It’s a tricky move to attach gender or race motives to an umpire officiating a tennis match between two women: one Afro-American, the other half-Japanese, half-Haitian but one by one, too many members of the commentariat to count worked overtime to pull it off.
In the morass of Op-Eds scrawled in the wake of the US women’s Open final, focus quickly became lost and one rather simple fact was ignored:
Take this tweet from ABC presenter, Virginia Trioli. She claimed to have read almost all there was to read about what had happened and only then had been moved to judgment by way of retweet with comment. The retweet was of a judgy columnist, Margaret Sullivan, who splatters words around for the Washington Post and the New York Times, sometimes in some recognisable order. She, in turn, was tweeting up a rapidly cobbled together think piece from Sally Jenkins at WaPo. Jenkins, Sullivan enthused, got it “exactly right.”
Full column here.
Penny, JB et al
Is the reason you defending a 9 year old to have political views is that you agree with them.
I seem to recall the outrage of an Islamist using his children as political pawns.
If the child, and she is a child, had expressed views such as limiting immigration, keeping the boat people on Nauru etc would you still be defending her and her parents?
You cannot have it both ways.
By the way, two of the worst examples of brainwashing the young is the Hitler Youth and the child soldiers of Africa.
One also could include many religious sects.
Be glad to hear your response.
You seem to be missing the point completely. I am defending the right of the child to have political views, and the right to chooses between parental guidance and that of an authoritarian state.
I don’t care what the child’s political views are , research shows they are just as likely to rebel against early learned political indoctrination as they get older anyway.
But, if I wanted to have it both ways, I would. You don’t make the rules, but I reckon you would if you had half a chance. Congratulations on the industrial grade non sequiturs, but I wouldn’t be stressing too much about the possibility of the child becoming a member of the Hitler Youth or an African child soldier. There is the risk to any child that they will fall into the clutches of religious organisations which will brainwash and inculcate them with fear and terror of fantastic imaginary beings with power over their lives.
That I object to strenuously and I would support any political movement to wipe out the practice and punish the parents and the priests for child abuse.
I’m you will be glad for this response.
The point you are missing is that a 9 year old is incapable of making informed decisions on such nebulous subjects as politics,
They are merely parroting what they have been told by their parents or in some cases your so called “authoritarian state” and are being used as a tool by the offending party to further their views and feel smug about it. .
Young people, like 9 year olds, are the easiest in the world to indoctrinate because they still think their parents and people in power are the font of all knowledge – changes a bit when they get to their teens. If you are not prepared to accept this, then any further discussion is pointless,
Leave them be children for goodness sake.
Jesus! Adults make “informed” opinions based on inputs from whence? If parents want to teach children about politics then good on them. The child might get a head start on thinking for themselves which might stand them in good stead n later life.
Children are indoctrinated in almost every aspect of life either by the osmosis of experience and observation or direct instruction. They are surrounded, overwhelmed by the garbage of entertainment and the media and you insist they cannot learn abstract things? Theres a reason if they cant, it’s because they are not encouraged.
What you are doing JS is trying to impose your view of what children should or can be on people who think differently from you.
Actually I am not JB and I never have.
I am vehemently opposed to parents using their children to promulgate their views.
The worst are those who try to compensate for their inadequacies at children’s sporting events by attacking referees etc.
If you really think that children have enough worldly experience to sort out politics then there is not much else I can say.
I have a 40 year old son who has difficulty with who is “left” and “right” in politics and even what it is.
And a daughter that, well, we never ever discuss politics.
I guess I failed.
Yes, you failed. You have disqualified yourself as a credible commentator on this subject.
I know when I was 9 years old I didn’t have a clue what a political view was. I was interested in outdoor pursuits.
Things have changed in the last 75 years Mack.
You must have a bloody good memory to remember that far back JB. Did you drive a model T at the time?
Again spot on
That is a ridiculous argument JS, drawing a really long bow there….Stop with the children’s should be seen and not heard argument, you remind me of the old farts in my childhood. My family did have conversations all the time about what is going on in the world and I carried it in on with my child and now my granddaughters….they are all incredibly intelligent. So no pretty poor argument there.
