9 January 2009

Mark Parton channelling the parrot's malignant brain?

| johnboy
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Sweet holy jesus.

Check out this rant from near-run ACT political candidate and 2CC morning presenter Mark Parton.

Here’s some of my favourite highlights:

    The youth of our nation are out of control. The jackass generation who believe that it’s really funny when someone else gets hurt have no fear of the law…

    They must have felt like Aussie soldiers marching into a Taliban stronghold…

    We’ve got some problems in this country of ours.

Because the kids in this country were always little angels and never caused any trouble in the past eh Mark?

Either he’s inciting inter-generational hatred for cheap ratings points, or he’s woefully ignorant of Australian history.

UPDATED: Joebananas posted the below text as a story just as I was posting this one. I’ve added it here as I don’t think Mark’s ego could handle two stories about him in the one day:

    I was amused to hear Mark Parton on 2cc just before 10am today sign off an interview with the following:

    ‘And that was Jeremy Hanson, one of the new members of our pretend parliament’.

    So what does that make Mr Parton? A failed pretender to the pretend parliament who is no longer pretending to be a pretender? If he runs again next time will it just be a pretense? Was he pretending all along?

    And I notice his website is still up. He says a lot of passionate stuff on there for someone who thinks the whole thing is a joke.

    http://www.markparton.com/portal/

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and now I have a response from the man himself….

My post to him:
Mark, i am surprised to see that you are blaming the youth of today for these events, considering that the werribee party was sanctioned by the organiser’s parents, and the rosemeadow brawl was started by 2 feuding families.

Young people were involved, but some of the blame for the escalation of violence must be squarely placed at the feet of the adults involved, shouldn’t it?

and to compare an australian housing estate community to the taliban is a bit off, isn’t it?

and the response:
Granted Peter that the two events that have been in the news in recent days were not directly caused by young people. The 15-24’s have, nevertheless taken them and run with them with all their might.

And yes…the middle east war comparison…I tempered those comments somewhat when I actually did the piece on air. Point taken.

The article does make a valid point insofar as the Cops shouldn’t have to put up with shit like that (which leads down the whole respect for the law and judicial system avenue) but other than that the Aussie Media (Parton included) made a mountain out of a Molehill with the Rosemeadow story, all for cheap sensationalism and ratings.

gun street girl11:20 am 10 Jan 09

neanderthalsis said :

I love the scaremongering, alarm and despondency that idiots like this spread, half a dozen kids going berko in the slums of sydney and all of a sudden we have a national crisis, we’ll all be rooned.

It’s all a part of being a self-proclaimed “voice of reason”.

iObject, it’s whatever the RA Overlords decide it’s going to be. Agree with them, and all is OK. Disagree, and you just never know…

@Overheard: You can be a catalyst and controversial without generalising and resorting to insults.

Same @ JB… and who’s trying to take away your rights to express your opinion? I disagreed with you through use of sarcasm, it’s hardly an attack on your civil rights.

And finally @ BerraBoy68 – no, I am not Mark, do I have to be to disagree with what seems to be the popular opinion here?

I thought this was a forum for expressing and discussing differing views about issues in my local area, or is it just an anonymous mud-slinging love-in?

johnboy said :

Reprobate said :

Johnboy – why isn’t it appropriate for posters to reference their own experiences/observations on an issue related to kids’ behaviour in society but it’s ok to bang on about your personal circumstances when it involves the selection of a mobile broadband key?

Drawing on personal experience in relation to a topic is one thing.

Persistent fogery chit-chat which pollutes threads with noise instead of debate can be done privately by the participants and doesn’t need to be done here.

I will restrain myself from now on, JB. OT, I have posted my feelings on Mark’s blog, subject to moderation. lets see if it goes up.

jube_V8Fairlane_235kw2:07 pm 09 Jan 09

Just look at the pedigree of 2CC: Laws, Zemanek, Parton – did you expect anything different?

Reprobate said :

Johnboy – why isn’t it appropriate for posters to reference their own experiences/observations on an issue related to kids’ behaviour in society but it’s ok to bang on about your personal circumstances when it involves the selection of a mobile broadband key?

Drawing on personal experience in relation to a topic is one thing.

Persistent fogery chit-chat which pollutes threads with noise instead of debate can be done privately by the participants and doesn’t need to be done here.

Not a bad line, Angry. I think the title of this thread is also one of the better ones.

AngryHenry said :

Oh and in relation to the headline I would just like to add –

Dolly want a cracker?!?!?!

hah! Sometimes I just kill myself!

well done angryhenry. that is his cracker!

johnboy said :

Peterh, Granny,

This was not an invitation to, once again, bang on about your own child raising. If you two can’t stay on topic we’ll have to consider pre-emptive moderation.

