Friday, April 11, 2014

Bob Carr's pomposity comes through loud and clear

Everyone is getting stuck into Bob Carr over his book Diary of a Foreign Minister. But as some have noted, some of the quotes people are having the most fun mocking are actually attempts at self-deprecation.

So why the confusion? The pundits getting stuck into Carr can't all be literal-minded idiots, can they?

I think the reason for this is that his sense of self-importance is so strong and constant that it just won't be shifted. Even when he's trying to send himself up he comes across as a right tosser. And that's because he just is.

This is what makes him unusual as a politician. Most of them have a high opinion of themselves, of course. And they're extremely ambitious. But they also usually have the emotional intelligence to know how they are perceived by the voting public. They manage to speak much more on their constituents' level and generally don't come across as poncing prats. They manage to deal with the relentless abuse that is part of the job by gradually training themselves to ignore it. They grow their thick hides slowly.

Carr, on the other hand, clearly sees himself as special and superior. His ability to ignore criticism hasn't come from bitter experience so much as the sincere belief that he's a blessing on democracy and that anyone who can't see that must be a mental infant.

Have a listen to this interview he gave to Ben Fordham and you'll see what I mean. Fordham flays him left right and centre. Most other pollies would likely lose their composure. But Carr just cheerfully blathers on regardless in the most stunningly arrogant way. You can imagine him hanging up the phone and not giving it another thought!

3 comments:

  1. After reading this story from Jason Morrison yesterday, I'd have to say that Carr, like Rudd, gets an ego boost from being as difficult as possible.
    Jooolya's memoirs, Carr's memoirs - the two-buck shops will be flooded with these unwanted tomes. All we need is Kevin to complete the unholy trinity.

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  2. Gotta laugh at your epithet for "Used Carr"--a "right tosser"
    My late old Dad used that one to effect too--and he could pick 'em,
    "Used" is so wrapped up in himself it makes me wonder just what his childhood was like for him to have such an overwhelmingly supreme faith in himself as totally superior that it drowns out common sense!

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  3. Update - it seems the 'self-deprecation' was a strategic response to overwhelmingly negative feedback.

    http://morningmail.org/carr-fairfax/#more-9628

    Via Menzies House.

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