I’m in such a cbf mood.
First day of uni today. I wonder if I’ll be able to stay awake the whole week.
Monday/Tuesday are my longest days. I’m freaking ecstatic that I have Friday off. The way I used to get through the school week was to look to the final class on Friday, knowing that from then until Monday, I was pretty much free (besides homework and study, haha). Now I can do the same but for Thursday ^__^
I liked my Contract A lecture a lot, mostly because we discussed the kind of law I am actually interested in— uh, duhhh, contracts and legally binding things. Intro to Legal Reasoning or ILR was preeeetty boring, it was the administrative lesson though, so it was bound to be boring. One thing I kind of found interesting was this quick discussion about the Kevin Rudd vs. Julia Gillard situation. Basically, the lecturer asked: Why is there suddenly a ballot for the Labor leadership?
Why is Rudd going up against Gillard, when it is quite clear that Gillard will win?
I laughed when he suggested perhaps Rudd has some psychological reasoning for it. He said that maybe Rudd has just totally misread the situation.
I must disagree. I think Rudd knew exactly what he was doing all along. I just find it so funny that someone can just assume he has some narcisstic motive for the whole thing and thought wrong this entire time— he WAS the Prime Minister once, give him a little credit. His perculiar actions must have some reasoning.
From what I have seen, Rudd has tried very hard to keep in the public eye, right from the moment his position as PM was usurped. First playing the loyal Labor party member, gracefully stepping down from the role as he is somewhat “betrayed” by other members— presenting his leaving speach in tears, even, to show his discontent for what had happened. Gathering sympathy from the public by being the mistreated, bullied PM. That was step one.
Step two, continue to be talked about in media. The worst thing you can do, in a democratic system of government where a voting method is in place, is to become invisible. As Foreign Affairs minister, Rudd was able to keep in public eye through his travelling role.
At the peak of Gillards unpopularity, Rudd made the biggest move you can make. Stepping down from a seemingly solid role as a minister with what seemed like EVERYTHING on the line, in order to challenge for Labor leader.
Now, I feel that Rudd knew that he would lose. This is just my theory, LOL it sounds like a conspiracy theory but anyway. I remember that Rudd called to the public before announcing he would run in the ballot; he said that the public should let their views be heard, suggesting for them to call their local MP’s, etc.
Before any of these challenges even occurred, Rudd and Gillards popularity in the public was polled; favourably towards Rudd.
As the ballot is decided by other Labor ministers and not the people, of course he would lose. However, the law is supposed to represent the views and values of the people. If Rudd loses the ballot, perhaps he was relying on some kind of public outroar or a larger following in protest of his loss. The “faceless men” aka, the Labor MP’s voting on the ballot, are the enemy in the eyes of the public for ignoring the desires of the majority. Therefore, loosening Labor’s hold on the people and placing Gillards position further at risk. Even though he lost, he is probably counting on Gillard to make more mistakes and lose more popularity; all while keeping in clear view of the public eye. He can even afford to make promises to not challenge Gillard again— because who will Labor turn to when an election comes around and Gillard won’t win it? They’ll turn to the guy who is popular with the public, Kevin Rudd. No need to challenge, they’ll beg him to come back. Trickyyy.
Well, that’s what I think he’s planning. I’m not sure whether it will work, but it’s pretty interesting in my opinion. It reminds me of Death Note for some reason, LOLolol.