Johnboy – why isn’t it appropriate for posters to reference their own experiences/observations on an issue related to kids’ behaviour in society but it’s ok to bang on about your personal circumstances when it involves the selection of a mobile broadband key?

Two words about the youth of today

Ned Kelly

Youth of his day (and brothers in a gang shooting cops) now folk hero

How history turns…

caf said :

From a political candidate who ran on a policy free platform of sunshine and puppies (and came within 500 votes of a crucial seat) it’s alarming to discover from his latest remarks that he’s a jackbooted reactionary with a terrifying lack of perspective.

I tried to point this out way back here in August when jakez asked about Parton’s ideological leanings, with comment #32:

jakez: In answer to the question in your article, he’s certainly no libertarian. More like an old fashioned “young people are the devil” Tory with a strong Laura Norder bent.

He didn’t get in, so now he’s just a radio announcer doing his job, trying to drive some talkback.

Did anybody out there take him up on it and give him a call to try and balance out his story? I’m curious is all, I was listening to Iron Maiden in the car this morning.

From a political candidate who ran on a policy free platform of sunshine and puppies (and came within 500 votes of a crucial seat) it’s alarming to discover from his latest remarks that he’s a jackbooted reactionary with a terrifying lack of perspective.

I tried to point this out way back here in August when jakez asked about Parton’s ideological leanings, with comment #32:

jakez: In answer to the question in your article, he’s certainly no libertarian. More like an old fashioned “young people are the devil” Tory with a strong Laura Norder bent.

Overheard said :

AngryHenry said :

Oh and in relation to the headline I would just like to add –

Dolly want a cracker?!?!?!

hah! Sometimes I just kill myself!

It took a while but I’ve now fully appreciated the woeful extent of this quip.

That is so far past the Offal thread it deserves its own category. Superb.

Heheh! Cheers :o)

iObject said :

OMG. A talk radio host did what he is paid for and made slightly controversial comments on a current news issue.

What was he trying to do? Spark debate or something?

What nerve!

Your name wouldn’t be Mark, by chnance would it?

I listend to him this AM for about 2 minutes. Some old and dedicated AM listener was telling him he should have been on 2CC long ago. As an 106 listner, I agree.

AngryHenry said :

Oh and in relation to the headline I would just like to add –

Dolly want a cracker?!?!?!

hah! Sometimes I just kill myself!

It took a while but I’ve now fully appreciated the woeful extent of this quip.

That is so far past the Offal thread it deserves its own category. Superb.

iObject said :

OMG. A talk radio host did what he is paid for and made slightly controversial comments on a current news issue.

What was he trying to do? Spark debate or something?

What nerve!

He’s got a right to say what he wants, I have a right to say that the things he says are revolting and make me feel sick.

From a political candidate who ran on a policy free platform of sunshine and puppies (and came within 500 votes of a crucial seat) it’s alarming to discover from his latest remarks that he’s a jackbooted reactionary with a terrifying lack of perspective.

iObject said :

OMG. A talk radio host did what he is paid for and made slightly controversial comments on a current news issue.

What was he trying to do? Spark debate or something?

What nerve!

You can be a catalyst and controversial without being uninformed, inflammatory (sp?) and pandering to the lowest, common, kncukle-dragging denominator. (Having said that, his listeners probably think ‘denominator’ is the Austrian release title of a Scharzennegger film.)

OMG. A talk radio host did what he is paid for and made slightly controversial comments on a current news issue.

What was he trying to do? Spark debate or something?

What nerve!

Oh and in relation to the headline I would just like to add –

Dolly want a cracker?!?!?!

hah! Sometimes I just kill myself!

Since the topic was the calibre of the younger generation I commented on those I knew personally from this generation, including a young married couple that I had no hand in raising and several younger friends.

I was trying to make a positive contribution, and I’m really sorry but I fail to see how this was off-topic.

Just noticed the interesting (Freudian) double negative
Good pickup. Just another stupid typo.

Maybe you should be slamming the door on him first.

Don’t worry, I slammed the door on myself. If could have retracted my statements, I now would. Better to shut up than to keep on talking in this case. 🙂

My fault is that I’ve never actually listed to Mark Parton, so I was unaware of his rants. I do believe that there does seem to be more of a pack mentallity at parties these days, but it may have been always there, and a media beat up.
Maybe things are better than I think they are.

One place where young people can have their say…

http://www.actnow.com.au/

We are listening to young people I think, but good news doesn’t drive ratings in the media bad news does.

For every Corey Worthington (who turned out to be nothing more than a normal kid anyways who was in waaaay over his head) there is a Hugh Evans (he’s 25 now but I met him when he was about 20-21) http://www.hughevans.com.au/index.php/hugh_evans. Makes you realise that we’re not doing that badly as humans afterall.

