Vendetta

This is quite the story…

At the weekend (love the ‘at’ eh?) Lola accidentally sprayed water over the neighbour’s fence whilst helping me garden.

Now apparently someone on the other side received some of this spray.

This particular neighbour is just one of those people. All the other neighbours are nice people and good for a friendly yarn. Not this one…

Some time later the neighbour accosted Lola and belligerently told her certain things and wouldn’t listen to her explanation that it was an accident.

Now in the old days, before the 1980’s, I would have simply gone over and belted the crap out of him.

Then from the 1980’s onwards, fearful of police involvement, that would have transitioned into terse words at ten paces.

Through to the new millennia where we it is likely that we will exchange opinions with carefully crafted letters with an eye to future legal action.

Fuck me, I prefer the old days to be honest. I grew up in a pub in Pyrmont and there was only way to solve any dispute. But the good thing was, once dealt with, it was over. Done and dusted and forgotten about except for the old drunks retelling the stories over and over (and fucking over). And hardly anyone ever died.

But reflecting upon this, sure, I probably could belt the crap out of my neighbour. But then he might call some old mates to create a bit of havoc on my being. And then I might call some even nastier old mates, etc. Or I would up in gaol.

So I guess as unsatisfying as the current letter exchange may be, it’s better than living in a vendetta environment.

Which brings me to the subject of Federal politics.

Tony Abbot, whilst in opposition, ushered in the era of total opposition. He and his party opposed every Labor policy without exception. They lied and told stories to the voters on every single issue. With the help of a corrupt media they successfully used this approach to win the last election.

And now it looks like Labor, which was absolutely traumatised by the experience, will respond in kind. Granted, they don’t have the full support of the media, but that won’t stop them.

So it looks like our Federal parliament is simply a paddock for political vendettas from now on. And one where libel does not and cannot exist.

Gee this is going to end well isn’t it?

It’s ironic that the source of all the laws, the ones that force us to exchange letters instead of throwing bricks, is the one place in the country that is heading the other way, towards vendettas.