Nope.
At 9 years old a child is absorbing but not rationalizing Penny.
Rationalization comes from your own experience and exposure to many many facets of the wide world. A 9 year old can not have this experience – no matter how bright.
My all means involve them in the conversation but always give them both sides of the argument and teach them how to discern.
What you are missing, if I am so bold, is for a child to be so adamant that she is correct at the age of 9 and take a stance it is a pure reflection of her parent’s politics and nothing else.
I doubt if you are doing this to your grand children.
Didn’t do you any bloody good.
Penny, you did not answer the question as to whether you would have been comfortable if the child was supporting views other than the ones you were comfortable with.
I always feel very uncomfortable when I see Children holding up placards at demonstrations and the TV homing in on them. (The current topic is not that dissimilar.)
This problem, well I see it as a problem, seems to be getting more wide spread.
If I encountered a child who held such views, I would respectfully disagree based on the merits of their argument, without publicly attacking or impugning the motives of the child or their parents. How’s that for a crazy idea? We could call it, I don’t know, civil public discourse?
One thing’s for sure, such a child would not be subjected to the hate-media pile-on we just saw.
BTW, children of that age are perfectly capable of holding views independent of their parents’. At eight years old I was politically poles apart from my then-conservative parents. Since then, I’m glad to say they’ve mostly come around to my point of view (or at least, they prefer to have me believe that!).
Do you honestly think the parents, who I will guarantee are card carrying Greens / Socialist left / alliance, aren’t happy for this to have played out as it has JOH? My problem is I agree with the kid but as a 9yr old she is just parroting what she’s told. Intelligent kid who will no doubt become a corporate lawyer make a heap and will vote Liberal. Hopefully she won’t come to the law in her dotage and have to scrape for a living wondering what could have been…..
At the end of the day you too are just parroting what you have been told Razor, you have made your decisions based on an emotional affinity and peer reward one way or the other.
Unless you have an original thought to share?
I just did…..you didn’t get it.
What have I been told btw…….as for peer reward old bean….I have no doubt over coffee when you espouse your view you get an appropriate amount of nods from the dreadlocked brigade. Peer reward? Also do some research on the parents….or maybe you have?
Oh I get it! Although you agree with the kid, she shouldn’t that view because Razor doesn’t approve of the parents!
Have you tried turning it off and turning it on again Razor?
Irrelevant
Jeez mate, “come to the law in her dotage”??
I can’t understand how easily people have stigmatized this girl with everything from precocious, no friends, used as a tool & now she may be arrested down the line?
Following the same vein, perhaps she could even be a PM one day too cos they’re excellent at parroting everything the coal barons tell them they must say.
That was just Razor trying to insult me, in his own adorable, incoherent way. Always a sure sign he’s out of ammo.
It’s not about whether I agree with her views but I believe she has every right to hold them. She hasn’t hurt anyone nor has she pushed others to do the same thing so IMO it’s a very long stretch to link her behaviour to groups like “Hitler Youth”.
If you refer to “brainwashing” parenting, I’d be guilty as charged since my child knew, at seven, that there’s no excuse for animal cruelty.
At an overnight birthday party on acreage he managed to take cricket bats off other boys & hurl them into a dam because they were ‘hurting’ cane toads, not putting them to sleep in a freezer.
If she were mine I’d be kinda proud she took a stand but also let her know that the punishment for rocking society’s ‘expectations’ whilst on school premises may seem unfair but rules are best followed in there.
Such a fuss over such a small harmless decision.
Well played…..free speech is like beauty. It’s in the eye of the beholder.
Good grief the Libs saying in QT today that they have provided a quality Aged Care and Retirement Sector.
Only a day ago PM Morrison announced a Royal Commission into the Aged Care Sector!
Tonight on ABC’s 4Corners we are told to prepare for some of the most shocking revelations re the current state of Aged Care in Australia.
The Australian Voter is being treated as a dill by the Lib/Nats and we know what to do at the next election don’t we folks!
Call me old-fashioned and/or lily-livered but I’d prefer pilots to be mandatorily breath tested (not only for bad breath) rather than randomly breath tested.
