Two cheers for Rudd!

What he says below sounds heartfelt, as it should be. He really is a patriot, whatever else his failings may be. And he shows a proper appreciation of the military, something rare among Leftists. I think the fact that he is a Queenslander has helped ensure that he has some good old-fashioned attitudes. Keating is just the bag of hate that he usually is. He seems to spend most of his life snarling at anything and everything. He must be a very unhappy man

Kevin Rudd says former Labor prime minister Paul Keating is wrong to reject the popular view that Australia was redeemed at Gallipoli. The Prime Minister said he believed Gallipoli was fundamental to the Australian national identity. "I think Paul is completely wrong on that, completely and utterly, absolutely 100 per cent wrong," he said on Fairfax radio in Sydney.

Speaking at a book launch in Sydney yesterday, Mr Keating said he had never visited Gallipoli and never would, and those who visited on Anzac day were misguided. He said he was disappointed some Australians still held the view that Australia was redeemed at Gallipoli. "An utter and complete nonsense," Mr Keating said. "Without seeking to simplify the then bonds of the empire and the implicit sense of obligation, or to diminish the bravery of our own men, we still go on as though the nation was born again or even was redeemed there."

Today Mr Rudd said Gallipoli was a searing national experience in which thousands and thousands of brave Australians lost their lives. "That is part of our national consciousness. It's part of our national psyche, it is part of our national identity," he said. "I, for one, as Prime Minister of the country, am absolutely proud of it."

Mr Rudd said the bottom line was that Australian men and women in uniform, whether on the shores of Gallipoli, on the western front, in the jungle at Kokoda, Milne Bay, Buna or Gona, right through to those now serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, gave us enormous pride. "The reason is they are engaged in ultimately a selfless act, putting their lives on the line for the rest of us," he said. "We may quibble as politicians and as the political community about some of the decisions which led to particular military engagements." But that was a matter for politicians, he said.

"The sheer naked act of courage of Australian men and women in uniform putting their lives on the line on behalf of all of us, that is the core to the shaping of the Australian national identity for more than 100 years," he said.

Source

Posted by John Ray. For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. For a daily survey of Australian politics, see AUSTRALIAN POLITICS Also, don't forget your roundup of Obama news and commentary at OBAMA WATCH (2). Email me (John Ray) here

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