Sometimes it's hard to like someone you like

It says a lot about John and Jane Doe's ability to accurately assess information, that whenever I write something unfavourable about Prime Minister John Howard, I have to explain that I actually like the guy and would continue to vote for him.

However, that does not mean I have to blindly agree with everything he does - a concept that appears lost on certain people who every time I write something negative about his policies, send emails telling me I am anti-Howard. It's a scary thought to realise that such people are allowed to vote, which just goes to show that democracy and unionism are eroded by the participation of the class technically known as, "complete wankers."

Having got that out of the way, I would like to say that although he has adopted many positive and beneficial policies - some of his thinking is straight out of the 1950s.

Take for instance the way he stubbornly refuses to acknowledge modern technology and communications. For example, government regulation has resulted in pay TV being a complete cock-up that very few people subscribe to. It says a lot about the system here that one television campaign by a pay TV network, features M.A.SH as a drawcard. Fair enough you might say - but it is shown during the commercial break of a free-to-air broadcast of the very same show!

It is the same with the Internet. Broadband here is a farce that even the ISPs admit is "crap". We have been promised high-speed broadband within three years for God's sake.

Last night I was having a net conference with a potential client in Gondar in Ethiopia - and his connection was far better than mine. No offence intended towards Ethiopia, but surely Australia could at least come close to that standard.

Another thing - his determination to instil 1950s family values in the home and in schools. If he had his way, schools would only teach 'reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic and Australian history. It would be institutionalised flag-saluting, prayer saying, oath-taking, religion (Christian of course) and nationalism based largely on myth and selective memory.

When it comes to technology and communications, Howard's slogan appears to be, "Advance Australia Backwards."

Just one other thing - would his wife please stop trying to dress like Laura Bush and just once wear something that doesn't appear to be a left over prop from a 1950s family drama movie.