More fun with Keysar Trad

Keysar is a spokesman of some sort for some section of the Islamic community. Buggered if I know which bit. Does he represent the Sunni and Shia and the other various offshoots that we rarely if ever hear about? If someone set themselves up as a spokesman for the Christian community, he'd no doubt be asked whether he represents the Anglicans or the left-footers, the Baptists, Presbetyrians, anabaptists, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, born-again, the Mennenites or the Amish.

But it would be rude, and possibly racist, to ask such questions of a Muslim.

Think for a moment about the types of people that have traditionally been held up to represent a certain ethnic community. If you go down to Chinatown, there's a plaque or a statue of one of the early Chinese "community leaders" (as we love to call them these days) - he was a self made businessman who made his fortune here and went on to support various worthy causes with his own money.

If you visit a club from one of the longer established ethnic groups, like the Italian Club or the Croatian Club or the Irish Club, there will be paintings and plaques and statues of the leaders who founded and built those clubs, and who "led" their communities for decades.

Consider the entirely ficticious character of Mario Four-lips, who came to Australia as a PoW in 1942, stayed on after the war and built a fortune in smallgoods and trucking. In the early 1960's, him and his other magnate mates decided that it was time the Italians made their mark as good citizens, so they passed the hat around and ran a few chook raffles and built a club. From this club, they dispensed scholarships and charity and good works to their community, and when they died, they were content that their efforts had been well made and their rewards well spent.

The idea of asking the government for a handout to build the club would have been laughable. These men (for they all would have been men) were not idlers and scroungers and tax-suckers; they were builders (literally and metaphorically). They built these things via the old route of "public subscription".

How many were public servants? Possibly none.

How many were on some sort of government assistance? Definitely none.

It is quite apt to look back and fondly describe them as "pillars of the community".

Now look at the sorry lot that we have today.

Especially Keysar Trad.

According to his bio, he worked for the Tax Office until 1998, then left "for love". It is not clear what he has done for a crust since then, but as he has bred 9 kids, I'd say that "Family tax benefit parts A & B" are his main sources of income.

There are no signs of building or running a business. His only skills appear to be that of annoying governments so that they give him money to shut him up.

I wouldn't mind the bloke if he was a succesful kebab multi-millionaire, handing out his own cash to turn us into an ultra-conservative branch of the Saudi empire, but he's not. He's a bum; a leech; a tick. He takes our money, and then craps on us and wipes his bum on a fistful of welfare provided hundred dollar bills.

Frankly, if you were a community trying to establish yourself as an upright member of the Australian melting pot, would you want this guy as your figurehead? I'd be frightfully fucking embarassed everytime his stupid mug came on the tube, because all he represents is failure. Who respects failure?

Then again, when you consider that most Muslim states are hopelessly fucked up failures, he could make a good living as being an Ambassador for them instead of living off us.