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We don’t know what that response was – strangely, it was omitted from the leak. If Morrison had texted back a thumbs-up emoji, Macron might be justified in feeling misled. If it was a thumbs-down emoji, then maybe the French President should have seen it coming.
Either way, the selective leaking of a private message about a deeply sensitive matter seems an extraordinary way to rebuff an allegation that you’re tricky.
Morrison then misled everyone listening when he characterised Macron as attacking Australia – Morrison was “not going to cop sledging of Australia”, he said.
It was crude nationalistic posturing that was gleefully aped by newspapers that will do anything to manufacture a frog pun in a headline (OK, some of them were actually pretty good).
It is always interesting how huffy politicians get when accused of lying. Voters have a notoriously low opinion of politicians and assume most of them lie a lot. Strangely this helps them get away with lies, or truth-illusions, non-core promises, misrepresentations, deceptions, and misleading omissions – whatever you want to call them.
If you don’t expect the person you are dealing with to deal straight with you, you are unlikely to punish them harshly for simply meeting your (low) expectations.
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But in order to lie effectively, you have to lie to yourself first, which involves a reframing of what you have done. What starts as a matter between you and your psyche is then extended outwards. By moulding others’ perceptions with your version of events, you can bolster your own version, making it sturdier, just like truth.
Gladys Berejiklian, during her evidence to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, refused to acknowledge she might have done anything wrong. The former premier continued to characterise her relationship with former secret boyfriend Daryl Maguire as too insignificant to declare as a conflict of interest. This was despite her earlier telling newspapers she had hoped to marry him, and Maguire reporting to the corruption inquiry the couple had discussed marriage and having a child together.
To put this failure to disclose in context, the ethics and conduct code for the NSW public service requires government employees to disclose in writing any relationship, including personal ones, that have the potential to influence, or could even be perceived as influencing, any decisions they make or advice they give.
Berejiklian often characterises herself as a prefect-like stickler for the rules, someone with a rigid sense of rightness, who will always serve the public interest. Her sense of her own worth and her self-respect seem so wedded to this characterisation that she is unable to admit she should have declared the conflict. It becomes logically impossible: I am not the kind of person to commit a breach of public trust. Therefore, nothing I do can amount to a breach of public trust.
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Even when her former chief of staff Sarah Cruikshank told the inquiry Berejiklian misled her by telling her the relationship with Maguire was over when it wasn’t, this self-perception was unshaken.
Morrison seems to have a more “whatever it takes” attitude to truth-telling. He presents himself as driving towards the national interest in the submarine deal and there is no reason to doubt that at all. Australia was perfectly entitled to end the contract with France. In the pursuit of the national interest, some double-dealing may be required, and if negotiations get rough, and feelings are hurt, so be it.
But Morrison is not so focused on the national interest that he will let his ego suffer at its expense. Otherwise his text exchanges with Macron might have stayed private.
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Voters expect politicians to lie. So why the big deal when they get caught?
Source: Philippines Alive
