Post by Flash on Nov 25, 2007 13:18:54 GMT -5
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