July 5, 2004
HOW DO YOU SAY "PUT A FORK IN HIM" IN AUSTRALIAN?:
Latham hits back over 'dirty tricks' (Michelle Grattan, July 6, 2004, The Age)
An emotional Mark Latham yesterday said he had been falsely accused of sexual harassment for years and denied rumours of a compromising bucks night video in an extraordinary news conference called "to clear the air".Close to tears and with his voice choking, the Opposition Leader assured the Australian people he had "the character and policies to be a good prime minister". He blamed his first wife, old political enemies on Sydney's Liverpool council, and the Howard Government for spreading rumours about him, and called on John Howard to "disband the dirt units".
Mr Latham also said defiantly: "The one thing I will never apologise for - I'm not a single dimension person."
That immediately moves into contention with last month's "pickle" quote from Bill Clinton as the most indecipherable utterance of a politician in 2004. Posted by orrinj at July 5, 2004 6:04 PM
No, I think the pickle quote is more puzzling. All Latham means is "I'm not one of those narrow people who's never done anything wrong."
Posted by: PapayaSF at July 5, 2004 10:44 PMHe's not Christ?
Posted by: oj at July 5, 2004 11:43 PMAs I understand it, Latham is claiming to be in possession of at least two of the following three dimensions: height, width and/or depth. If he claims to be four-dimensional and can travel through time, that's probably worthy of at least another press conference.
Posted by: John at July 6, 2004 12:05 AMNothing indecipherable about it at all. He means that he sees no reason why a marriage or his wife's feelings should interfere with his rich and varied sex life.
Posted by: Peter B at July 6, 2004 10:00 AMPeter:
Even assuming morality is merely a dimension, why would you brag about being multi-dimennsional?
Posted by: oj at July 6, 2004 10:24 AMOrrin:
Maybe because he believes the best defense is a good offence. Kind of reminds me of the modern types who confess affairs to their spouses and then, when the you-know-what hits the fan, become indignant that they get no credit for being honest.