superdude17*

Nothing lasts forever, and no one is indispensable. Great men rise, and great men fall. a trueand great giant has fallen.

Not since Lady Margaret Thatcher was brought down by a revolt in her own party in 1990 has conservatism…and the world…suffered such a blow. Nevertheless, it is the very freedom and democracy that civilized people everywhere cherish that forces us to accept decisions, no matter how horrible they may be. The people of Australia have spoken, and after four terms as Prime Minister, John Howard and his conservative ruling coalition were defeated by his opponents in Labour.

Make no mistake about it. This short, bald, undistinguished looking man who ran Australia was a giant. On economics, Australia’s budget was balanced during his reign. Australia has no deficit. The whole nation has a surplus.

On immigration, John Howard was a hardliner. Immigrants who came were expected to assimilate, and conform to Australian values. Those who refused to do so were to leave, with the help of the Australian government.

On the defining issue of our time, the War on Terror, John Howard was a staunch ally of America. He articulated the Bush Doctrine better than President Bush did. During his tenure, he, President Bush, and Tony Blair continued with what is known as “The Angloshpere.” With help from former Prime Ministers Aznar of Spain and Berlusconi of Italy, Australia was on the front lines as being an absolute and unwavering defender of American values.

Australian political analysts, who if they were any less qualified to do anything would be American pundits, kept predicting electoral defeat for Mr. Howard. He kept confounding them. What the pundits failed to understand is that like Ronald Reagan, Mr. Howard talked right past the media that looked down on him. He spoke plainly to the people. The more he was attacked for being a regular guy, the more regular guys liked him.

John Howard won elections because he got the job done. He managed Australia deftly through the Asian financial crisis a decade ago. He went after regulations the way he went after Al Queda, vigorously. He condemned the nightclub bombings in Bali, and kept pointing out that those bombings occurred well before the war with Iraq. He did not offer excuses. He simply condemned barbarism in the strongest possible terms, whether it be 9/11, the Bali bombings, or the attacks on Israel that Mr. Howard understood were pure evil. He knew right from wrong, and he expressed it with a bullhorn.
So why did Mr. Howard lose? Because he was a victim of his own success. When their are no more perceived external threats to conquer, be they Islamofacists or inflation, people gaze inward. This is why the ROman Empire fell, and why lady Thatcher was brought down. When people are happy, they become complacent, and laziness needs to a yearning for more. Governing is not sexy. Mr. Howard was not sexy. He simply did the job in an unflashy way. For many people, peace and tranquility is equated with stagnation and boredom.

Today is a day of joy and mourning for people all over the world. The joy comes in the form of a free and fair election, where after ruling for so long, a prime minister will relinquish his seat with no bloodshed, and without lawyers contesting the results and crying about fake fraud. A peaceful transition of power will occur, and Australia will continue to go about daily life. Some say things are so peaceful that the difference in power will be negligible.

The mourning comes in the form of seeing one of the greatest world leaders in the history of government go down to defeat. John Howard was one of the very best, and his electoral loss is a loss for the world.

From one American citizen, I say thank you Mr. Howard. Thank you, and may God bless you for your fine principled leadership. The 21st century has gotten off to a brutal beginning, and very few people could have navigated through such torrentially monstrous waters. Thank you for being one of them. You will be missed.

Godspeed Mr. Howard.

Australia I guess can depend on its other allies: them being Fiji, Norfolk, Solomon, New Zealand, Papau New Guinea and other Oceanic countries. I am sure they make better allies than the terrible United States.

Best of luck, cheers