Martyrdom beckons with backlash over (Aussie bigot) Hanson sentence

[KamaAina]

Wouldn't you just know it? Finally, one of these right-wing bigoted wastes of oxygen gets what's coming to her -- and now everyone's rallying behind poor, put-upon Pauline! :puke:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3519359&thesection=news&thesubsection=world

As Pauline Hanson began a 3-year jail term in Brisbane Women's Prison yesterday the xenophobic leader of the far-right One Nation Party finally gained the sympathy of most of Australia.

Talkback radio was flooded by callers professing to oppose her political views but outraged at a no-parole sentence they believed far outweighed the seriousness of the offence and which was harsher than many imposed for violent crimes....

So good to know they have "talkback" radio Down Under </sarcasm> I wonder who the Aussie Rush is?

In case you're wondering just what makes Pauline Hanson so vile, here are a few gems, straight from the horse's ass, uh, mouth:

SEPT 1996: "I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians. They have their own culture and religion, form ghettos and do not assimilate." Hanson's maiden speech to Parliament.

NOV 13, 1996: "I'm not a redneck, I'm not a racist, and I won't be called one. I'm a realist, a realist in what direction I want to see this country go."...

OCT 13, 1998: "Please explain?" Pauline Hanson responding to a question from (Aussie) 60 Minutes journalist Tracey Curro on whether she was xenophobic.

[Caution]

1. Being a bigot is not a jailable offense

Defrauding elections and stealing half a million dollars are and that is what she was jailed for. Your post is misleading.

While I may agree that she is a contemptible bigot, I would agree that jailing someone for the views they hold would be a terrible thing (and 3 years! come on people...3 years sounds like a small amount because in this country we constantly hear the drumbeat of "throw em in jail and throw away the key" but 3 years is a long-ass time. you lose family, friends, your career is shot to hell, use some common sense and empathy).

This woman was jailed for something other than being a bigot (though being a bigot may explain her reasoning behind the jailable offenses she committed).

3 years for election fraud and $500,000 in another form of fraud is a pretty harsh punishment especially when compared to the sentences handed out for violent crimes. Just because someone is a contemptible person does not change what she was actually convicted of.

[liberalhistorian]

2. Well I, for one, sure as hell ain't shedding any tears for

her! If three years is a "long-ass time", as you put it, she should have thought of that before committing any crime. Her problem is that she was so arrogant she thought she could do whatever she wanted and get away with it. If someone non-white had done what she did, she would have been screaming for their lifelong imprisonment.

[Caution]

3. I don't advocate her walking free but

How can you justify giving someone a 3 year sentence for election fraud who is a first time criminal offender (it wasn't even all that egregious from what I've read about it) when the same judge "Wolfe imposed a sentence of only six months' jail for a 52-year-old man who had molested an 11-year-old girl in her bed, and who had a history of sexual, drug and violent offences." The punishment should fit the crime, it's as simple as that and justice is supposed to be blind. You cannot give this woman a harsh sentence because you disagree with her values, the sentence should be given based upon the severity of the crime, the likelihood of a repeat offense and the deterrant value of the sentence.

[Pert_UK]

9. Come on now, you know that stealing is worse than child abuse...

:eyes:

I always find it unbelievable when someone gets 5 years in prison for embezzling $1m but someone else gets 3 years for rape...

I shed no tears for this woman, and would rather than crimes against people received higher jail sentences rather than electoral fraud being reduced in severity.

P.

[KamaAina]

4. Electoral fraud, however, is (at least in Australia)

Hanson, aged 49, and One Nation co-founder David Ettridge, 58, were jailed on Wednesday for electoral fraud by falsely claiming 500 supporters of the party were bone fide members to qualify for registration in Queensland.

Hanson was further jailed concurrently for three years for defrauding the Queensland Electoral Office of A$500,000 ($559,817).

Ms. Hanson's mistake was that she failed to move to Florida, where she and Cruella Harris would have got on famously, and where electoral fraud is apparently treated less seriously than jaywalking.

As for the description "Aussie bigot", the actual headline just said "Hanson". Without the description, half of DU would now be thinking that performing "MMMBop" in public is a jailable offense!!

[Mal]

5. "Without the description,

half of DU would now be thinking that performing "MMMBop" in public is a jailable offense!!"

It is.

[FlemingsGhost]

8. I'd say election fraud can be a horribly serious offense.

How many human lives have needlessly ended as a result of 12/12/00?

(edited for clarity)

[Mal]

6. It's ridiculous.

I disliked her, and despised her politics, but basically all she did was fudged the figures of how many were in her party. Criminal offense? Yes. So convict her, give everyone involved a large fine, perhaps some community service, and leave it at that. It certainly doesn't require a prison sentence. A criminal conviction rules her out of politics anyway.
How tin-foil-hat would it be of me to wonder if the severity of the sentence has some relation to her daring to take votes away from the main parties?

[rooboy]

7. Pauline virtually lives in my backyard...

even closer now, because the prison is only 10 minutes' drive up the road!!!

imho, there are a few arguments in all of this:

* First of all, she broke the electoral laws, and in our country, you don't screw with the Electoral Commission. That's the way things should be. Their party only had 3 members. Her "supporters" thought they had a say in how the party was run when in fact, they didn't.

That said, there is no doubt that she had enough support in the country to justify being made a political party. It was an "administrative" dishonesty which really reflects how amateurish One Nation was as a party - they didn't know what the hell they were doing.

* As one politician said, Pauline's always been in favor of stiffer sentences for criminal offences - so she shouldn't complain that she got one.

* Many of the anti-immigration policies she espoused have been taken up by the Howard government - and made more extreme.

* The REAL fascist in her party was David Oldfield, who somehow didn't even face trial - he's a state senator in New South Wales, and is behind the website www.muslimterrorists.com - what a lovely guy.

* I'm no friend of Pauline Hanson. But she was a kind of a "reverse Paul Wellstone" - the major parties had become too elitist and had completely forgotten about the little people. I don't doubt her sincerity that she really thought she was helping the average Australian. She's a lot older and wiser now, too.

[dudeness]

10. Gday rooboy

I certainly cannot find much sympathy for her amongst the circles I move in..unfortunately her legacy will be (as you correctly state) forcing howard even further to the right..but one positive for me anyhow is that labor may be returning to its traditional base as a reaction to howard..

[Mal]

11. So you're a Queenslander?

Then may I just say... Go the Knights!

Edit : Ya bloody cane-toad :P