diddy

Don't know if I'm in a particularly bad mood or what this morning. I do have a boring team meeting I've gotta go to in 20 mins, but am I am the only person with no sympathy for the bloke. He acted like an idiot.

spalen

Jeez man he just got a bit bladdered. I think having his career ruined, public humiliation, for the same thing that a lot of men do every single weekend across the country is a tad harsh , let alone endng his life.

I can bet the guy was under tremendous stress - lots of expectation from his party for him to replace the guy who resigned, he's obviously still suffering from stress given the suicide attempt. Stress does funny things to your mental state and no doubt it got the better of him.

not making excuses for his behaviour but jeez suicide over what was really quite a trivial thing. Ive got some sympathy for him.

Sandra

Self inflicted stab wounds that were not life threatening?

Sounds more like another one of his boozy cock ups rather than a real attempt.

And no I am not overfond of the wally in terms of politics.

Sandra

diddy

This is the thing - it just comes across as some ridiculous cry for help by a man that can't face up to his own stupidity. Plus just because loads of blokes do it, doesn't justify it. It justs makes them idiots too.

I have more than enough sympathy for mental health, but in this case it seems contrived.

Flutterscutter

I think that anyone who is in such a low place mentally that they feel the need to do this deserve a bit of help and support, and yes, i do feel very sorry for him. I had a friend who killed themselves many years ago and i still carry a lot of guilt over it for not doing as much as i could to help.

Yes he was an idiot, yes he said things that made me angry when i heard them, but to say you dont care that a person has tried to end their life is, well, lets just leave it there shall we?

A dogs life

All those who've never done something really stupid when they were drunk please put your hands up.

Now imagine you lose your job and prospects and get humiliated all over Australia for it?

What he said was terrible, but he was pished at the time. I'm sure I've said worse under the affluence of incohol, but it didn't ruin me, and I didn't mean it, whatever it was I said, I can't remember, I was drunk. Poor guy.

spalen

Exactly - thats where I was coming from ;-)

Binge drinking to celebrate or when under tremendous stress is truly an amazing thing. The most amazing things never happen until your mates remind you in the morning , in this case the poor git got reminded by the national press!.

MrsDagboy

Dagboy & I were discussing this earlier.

I have to say, I have more sympathy for his family than for him, I dont feel sorry for him with regards to the stuff that he did & said. Nobody turns from a well respected, honest, caring family man with respect & regard for women to someone who does & says things like that with a few drinks IMO.

As for those saying that everyone has said & done things they regret when drunk, fair enough, but when you are a public figure, should he not be held accountable for his actions when at a public funtion? Why the hell would he let himself get so drunk anyway? Does anyone know, was he actually at the function in an official capacity? What he does behind closed doors is one thing, but I think this is slightly different.

Vash the Stampede

Amen to that.

Vash the Stampede

Consider my hand up.

I've never been drunk before.

And no, I'm not a teetotaller.

Flutterscutter

I agree that he has behaved like a complete tw*t. I also agree that he deserves to have lost his job.
I also doubt he is the type of bloke i would want in my circle of friends as i'd probably hate everything he stands for (male chauvenist pig comes to mind)

But saying all that, he has been dished what he deserved and i dont think its fair to carry on rubbing the blokes nose in it. He has already paid a mighty high price for his actions.
Lets face it, he might be a tw*t, but he is not a paedofile, rapist or murderer, he's just a stereotypical macho style bloke who thinks he looks good to his mates undermining women for fun.
I dont think he deserves to be hounded continuously especially as he is obviously in a bad state mentally. Whether this attempt was genuine or a cry for attention, he is still down in the gutter and i dont like to think of people kicking him whilst he is there.

Vash the Stampede

I wouldn't say he is being hounded continuously; this entire debacle has barely been running for a couple of weeks as it is.

I think what people want to see from him is some acknowledgement of responsibility for his actions, and a willingness to face the consequences.

He's left it a bit late to play the sympathy card.

Flutterscutter

He did!

He was on the news appologising and said he took responsibility for it.

spalen

Eh...?

this only happened about 36 hours ago in that time he has :

- Apologised publically
- Spoken personally to the people invovled and apologised ( 2 were friends )
- Been ridiculed in the press
- Been pilloried by the bloke & wife he commented upon
- Resigned from leadership job that would arguably have seen him as premier of NSW, a job he's been on target for since he was about 12
- God knows what he's going through with his wife who is probably kicking his ass all over the place

What more should he do? Sackcloth and ashes?

MrsDagboy

I wasnt condoning kicking him when hes down or however you like to word it, but unfortunately most of the hounding no doubt is from the press & thats what they do. I do feel some pity for him, but its more that he was stupid enough to let it happen in the first place. But I still feel more sympathy for his family (especially for his poor wife - how humiliating) than for him .