March 2 is the birthday of Jeff Kennett, Carmen Lawrence, John Dawkins,
Michael Duffy, Anthony Albanese, Karen Carpenter and Jon Bon Jovi (plus the
ABC’s election gnome Antony Green). It’s also the tenth anniversary of the
election of the Howard Government.

According to a Saulwick poll taken for the Fairfax rags, half of voters believe Australia
has become a meaner place in the ten years since John Howard became Prime
Minister – but many believe he has done a good job managing the economy.

Last week we asked you to tell us what you
think are the ten most evil and the ten most virtuous things John Howard has done
as Prime Minister – and what the ten defining trends of the ten Howard years have
been. The lists have been flooding in to christian@crikey.com.au.
Keep ‘em coming.

Your responses have
reflected the Saulwick poll, but many Crikey readers have found it hard
to list ten good things about the PM. Economic management, national gun
control laws and
the Timor intervention have all figured, but then our
subscribers have run out of ideas. C’mon. Try harder. It won’t turn you
into
Piers or Janet. “Dumping Bronwyn Bishop from the ministry”,
“Encouraging older
Australians to keep up exercise” and “Demonstrating the importance of
keeping
one’s eyebrows trimmed” don’t really count.