Mr Howard: Could and Should Have

This whole nit-picking back-and-forth about what Mr Howard did and didn’t know concerning the children overboard affair is really starting to get me down. It’s completely beside the point. In fact, I suspect it is exactly what Mr Howard wants in the run up to an election.

This is the point: Mr Howard could and should have known the truth, and he could and should have told the truth.

Mr Howard could and should have known the truth because all the key players in the military and public service knew that Mr Howard was making false statements to the public. Mr Howard claims that nobody told him that he was making false statements.

Mr Howard could and should have told the truth, because elected leaders of democratic nations are supposed to represent the citizens, not keep them in the dark, or treat them tools in a quest for power.

I am left to conclude one of four things:

1. Mr Howard acted incompetently, failing to discharge his responsibilities to the Australian people.

1. The federal beauracracies withheld the truth from Mr Howard, and he has reacted with a complete absence of any concrete action to rectify the situation, a failure in his responsiblities as leader of the Australian Government.

1. Mr Howard knew that he was not telling the truth, and is still lying.

1. Mr Howard deliberately kept himself ignorant of the truth, and knows it. This is worse than a straight lie.

Can anyone offer an alternate explanation that is kinder to our Prime Minister? I am distressed with my own conclusions and would like to believe my country is not run by an someone who is either incompetent, weak, a liar or worse. Give me an option!

Whatever the truth, Mr Howard’s handling of this matter has not displayed the qualities I would like to see in an Australian Prime Minister.