Chutzpah

You have to admire Laura Tingle’s chutzpah. In her Friday AFR column she claims that the ALP has no chutzpah and can take some lessons from the Coalition!

Such chutzpah has always been in short supply in the Labor ranks of 2007-12.

(Maybe Tony Abbott has sucked all the available chutzpah out of the atmosphere.)

Despite all the words written about spin doctors, and the delusion that it can control the media cycle, the Labor government has always had a bit of trouble exuding that “we know exactly where we are going and why we are doing it” ring of confidence.

So over the holiday break, Labor will need to take some chutzpah lessons, or hope to get some in its Christmas stocking.

Mind you – she is half-right. This government has never exuded

that “we know exactly where we are going and why we are doing it” ring of confidence.

Probably because they are useless, incompetent gits. They know it, we know it.

But being confident while incompetent isn’t the meaning of chutzpah.

This government has heaps of chutzpah.

As Tingle recognises:

… you can get away with almost anything in politics with the right amount of chutzpah.

Journalists too, it seems.