What we are seeing here is simply a result of our 24 hour news feeds, nothing more, nothing less. Given the fact that news no longer needs to fit within 30 pages of a newspaper, and no longer needs to fit into a half hour program at 6pm, the smallest of things are now been reported on, and to simply make up 24 hours of news, the media now has to report on anything and everything, otherwise they will run out of new content for their news services.

johnboy said :

Peterh, Granny,

This was not an invitation to, once again, bang on about your own child raising. If you two can’t stay on topic we’ll have to consider pre-emptive moderation.

The Brad opened the door on that one, JB. Maybe you should be slamming the door on him first.

Just noticed the interesting (Freudian) double negative. Don’t not know how I never didn’t not miss it.

The Brad said :

I think he does have a point in that the youth of today are becoming more violent in packs. Droogs from “A Clockwork Orange” are more pravelant today.
….
….
I don’t think Mark Parton is not inciting anything. I think he’s stating the obvious.

Evidence, please, if you’re going to toss around absolute, unqualified statements, Parton-style.

Peterh, Granny,

This was not an invitation to, once again, bang on about your own child raising. If you two can’t stay on topic we’ll have to consider pre-emptive moderation.

Granny said :

There are some very sad things, Peterh, but I love this generation.

I am friends with so many young women no older than my daughters – and I don’t meet them through my girls either. I am just attracted to their vibrancy and they are attracted to me.

Then I looked at my young nephew at his wedding and thought I’d never seen a finer young man. I just couldn’t stop beaming whenever I looked at them.

And I am so proud of my big girls. They’re not doing anything extraordinary – they’re just wonderful people.

I agree with caf – the problem kids are in the minority.

I think it is wrong to slander a whole generation because of the actions of a few as well as to insult the people who raised them.

Your kids will be fine. Trust me!

: )

my kids and most kids will be fine. the kids that i am fearful for are the ones who are living in poverty and squalor. Instead of soapboxing bad events in australia, why doesn’t mark look at the problem of the homeless, the unfortunates, the poverty stricken and make a song and dance about that?

I am not saying all parents are bad. I do believe, however, that there could be more done to help parents in difficult situations, when they ask for help.

We Australians seem to throw a lot of money towards charity efforts in underdeveloped nations, whilst organisations like youth insearch go belly up.

If we focus our energies into helping our own problems at home first, then the rest of the world, maybe there wouldn’t be such a mess in the cities. Organising forums for the youth of this nation to tell us oldies what is wrong and what they need to fix it might be a start?

cheap ratings points

I don’t think they are in ratings survey right now, but he’s driving for more listeners, that’s kind of his job.

“Problem kids” have always been there. It’s just a case of the media having increased resources to go out of their way searching for them.

In other news, disgruntled failed candidate bashes democratically elected body. News at 11.

You’re the man Peter. I reckon you’re pretty much spot on.

I reckon phrases like ‘youth of our nation’, ‘(insert relevant name) generation’ are what really feed into the generation gap. In my opinion it’s like we’re looking down on them, and that’s understandable because we want them to look up to us, but I think if we deal on a more level playing field and treat them with respect they will look up to us more.

I know when I was younger, the adults I respected and wanted to please weren’t the ones that didn’t understand me it was the ones that took the time to listen and speak to me like I was an adult rather than preach to me.

There are some very sad things, Peterh, but I love this generation.

I am friends with so many young women no older than my daughters – and I don’t meet them through my girls either. I am just attracted to their vibrancy and they are attracted to me.

Then I looked at my young nephew at his wedding and thought I’d never seen a finer young man. I just couldn’t stop beaming whenever I looked at them.

And I am so proud of my big girls. They’re not doing anything extraordinary – they’re just wonderful people.

I agree with caf – the problem kids are in the minority.

I think it is wrong to slander a whole generation because of the actions of a few as well as to insult the people who raised them.

Your kids will be fine. Trust me!

: )

neanderthalsis11:29 am 09 Jan 09

Ahhhh, the halcyon days when children were whipped daily and granny was safe to walk the streets alone at night.

I love the scaremongering, alarm and despondency that idiots like this spread, half a dozen kids going berko in the slums of sydney and all of a sudden we have a national crisis, we’ll all be rooned. Sorry Dolly, every generation has had its share of obnoxious little twats, it’s just that the modern media makes a news headline out of them.

Granny said :

Peterh I think you’re chucking a bit of a Dolly on the parents now.

maybe i am, granny, but blaming kids for all these incidents as mark has?

there is always someone behind it all. usually a parent, or an elder member of a family.

There are youths I know who are pretty off the rails, but when you see the life that they have at home, it comes as no shock to me as to why they are 15yo and out on the streets at 2am. They don’t know any better, and their parents won’t (or can’t) stop them now.

