Liberal Senator Alex Antic has been siding with America's extreme right wing while slamming Australia's COVID-19 response, writes Ross Jones.
“DRAIN THE BILLABONG”. That’s what SA Liberal Senator Alex Antic wants to do.
Antic was being interviewed by Steve Bannon on Bannon’s War Room podcast, Steve’s direct line to America’s rabid Right.
Apart from being politically dangerous, Bannon is a man currently facing prison time.
Steve has been charged with criminal contempt for defying a subpoena from Congress to spill what he knows about the coup attempt:
‘Bannon faces two counts of criminal contempt: one for refusing to appear for a congressional deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents in response to the committee’s subpoena.’
Bannon has pleaded not guilty but will not face trial until July 2022:
‘Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who has been charged with two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, is scheduled to stand trial on July 18.’
Bannon faces a year on each charge:
‘The charges against Bannon each carry a maximum sentence of one year in gaol and may serve as a warning to others seeking to avoid or defy the 6 January committee.’
Steve recently had a near miss with the orange suit after he and a few mates started a fundraising campaign (allegedly) designed to fleece Trump’s much-vaunted Republican base and brilliantly called it ‘We Build the Wall’.
Too easy, as our Australian Senator might say.
But just as things were looking rosy:
‘Former Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon pleaded not guilty on Thursday hours after being arrested on a luxury yacht for allegedly skimming donations from an online fundraising campaign for the President’s controversial border wall with Mexico.’
Just hours before his time was finally up, the ex-President pardoned his one-time adviser:
‘President Donald Trump pardoned his former chief strategist Steve Bannon in a last-minute decision made only hours before he is scheduled to depart the White House for a final time.’
But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t guilty as charged:
After some wrangling over the consequences of Trump’s pardon, Judge Torres dismissed the indictment as to Bannon — but not without first opining that Trump’s former chief strategist’s acceptance of the pardon could be seen as an acknowledgment of his guilt.
...from the country’s earliest days, courts, including the Supreme Court, have acknowledged that even if there is no formal admission of guilt, the issuance of a pardon may “carry an imputation of guilt; acceptance a confession of it”.
Bannon’s mates weren’t so lucky:
‘Trump never granted clemency to Kolfage, Badolato or Shea, who were charged in the same case as Bannon — but unlike him, were never employed by the 45th President’s administration.’
Their trial is continuing and is scheduled to run through December 2021.
Alex Antic knew exactly what kind of person Bannon was when he had a Zoom interview with him on 9 December.
Antic was in an Adelaide quarantine hotel:
South Australian Liberal Senator Alex Antic has hit out at the state’s “bureaucratic overlords” after being placed in hotel quarantine upon his return to Adelaide.
The vaccine mandate critic left Canberra on Thursday when Federal Parliament finished sitting for the year.
Under border changes that took effect on 23 November, all unvaccinated travellers to SA must quarantine for 14 days on arrival.
Being one of the members of the coy Right, Antic won’t reveal his vaccination status, but:
‘Senator Antic, who’s declined to reveal his vaccination status, appears to have been caught by the rule.’
Rule? For me, you mean?
Alex was indignant and who better to speak with when you’re indignant than the Prince of Indignation, Steve Bannon?
Alex ranted to Steve about unelected bureaucrats, forced incarceration, police guards and vaccine fascists generally. Steve said American patriots would do all they could to help their Aussie buddies.
Check the video, it’s both hilarious and scary.
Alex didn’t tell Steve that Australia’s COVID-19 death rate stands at 82.16 per million while the United States it is 2,409 per million.
That’s a lot of grief.
And it’s Steve’s suckers bearing the brunt of it:
‘Americans in heavily Trump-supporting counties were more than three times as likely to die from COVID-19 in October than those in heavily Biden-supporting counties, with death rates of 25 per 100,000 people and 7.8 per 100,000 people, respectively, according to the New York Times report.’
Alex winged it into the Senate from third place on the SA Liberal ticket in the 2019 Election and is not due for re-election until 2025, so he will be pushing his dangerous delusions until then.
Antic has become the poster boy for Australia’s Bunyip Trumpists.
His efforts to ingratiate himself with the real “Made In USA” model is a desire to be the leader of the local sycophants, basking in the reflected glow of old two-shirts himself.
“Drain the billabong” is an insulting cultural cringe of no obvious relevance, just sucking up to Steve.
Alex probably doesn’t realise a billabong is an entirely different aquatic environment from a swamp.
Swaggies for one.
Drain the Liberal Party, I say.
Investigations editor Ross Jones is a licensed private enquiry agent and the author of 'Ashbygate: The Plot to Destroy Australia's Speaker'. You can follow Ross on Twitter @RPZJones.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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