Yep, you’re old fashioned and lily livered.
https://www.elitedaily.com/news/world/people-terrified-plane-crashes-even-though-rare/977885
Kissing pilots with bad breath may be uncomfortable Milton but it wont kill you.
That’s an interesting source, Jean. Elite Daily. Has their advice on dating been helpful? I gather from your ‘kissing pilots’ tip they employ the stiff upper lip stratagem. You’re better than that, girlfriend!
And your ”It’s too late baby” comment regarding the use of nuclear suggests you are from a different branch of the legendary Baptiste’s fighting for the Resistance.
Time to stiffen the sinews, Jean!!
Just what came up when I googled the stats Milton. But you know that.
And no, I have come to realise it is way to late too save humanity, even if we could convert to no emissions tomorrow it’s all over but the shouting. (It’s Too Late” is a song title.
As for trying to convince feeble climate denying morons that the cause of the demise of the species is C02, I shall continue not because it will make one iota of difference but because I have decided to enjoy it!
I’ll show you some sinew petal.
Well that’s it, I’m officially “old”
Ophalmologist I saw this morning said “if you were my mum I’d advise you to have it done now” ………..😳
Cataract surgery here I come, early stages but both eyes and I will no longer be as blind as a 🦇 which is no bad thing.
Last eye exam I was told I’d returned to 20/20, because the lenses were hardening.
That does not make you old, Tracy, not by a long shot. But if your experience is like mine five years ago, you may be treated as though you are. The day before my cataract operation I had a phone call from the hospital and a woman insisted on talking to me as if I were in my mid 80’s and with early stage dementia. Very loudly and very slowly she asked me ‘DO YOU USE A WALKING FRAME, MR XXX?’ I told her I did not. ‘DO YOU HAVE HELP AT HOME, MR XXX?’ I told her that I had a teenage son, but you would have to redefine the word ‘help’ for that to count. She never got it, and kept talking to me as if I were to be released from the dementia facility for the day for the cataract operation. I hope you are not treated like that!
Incidentally, the operation was carried out under sedation, rather than a general anaesthetic, but was really not distressing and recovery was fairly swift. Perhaps because I am not in my mid 80’s. However, last year I had a pterygium removed from my left eye under local anaesthetic and that was a very nasty experience indeed. I am supposed to have one removed from my right eye too, but am still building up the courage to go through it again.
Anyway, good luck with your cataract op.
Look out Tracy, with your “new eyes” you will be able to see through all the political crap from both sides with outstanding clarity and probably choose never to vote again 🙂
I’ve mostly been giving it a miss of late but i will have to tune in to Q&A tonight to hear Greer (feminist icon/provocateur – so says my tv guide) redefine rape and David Marr to wax and waffle, ex cathedra on everything else. Guaranteed to keep my ”outrage” valve in good working order.
I watched it for the first time in years, Milton. Not a bad panel either. Intelligent conversation – and Germaine is always a hoot,
Germaine used to be a very switched-on hoot but lost the plot somewhat last night. Rambled on & had to be pulled-up more than a few times Boa. Put me off. 😕
Boadicea, since you’re interested in conservation you might enjoy Q&A on 1/10 when John Butler, famous for his beautiful folk music and his passionate commitment to our environment, will be a guest.
This intelligent guy is not afraid to put himself out there & his political engagement for the protection of WA’s Kimberley Coast from the Woodside gas project is famous.
Regards, Bella
Nah. Watched it for about ten boring minutes then switched over to some documentary on a serial killer.
Nothing there to re-confirm you already held bias eh little milton.
Another quick Defining Moment in Aussie Politics, Mr. Insider if I may, last one and its John Howard in the 2001 Election campaign saying “We Will Decide who comes to this Country and the circumstances in which the Come”, on the back of the Tampa refugee pick up.
It was all over for Labor’s Kim Beazley that point, the Fat Lady had sung.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMe5mVutf5U
Little Kenny Wyatt, the Aged Care Minister, Mr. Insider looked positively stupid yesterday standing beside PM Morrison as he announced a Royal Commission into the Aged Care Sector. Kenny only recently told us how the sector was working like a “swiss watch” and denounced Labor for suggesting otherwise.
