Call me incredulous

I love the Sunday political interviews; obviously with nothing better to do (why don't you go to church you alleged Christians?) they do the rounds of interviews snippets of which are then replayed on various news bulletins short of genuine stories. {I know from my days as a Synod Media Officer that I used to love Sundays and desperately hoped no one would get eaten by a shark and so gazump us on the 6 oçlock news).
Any way this morning we see the Rudd-slurring machine was out in full force.
First doubt was cast on Kevin's version fo what happened to his family when he was a child. Did they get evicted from their farm or not. Now, anyone knows that we get curious ideas of what may or may not have happened. When a parent dies and you share stories with your siblings you often realise that you often have a different perspective. You may even, because of youth, totally misunderstand things. Now that is different for example than lying about whether or not you actually got a PhD, or stretching the truth about whether or not you avoided military service (as Mr Bush appears to have done). So let's get real fellahs and start talking about this guy is on about, not about how naive he was when he was 10.
Ah say the aptly named Abbot and Costello's of this world with their mate Alex (yes the one who likes to wear tights and high heels) but it goes to the fact of whether you can trust him.
So push me over and make me eat a banana covered in mustard if yesterday I didn't hear also Costello and Downer say two of the most bizarre things I have heard in this current round of mud-slinging.
Costello: Nobody's hurled more mud in the Parliament than Mr Rudd.
WRONG- You Mr Costello are mud thrower extraordinaire!
Downer: This is a man who will say absolutely anything to get elected
WRONG-You Mr Downer will say, and are saying, anything.

What has caused this total distortion of the truth? The truth is they have been in office too long and have begun believing their own version of reality. It is a strange (forgive me if I have told you this before) I met Downer briefly a couple of times at school functions. In one conversation when he was pontificating about the Keating government I was surprised how vitriolic he was.
The things is, he said, they are so arrogant!
It's true PaulKeating was, but so was Hawke and Fraser and Menzies and who ever. I realised then that political arrogance is not so much a personal characteristic as a part of the baggage of office. I predicted that within a few years of election we would say the same thing about a Liberal government. It is called, I suspect, hubris.

We are witnessing political game playing at its absolute worst when the mud thrower extraordinaire will accuse his opponent of his own most obvious fault. And when the mouth in fish net stockings will likewise accuse the same of saying anything to get elected.
Surely, as titillating as this is, the electorate must demand more of its politicians than this demeaning name calling which says more about the absuers than the absued.