Some people get by saying nothing pompously.  In The Australian today, Paul Kelly begins his front page column this way.

Annastacia Palaszczuk has proven the power of closed borders and the curse of pandemic protectionism.  In this first state election of the COVID-19 crisis, Palaszczuk has shown how the virus has elevated strongarm populist premiers as the new giant killers roaming the land.

The results of elections are caused by all sorts of things.  They may or may not evidence sentiments in the electorate.  We will never know.  It is impossible to say what sentiments were the most significant.  That is one reason that we don’t trust polls.  Yet Mr Kelly can isolate one cause not just as evidence but proof.  There is a very big difference between the two – that we might hope a political diagnostician might have firmly in mind.

But what on earth is ‘pandemic protectionism’ and why is it a ‘curse’?

Let us put to one side tropes like ‘strongarm’ and ‘giant killers roaming the land’.  They are just silly.  But what does populist mean there?  It is not meant as a compliment.  The word ‘Trumpian’ gets a run in the next paragraph.  It looks to be an essential part of the ‘curse’.  As I follow it, in the two party system, people vote for the party that they think will best serve their interests.  The winner can say that it is the more popular party of the two.  A clear majority thought that the winning party would serve their interests better than the other party.  It is a fair inference that the pandemic was a significant factor in their thinking.  Experience suggests that incumbents are favoured in times of crisis.  But what here takes the successful party from popular to populist?

The thoughtless use of clichés as labels is the bane of our press.

Bloopers

Apollo said in a statement it was ‘firmly committed to transparency’. It added: ‘Leon has communicated directly with our investors on this issue and we remain in open dialogue.’

Financial Times, 23 October, 2020

What matters is that I act with integrity and honour.  That means I need to act in the best interests of ASIC and its vital purpose to build a fair, honest and efficient financial system for all Australians….I only took this position to serve the Australian community and to work to improve the corporate and financial system that should also serve it.  If I in any way impede that purpose, the right thing for me to do is to step aside until such time that I can.

The Weekend Australian, 24-25 October, 2020