There are some Australian politicians whose lives would be vastly enriched by a sudden infusion of lead. Barnaby Joyce, for instance. Big throbbing purple head. A sniper's dream. He looks like a squirter. Or Peter Dutton. What's the point of him, exactly? Is it a bad thing that we've altogether excluded assassination from the range of polite political options? Let's make this boy-related. When I was ten, I wrote a homework essay proposing that the prime minister of my country should be shot. In retrospect, I do think that my teachers and parents were correct in their negative evaluation of this work. At the time I was resentful, but now I take their criticism on-board. But chiefly because I misspelled the word 'assassinate.' I've never made this mistake again. |