Julia Gillard in John and Bill's 1950s utopia...A lot has been said about Bill Heffernan's 'deliberately barren' comment about Julia Gillard, and rightly so (not forgetting that he originally made the comment a year ago and only reiterated his views this week, finally sparking the outrage his attitudes deserved).
What gets me is that Bill Heffernan is a good friend of John Howard's. Tony Abbott stuck up for Heffernan as 'a great bloke'.
I don't know how other people choose their friends, and I don't know how other people might define a 'great bloke', but I don't include people who express bigoted and repulsive views in my circle of friends, and I certainly wouldn't describe someone who expressed them as 'a great bloke' (or woman, depending on who's spouting the crap).
According to an article in the SMH, here's what John Howard initially had to say on the matter:
"I mean people say funny things all the time and the question of whether they apologise for them is a matter for them. If she wants to take that up with him, well look, she can. I'm conventionally married and have children, as are many people, but if people for whatever reason choose not to, well that's their business and it should not be a subject of comment."
Bill Heffernan's views and John Howard's response to the furore really says a lot about the calibre of the 'men' running this country.
UPDATE: Magic Bellybutton has spotted another beautiful example of similar bullshit being spouted by Victorian Liberal MP Ken Smith. Of course, one could say all sorts of things about the looks of various MPs in parliament (grey and boring are two words that spring to mind), but it's true that when female politicians are mentioned, their looks more often come into the equation than similar discussions of their male counterparts.
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