Why I hate politics, or at least politicians...

Warning:  Highly opinionated blog ahead.  There will be controversial topics, bad mouthing of Australian Members of Parliament, and in all likelihood a great deal of swearing.  By all means, skip this one if you think it might in any way offend.  

We all on the same page now?  Good, on with the ranting.

So I'm not really someone who knows much about politics.  I don't pay much attention to Question Time, discussions about it bore me to tears, and more often than not I find myself voting for Donald Duck rather than one of the names on the ballot.

Alright, so in the last election I voted for the Greens ... but that's only because the Greens member was outside the polling booth and shook my hand before I went it!  She was this sweet little old lady who looked like she wanted to call me "dearie" and offer me a butterscotch!  I couldn't NOT vote for her when she was so nice!

Yeah, I'm kind of a marketer's dream, I know.

But the point I'm trying to make is, generally speaking, I'm not politically minded.

Even so, the other day when I was watching a youtube video I found myself outraged, as I'm sure most rational people would.  The video was of a fellow Australian discussing some of the speeches made in opposition to the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill ... or to put it more plainly, some politicians opposing gay marriage.

Pretty much all of the opposing speeches were abysmal, but nothing you wouldn't expect in such a situation.  Old, conservative men with their old, conservative ideas, really nothing we haven't seen a hundred times before.  Sure it's ridiculous, and sure I would kind of like to smack them for holding our country back in such a stupid way, but it's not the first time and it certainly won't be the last that politicians are too stupid, bigoted or scared to do the right thing.

But one of the speeches was, I though, particularly awful.  Not because he said anything more offensive or outrageous than any of the others, not because he was any more of a bigot than the rest of them.  Here, have a read for yourselves.

Marriage as a legal institution corresponds to the reality of what marriage is: the unique sharing by a man and a woman in all aspects of life. However, the purpose of marriage as a legal institution relates specifically to the distinctive biological possibilities of this union. Some people say, wrongly, that this means couples who do not produce children are not really married. Whether or not children are produced does not change this, as I can attest from my own circumstances on this very day—the 29th anniversary of my marriage to Adriana. Happy anniversary, Honey.

John Murphy, MP.

Yep, he seriously went there.  Here he is, an Australian politician opposing gay marriage, and he actually went and WISHED HIS WIFE A HAPPY ANNIVERSARY IN HIS FUCKING OPPOSITION SPEECH!  I don't think that there are words to describe just how much of a douche nozzle this guy is.

You know what, dude?  It's bad enough that in this day and age we still have to worry about the fact that the people in power have such stupid, provincial, backwards beliefs.  But to watch as you make a speech that essentially says you believe that 10% of the population don't deserve the same rights as everyone else while rubbing in your own happy marriage is just about the biggest dick move I've ever seen!

Congratulations, Mr Murphy, MP, you just won my Douchebag of the Week award.