With the election now nearly five weeks away, today's Media section in The Australian shows that online political activism is alive and well in Australia. And this Not Happy John! website is setting a few goals of its own (and the Liberal Party can't be too happy with their (sorry) web presence!) Thanks for your continued support.

Traffic builds on election hit meter

Sally Jackson

A FEW voters, mainly left-leaning ones, are turning to the internet for information on the federal election campaign, but not many, judging by website traffic figures from Hitwise. Visits to political websites almost doubled after Prime Minister John Howard announced the October 9 poll date on Sunday. However, this was off an exceedingly low base, with visits to sites in the political category that day accounting for just 0.153 per cent of all visits to the roughly 450,000 Australian websites that Hitwise tracks, up from 0.08 per cent the weekend earlier.

According

NHJ! guest shit-stir-n' picker Macksville Mart Richardson fires up his six string:

Hi Guys,

Love your NHJ project...keep up the great work. This 'not happy' country hick has written a protest song...it's called 'George and Johnny' and you might get a laugh out of it.

Click this link to listen.

Best regards, Martin

Who says the devil gets all the best tunes?

Just to remind all NHJ! book/site readers - we're now out of free stickers, alas. All further merchandising enquiries should go to the John Valder-run Not Happy John Campaign Website.

T-shirts, carry-bags and stickers available here, or email John's campaign here, or write to 'NHJ Campaign', PO Box 735, Epping, NSW, 1710. T-shirts cost $23 inc. postage and are available in all sizes. Stickers are $10 for 20. Carry-bags $10. All plus postage. The campaign office no. is 02-99296818.

Now that the campaign proper has begun, keep in mind the unavoidable 'practical' delineation between the many various seat-specific political fights now shifting into gear, and the overarching 'defend our democracy' theme of this website, which was launched by MK/Penguin to help promote the ideas behind her book, to canvas your ideas, and i

Very belated apologies to the Democrats - we overlooked this PR release last week, which is very bad form considering the NHJ! slogan in its current political mode can more properly be traced to them. (Personally, I like 'The Lie Detectors' as both party tagline and very accurate job description, anyway).

Democrats launch

I am a seventy year old female Australian citizen living in Canberra. I have retired from one career and I am now working part-time in a completely different field of work, so I am still quite active and out in the world. I really enjoyed your book and appreciate the research you have put into your arguments. The book provides me with an evidentiary basis for my intuitive beliefs that all is not well in our democracy. You have given me the details about John Howard's government and leadership style that have really bugged me in the past and I am really cross that we have let him get away with this.

I enjoyed your suggestions at the end of the book and I am reflecting on what I can do to act postively to change things that are within my zone of control. At least I can soon begin with my $2 vote!

Margo, you might remember me from your childhood. I was that annoying friend from the backwaters of Dalby - Claire Evans/ Taylor. Your mother Jann alerted us to your book which I immediately rushed out to buy as the title immediately resonated with our feelings on the matter. As one of those who have been grumbling for years but felt powerless to change what was happening, I was moved to protest along with all the others in Brisbane over being forced into war. Your book has definitely inspired me to do whatever I can to claw back the shafts of our poor democracy before it slips forever from our grasp. Thanks.

Margo: I sure do remember you. And we never talked about politics! Thank you, Claire.

E. Schmid is correct in saying that the big two are just as powerful as one another, in their own ways. Their similarities extend to the enforcement of individual MP's being forced to vote according to 'the party line'.

When I started to vote, I voted for Menzies simply because he actually permitted all members to vote according to their conscience and for the best interests of their electorate. In other words, he maintained a trust that as members of the Menzies government, they would be conservative in nature, but still having the freedom to vote for their electorate.

For as long as I can remember, when a Labor member arrives on the Back bench for the first time, he/she is forced to sign a pledge ALWAYS to vote for the party line.

Margo consistently quotes from Menzies famous 1942 speech, and rightly so, for he was probably the last PM to strictly follow the Westminster Act in Parliament, and oblige all his members to follow Queen's Regulations.

