Rainbows good, skulls bad? Army seems to be cool with PC symbols only

You can wear this in the Australian Army. The force’s official website:

The Army indigenous Lapel Pin was designed in 2011 to promote the Army’s commitment to indigenous Australians and celebrate the long and proud history of indigenous service in the Army.

And you can add a rainbow if you like. LGBTI defence group DEFGLIS’s online store:

The Official Australian Army LGBTI Pride Pin released by Army headquarters. On the Army Pride Lapel Pin, the colours of the Rainbow Flag proudly surround the Army’s Rising Sun. Together these elements are symbolic of the Army as an inclusive organisation that respects diversity and supports LGBTI soldiers and ­officers.

But those skulls and bones have got to go. New Defence chief Angus Campbell’s edict, April 17:

... symbology/iconography: for example the pirate skull and crossbones (maritime outlaws and murderers), the Phantom or Punisher symbols (vigilantes), Spartans (extreme militarism) or the Grim Reaper (bringer of death) ... I ask that you take immediate action to explain and remove such symbology/iconography ...

A Defence spokesperson went out of their way to defend rainbows on uniforms. The representative in The West Australian, December 4, 2013:

Workplace inclusion for all ADF members is a high priority for Defence as it undergoes cultural change.

Never mind that soldiers have used death symbols for decades. Former sergeant Justin Huggett in The Australian, yesterday:

I’ve had Vietnam veterans tell me about the emblems ... This is a tradition that’s been around for years. They are going to be lost to history.

When are senior defence leaders going to stop the political correctness? Alexander the Great:

An army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep.

Talking of an army led by a sheep ... Bill Shorten in Melbourne, yesterday:

Reporter: Are you worried that the Coalition is gaining ground in the polls and, if the government overtakes Labor, that your position as leader might be threatened?

Shorten: No, I’m not.

He may need to watch out for an aspiring prime minister soon. Today, June 2 last year:

Karl Stefanovic: You are not after his job?

Anthony Albanese: Not at all.

Stefanovic: Why not?

Albanese: Because I’m happy ...

Shorten will need to be wary of a vengeful former prime minister too. Kevin Rudd on Twitter, April 9:

Ironically, the beneficiaries of the 2010 coup are Malcolm (Godwin Grech) Turnbull and Bill (I’m with the coup) Shorten. In 87 newspolls I fell behind once. Based on that, coup leaders acted, saying we’d lose election. Both MT & BS wld (sic) be long gone if we applied that standard now.

Rudd’s recently hit Turnbull over China. The former prime minister on Sky News, yesterday:

He seems to think that to do that (stand up for Western interests) automatically means that it’s a smart thing to then publicly punch the Chinese in the face ...

He never, ever attacked China. Rudd’s reported comments at the Copenhagen climate change summit, December 2009:

Chinese f..kers are trying to rat f..k us.