PM John Howard's final 24 hours

[uopa]

PM John Howard's final 24 hours
Article from: The Daily Telegraph

November 26, 2007 12:00am

As the end came and his fans wrestled with their anger, John Howard
found it hard to walk away. Editor-at-Large GARRY LINNELL watched
every step

COME and walk with John Winston Howard one last time.

A week ago he confided it felt like his throat had been cut if he
didn't walk each morning and damned if he's going to miss the ritual
today, not after all that bloodletting and carnage of the night
before.

Here he comes, hauling his 68-year-old body out of the gates of
Kirribilli House and into full stride on another moist early November
morning.

It's the little routines we all cling to that help us survive each day
and for the past six weeks Mr Howard has stubbornly followed this
morning ritual pursued by men in sheep costumes, harassed by women
dressed as 1950s housewives, heckled by the haters and embraced by the
faithful.

But today they are missing. The only hint of trouble is the arrival of
the constantly dishevelled and noted Howard hater, author Bob Ellis.

However he's not in good shape. Ellis' face droops with jowls like an
old bulldog that has spent too much time in the yard. His huge gut
strains against a white shirt that is dangerously close to bursting.

He is here to gloat, to see the old man out. But the pace is too fast
and the risk of cardiac arrest too real and, after a block or two,
Ellis vanishes.

The old bloke keeps walking. He won't take questions and so the pack
of 30 security guards and media hacks follow in silence.

Through the cramped streets we go, shuffling down the steps to the
Harbour, solemnly marching along the boardwalk at Luna Park where the
only sound is the squeaking of an empty ferris wheel and the panting
of the procession.

Back up a series of steep stairs we climb, the stillness pierced only
by the odd word of condolence from a passer-by or a smart arse barb
hurled from the safety of a cafe.

He doesn't break stride until he reaches a set of traffic lights in
the middle of the main shopping strip.

He stops.

There's no traffic and people

[uopa]

I am very happy with the election outcome. Whilst not a die-hard Labor
voter (Mr Rudd and co, you can read there that my ongoing trust must
be earned), I have got sick of the hard-line, individualistic, greed-
based policies that we have seen for the past 11 years.