Loved the book, just sorry I've not had the time to get it around more. Unfortunately here we have Patrick (the weasel) Secker as our local member. Get this, the member in South Australian who's ENTIRE electorate encompasses the Murray comes out and says that we should not increase flows. Oops I'd better change what I think I said (he said he didn't really mean it). However with a margin of 17% even the drovers dog would win here, if it had a blue ribbon round it's neck. How do I get the stickers or do I print my own?

Also claiming they've been slandered by recent campaign 'dirty tricks' mammal-analogies - and now reportedly seeking a pro-bono Rights lawyer to pursue a Class Action - are these cuddly chappies.

Status Quo, Not good enough!

The Sunshine Coast Daily editorial today has confirmed that the sitting coalition party members representing the Sunshine Coast are likely to be returned with an increased margin. This has shocked me into action. I am still maintaining the rage after the last election.

How deplorable that the lazy, laid-back

I want to help start up some 'Grass Roots' action in support of 'Not Happy John' and against John Howard.

I live in Leonay, NSW - in the Lindsay electorate - Let's get rid of Jackie Kelly as well!!! How do I go about this? Any guidance? I've never done this before.

Please help.

Thanks,
Stel.

NHJ!(HA): Best of luck Stel. Unless there's something I don't know, there's no chance an independent or small-party candidate can win Lindsay from Jackie Kelly, but it's not out of the question that the ALP's David Bradbury will get the required 5.5% swing to do the job.

You could support Bradbury, by volunteering, but although they are small, it would be better to check out your local Green branch (or Dem or independent if that's your preference, so long as they are preferencing Howard LAST). Although the wide field in Lindsay is totally dominated by the Libs and the ALP, the election will still be won on preferences.

Here's some general

Great book, I would love to see it as madatory reading for all our college and university students.

Now that our political leaders are seamingly joined at the hip never to be separated, there appears to be just one remaining policy where Australia has not aligned itself with our American friends. An American Citizen can still expect the full support of their Government and all its resources to extract them from difficulty anywhere in the world.

If David Hicks had been an American and it was Australia which had jailed him without charge, John Howard would very quickly learnt how little respect America has for his Australia. They would simply recover the guy at any cost, with absolutely NO concern about the impact on our Diplomatic relationship. Our Foreign Minister would probably come out in praise of the America for having the guts to do what he is unable to even contemplate.

Many other countries have negotiated the release of the countrymen for trial in thei

Thank you, Margo - you are a national treasure!

Your book makes a strong case against the regressive nasty politics that I've witnessed in disbelief in the last 8 years, and I suspect the issues you've discussed are only the tip of the iceberg!! For some time I've been worrying about the government's willingness to put its own survival ahead of our national interest and good governance in Australia. This has been at enormous cost to our national values of equity and diversity, generosity and community, and it may take decades to repair the damage. I am excited by your idea of more participatory journalism and the increasing role of the internet in making governments more accountable to us.

A number of people have enquired about local NHJ! groups for their area or, more generally, what to do. The most recent is Steliano Cusmiani, who queries:

I want to help start up some 'Grass Roots' action in support of 'Not Happy John' and against John Howard.

I live in Leonay, NSW - in the Lindsay electorate - Let's get rid of Jackie Kelly as well!!! How do I go about this? Any guidance? I've never done this before.

Please help.

I sort of brainstormed a reply, which I published under his query. But it seems to me that for many individuals who have read Margo's book, 'What do I do, like NOW, to defeat this bastard?' might be a prescient question. So I republish my thoughts here and invite replies and additions, from my collegues and from anyone else. Just post them as a 'Corrections/More Info/Queries/Direct Action

It's been weeks since I read your book. I have to admit it seems strange to me that some people find it depressing. I personally found it uplifting and hopeful. It simply confirmed what I already knew but there it was, in public, in print for all to see.

It seems that Australians, and democratic populations generally, have forgotten what Democracy is and what it's supposed to be. Margo, your next book should be a Democratic tutorial - 'Democracy for Dummies'? I'm serious. You could write it by interviewing politicians from all parties over a couple of schooners of beer and getting them to declare themselves, to put in print their names and their idea of their contract with the Australian people. What I've gleaned from the Liberal voters I know is that they care more for the money than the system of government, which is to say the product rather than the process. This is not to say the ALP, Dems or Greens voters are not similarly weighted towards their own concerns. There seems