Comedy act: Why the laugh’s on bumbling Shanghai Sam
IT’S an old political axiom that the only thing worse than being disliked is being laughed at, and sadly for Sam Dastyari that’s where he now stands .
Opinion
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- DASTYARI: ‘I’M SORRY, I MADE A MISTAKE’
- SAM ASKING A CHINESE FIRM TO PAY HIS BILLS
- DASTYARI IN HOT WATER OVER ASIAN INVESTOR LINKS
- BOLT: HOW MUCH HAVE THE CHINESE PAID THEIR MATE
THE ongoing saga of Sam Dastyari’s China syndrome has now finally gone from fiasco to farce. The young senator proved this in his confused 25-minute media conference yesterday.
It is an old political axiom that the only thing worse than being disliked is being laughed at, and sadly for Sam that is where he now stands.
The question of why he solicited a $1670 travel payment from a Chinese company and how or whether that affected his position on China is a serious one. His answers, by contrast, are laughable.
Australians are often forgiving of political stuff-ups — let’s face it, we have to be — but we won’t tolerate being treated like fools.
Explaining away what appears to be a pervasive web of Chinese influence in sections of the Labor Party as Dastyari’s “bias towards action” or “driven” personality is, frankly, silly. Serious questions demand serious answers.
And, if people don’t get them they expect serious consequences.
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