I shudder to think of what my children will get up to over the years as they grow up. if it is a fifth of the sh!t I got up to, it will still give me sleepless nights…

I have seen kids from well to do families living on the streets, begging for food. here. in canberra. because their parents are so wrapped up in the materialistic world that they don’t seem to recognise that they even had kids.

many young people don’t go to parties. they have been instructed by their parents with dreams of a great future, and they have the moral fibre to stick to their guns and aim high.

I am not a perfect parent. but i know that I will be able to say exactly where my kids are at night, each night. at home. with their parents. until they are 18. or, 21. haven’t decided on that one yet. and look out – the first boy who is my daughter’s boyfriend better be able to handle the protective dad syndrome…

Peterh I think you’re chucking a bit of a Dolly on the parents now.

“The youth of our nation are out of control.”

No, Mark.

The parents of the youth of our nation don’t seem to give a damn about what their kids get up to after dark, at parties, down the local oval. How many parents knew that their underage kids were at the werribee party? probably not many. and the ones that knew, most probably didn’t care. After all, there were parents of the organiser there. and that makes it all better, doesn’t it?

I recognise that the police have a difficult job to do. I have commented as such on RA before.

but to say that the youth are to blame for all these incidents, what a load of bollocks. unwittingly, mark has put himself into the “grumpy old men” category, blaming those damned young people for all of the things that are wrong with today.

Well some of us at least.

Granny said :

Still no comments on his blog … it can’t be getting that much of a reaction ….

We’re reacting to it here.

Still no comments on his blog … it can’t be getting that much of a reaction ….

The Brad: “They were in the minority back then.” – and guess what – they still are.

barking toad10:58 am 09 Jan 09

I agree with JB that the yoof of today carry on as much as in days gone by, but I think Dolly makes some valid points about the position of plod in these situations. Unfortunately, the points are lost with the cringeworthy taliban comment.

Nail ’em up I say!

imarty said :

I also heard him just before 10 talking to the deputy rural fire commish comparing volunteer firies going to fight a fire to soldiers marching off to war!
Now good on the firies but c’mon…

Fires are pretty unpredictable, but i just think mark is looking to “fuel” his listeners into listening forever.

He’s just trying to make the phones light up and drive some talkback, that’s all.

He’s obviously succeeded.

I love Jackass, and I’m fast approaching my mid-thirties?!?!? Phrases like ‘Jackass Generation’ just fuel hype and make you come across as a wowser and a bit of an old fart. Perhaps if we made an effort to understand rather than pigeon-hole.

Members of the so called ‘Jackass Generation’ will also note that one of the figureheads of that movement, Steve-O had a complete breakdown recently at which stage his Jackass co-horts intervened, got him into re-hab are helping him deal with some pretty full-on mental health issues. On his website he keeps a diary of it and it’s pretty interesting, the guys is pretty disturbed and has some obvious regrets about a lot of the stuff he did.

http://www.steveo.com if you’re interested.

I also heard him just before 10 talking to the deputy rural fire commish comparing volunteer firies going to fight a fire to soldiers marching off to war!
Now good on the firies but c’mon…

although it is mixed around with different references to current events,

“I don’t know if you saw the footage from Rosemeadow yesterday. The cops marched in to try to solve the issues in that troubled Sydney suburb. They must have felt like Aussie soldiers marching into a Taliban stronghold.”

this was probably the worst thing i have ever seen mark comment. comparing an australian housing estate community with the taliban is just dumb. The people involved in the brawl were initially 2 families, involved in a feud that has spilled over to effect the entire community. not muslim, even though there were pics of people with their heads covered…

and the werribee party gone wrong was sanctioned by the organiser’s parents. Kids paid $5 per head to attend.

well done mark, you have missed the mark. totally.

the real culprits in both these incidents are the parents and elders. if they allow a party to proceed, more fool them. if they incite members of their families to violent acts against another family, how is it the youth of australia’s fault that this has happened?

Sorry (correction…for fear for becoming FotW), prevalent, not pravelant.

There have been riots and lawlessness in australian youth for the entire duration of european settlement.

But if you want to settle into fogey nostalgia with Mark then be my guest.

I think he does have a point in that the youth of today are becoming more violent in packs. Droogs from “A Clockwork Orange” are more pravelant today.

Because the kids in this country were always little angels
From talking to my parents, the louts of the 50’s participated in jive dancing, and had long hair. Things have definately gotten more shocking since then. But cops were respected, and avoided if possible.

In the 60’s, the cops were verbally abused, not physically. Mark Parton is stating that things have changed, and he wouldn’t want to be a cop today. I think you may have missed his point, JB.

I remember in the 80’s I had a couple of “mates”, who on a Friday night, went out looking for fights, and once beat up on a innocent person at a bus stop for fun. They were in the minority back then.
And they’d run from the cops before throwing weapons at them.

Kids are never little angels, but each generation seems to be becoming more like little demons.

I don’t think Mark Parton is not inciting anything. I think he’s stating the obvious.

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