Evangelion

Great rant!

echidna

Not enough expletives to be a real rant.

I'll take the unpopular minority stand. Any course of action or inaction would damage the office of GG. Constitutionally I have no desire for precedents to be set where the Head of State can be sacked over public opinion which is so fickly manipulated by the media. It�s this thinking which will ultimately degenerate our republic to be headed by a President Eddie McGuire or President Ray Martin, with elections increasing formatted around Big Brother (as in the revolting TV show) style offices.

Without sacking him, Howard has made it increasingly clear that Hollingworth doesn�t have the PM�s support, leaving H with little or no option but to resign.

No direct knowledge of course, but my strong guess is that Hollingworth would have resigned by now save for the rape allegation, leaving him with the dilemma of resigning from office in the face of what is apparently a false accusation. Proof will come when he is cleared of the rape accusation I expect him to resign.

The media circus surrounding this ugly fiasco only highlights that little else in the world is apparently newsworthy now that Iraq is finally off the front pages. Those Hollingworth critics from the left should remember 1975 when it comes to the risks associated with setting constitutional precedents.

Evangelion

The media has been beating up the rape charge, but that's arrived pretty late to the party.

The average punter was already outraged at Hollingworth's mismanagement of the sex abuse problem - and justifiably so. On this (perfectly letitimate) basis alone, Hollingworth should resign. It has nothing to do with mere popular opinion and everything to do with (a) the credibility of the office, (b) the responsibilities of the office, and (c) criminal negligence.

Hollingworth is effectively another Cardinal Law, and should be dealt with accordingly.

The Cromwell Institute

My stance on Hollingworth has nothing to do with any media manipulation. When he publicly declared that he believed child abuse victims sought out their abuse, that they wanted it, that was it for me - I wanted him to resign right there and then. The media [in this case it was "Australian Story"] just gave him a rope. Hollingworth built the gallows and tied the noose.

Xeluan

By jingo by crikey, I was never any good at expletives.
I agree that he shouldn't be sacked. However if Hollingworth is a man of honour then he should resign. While I agree that the media can manipulate public opinion, the word on the street seems to be that many sympathize with Hollingworth regarding the rape allegations. However the consensus is that he should resign given his handling of sexual abuse.

I think this is a rare instance of public opinion colliding with media manipulation bringing round something that resembles informed opinion in the general public.