Q and A - Question and Attack.

John Howard says Q&A shoe attack 'all in a night's work'



if you haven't heard yet or seen the footage then click on this link for the full story and the update....

I say the full story but really is it? OK here I go again, delving into conspiracy theory but really you can't blame anyone for not thinking that just maybe this was a deliberate stunt that had the full blessing of the national broadcaster. Again I state clearly that this is not fact but just opinion and I base my suspicion on the following observations.

1. I have never seen the camera angle from above and behind the panel used on the show before, I mean really it is almost believable to think that the camera was placed where it was for the maximum effective shot of this clown throwing his shoes at J.W. Howard.

2. This bloke had a virtual front row seat. Coincidence maybe, but still he was in the perfect throwing position to launch his attack. I have never attended an audience of this show before so just maybe someone can answer this question. Do you get directed to a seat by the ABC staff and or are you self seating, first in best dressed?

3. This protester, Peter Gray, is a well known serial pest ( sorry protester ). This left wing radical from the central coast of NSW has performed more than a few public protest stunts before and I am sure that the good folk at Auntie would have recognised him if not his name. Here's another question, do you have to give your name when attending the studio audience, is there any sort of ID checking at the door or screening at all? I mean can I just be walking past the Ultimo studio on the night and walk straight into this audience?

4. The ABC digital moderator who receives the hundreds of text, email messages and twitter comments during a show and who decides to let what go to air, suddenly there's a twit post that appears "Will someone through a shoe at this guy NOW". Within a minute of that comment appearing on our screens at home, we had a man throwing his shoes at the former PM. Was that the prompt that he was waiting for? can someone tell me if the audience can see these on-screen comments as we in TV land can?

Well there you have it, just a few reasons why I think this may be a set up. Not because he is a conservative PM, because we all know that there is a strong leftist bias on this show (I will not even bother to argue that truth), no it is more likely that it would just make very exciting viewing and will certainly (and has) draw attention to the show from foreign media outlets. Oddly too this wouldn't have hurt sales for the new Howard memoir but to suggest Howard , the ABC and Gray were working together on this is even too far out there for me.

After all is said and done, I say no harm was really done, I mean the reputation that Mr Gray already has will not be damaged by what he has done and certainly John Howard was and is not the sort of man to go weak at the knees because a protester decided to emulate a few Iraqi protesters. I am sure he (Howard) has had his share of real scares in public life and this one was water of a duck's back but this does bring me to one real concern and that is, just how safe are the panelists or the host of this show.

I mean what if the man had a gun? is there any airport security type screening before you get in the studio? Probably not, I too would not like to go through that but just think about it. We could have witnessed a live to air assassination of a political leader. Does this mean now that people will be screened? I mean I doubt they (Q&A) could get Salman Rushdie in for a live audience let alone someone who is only slightly disliked for their world views but now who would want to go on the show knowing that from the darkness of the audience a projectile with their name on it may just come hurtling at them, prime time.

Hmmmmmmm a bit of head scratcher really but I can envisage the next conservative heavyweight appearing on the panel (sic) wearing a Kevlar Vest and a riot helmet!?!