Tonight 4Corners on the ABC will lay the gory mess the sector is in before the Australian Public.
Kenny, you have enjoyed taking the “Queen’s Shilling” for quite a time, now time to go big boy and soon, another dud Liberal Minsiter!
It was just horrendous viewing, Henry. A living hell. Poor old darlings.
Frankly, voluntary euthanasia would be my preferred option if I had to choose.
It beggars belief that in some cases old people are shoved into these places by their children who then never even visit.
Very very depressing.
The Wentworth by-election will be really interesting.
So many issues around it.
I’m tipping Phelps. I think the mood of the electorate will run her way. The Liberal candidate, Sharma, is a very talented fellow and would be a welcome addition to the parliament but not this time and not in Wentworth. The Labor bloke is a good choice, too. local bloke, businessman. One an indy gets in, it’s almost impossible for the seat to go back to the majors.
I am with you there Mr. Insider, Ms. Kerryn Phelps by a big margin imho. Cheers
IMHO the winner will not have a big margin
As Georgina Downer discovered in the recent Mayo by-election. Ms Sharkie will need to make some terrible mistakes to lose at the general election next year.
Me too Jack.
For starters she’s a woman (that seems to be the latest hoo ha in the Libs ) and we’re all sick of the Libs self-destruction – even the good burghers of Wentworth i’m sure!!
Whos we? ………………….. “we’re all sick of the Libs self destruction- ” No WE are not.
Too much self destruction is barely enough.
There is something about the establishment attitude to outstanding black or mixed race athletes who excel in the traditionally white dominated elite sports. Cant quite put my finger on it, but Tiger Woods will be remembered for philandering and Serena Williams for a tanty. It’s a reassurance of the natural order of things in spite of the odd anomaly eh what!
And Greg Norman…
?
He philandered too , JB. Ran off with Chris Evert – even married her – but it didn’t last very long. Maybe that was whatTriv’s comment implied?
Will be remembered for the release of his somewhat bizarre nude photos recently. But he is white. All over.
Both greatly admired for their Sporting prowess, Mr. Baptiste but sadly both have blotted their copybooks with bad behavior on and off the sporting arena. Nothing to do with Race buddy. Cheers
We like to believe that Henry. Of course we do.
Althea Gibson, Evonne Cawley, Arthur Ashe, VJ Singh. Gary Sobers are mostly remembered for the sporting skills, JB.
Yes, impeccable. No failings to hammer out in glee ad infinitum ad nauseum there.
Rubbish! Boris Becker, how many in motorsports do you want? Next? You always take it a step too far old bean. Let me manage this subject!
Yeah sure.
https://www.thoughtco.com/examples-of-subtle-racism-2834960
If only the gift the giftie……………………
There appears to be a cacophony of comical conflation continuing on here about the national anthem issue. So much so, that some folk would have us believe that Australia has all of a sudden become a mean-spirited country devoid of its sense of a fair go. Such recent sentiments have apparently arisen as a result of the alleged reaction of “big brave media/politician types” who are accused of bullying and belittling a 9 year old lass who reportedly insisted upon sitting on her backside during school periods when the national anthem was being played. Whilst common sense would indicate a touch of simple childhood exhibitionism was at play, to compare and conflate the media/politicians’ alleged reaction in this instance, with locking children away for years in detention centres, is way out of the ball park.
Perhaps the young girl has a cunning plan to get a free pair of Nike’s?
Very clever Milton, you’re on fire
Yes Carl? Coincidentally it’s the same sort of people who advocate locking children in detention centres who also scream loudly about a child not mindlessly obeying the rules.
How about just a few teeny-weeny minimally acceptable guideposts to establish standards and behavior within society JB? We may need to resolve disputes and protect liberties and rights on occasions, but ONLY if one tippy-toes around the issues, eh. And definitely no elevated exchanges. And of course, any suggestion of obeying the rules is simply out of the question.
A gentle gabfest served up with a gob full of fairy-floss, eh me old mate?
Let me refine that for you Carl. “Do what I say. I know about these things. Take my word for it.”