that unemployment and a public shellacking works out well for you. And good luck with that court case. I heard that it's a really great way to make friends!

Gentlemen, hopefully in the future you will behave more like adults and think before you act. What you may find hilarious, others may find insensitive and tasteless and some things are best kept to yourselves - and in the case of Joe Richards should be handled with great care.
As for Ms. Gillard, you have of course used these two incidents to once again play the gender card and accuse any male who stands up to you or rubs you the wrong way - and the male population of Australia period it seems - of being sexist and misogynistic. Yeah, that's rich, considering that you have, in the past, hammed it up with Kyle Sandilands and just this week had a friendly meeting with Arnold Schwarzenegger, a man who, despite his popularity, has done and said some pretty sexist things in the past.
Ok, I'm digressing. It's time to end this.