Former prime minister Tony Abbott says the Albanese government’s goal to achieve 82 per cent renewables by 2030 was ‘irrational’. The latest appointee to the board of NewsCorp made his comments while dressed only in an under-sized pair of bright red Speedos, and lightly drumming his soot-blackened fingers on a dangerously distended tummy, after eating an entire 20kg bag of export quality coking coal.
“Among people with a tertiary education, Labor’s vote lead over the Coalition was 35-26 per cent. Yet the Coalition’s situation is worse since 18 per cent voted Greens, which means the combined Labor-Greens tertiary vote was 53 per cent. The Liberals are being beaten in the cohort that heavily represents decision-makers and opinion shapers.”
It’s probably worth mentioning that the same cohort also used to heavily represent subscribers to The Australian, but that was before Lord Rupert refashioned it as a fanzine for white nationalist authoritarianism, climate change denial and shitposting-as-a-service.
Of course, as the senior political editor of a newspaper that, more than any other, was responsible for driving our national conversation into the howling wastelands of super-maximum derpitude, Paul Kelly probably didn’t think of that, or care to mention it.
As we all know 1) Lawyers aren’t cheap 2) Unlike America Australian or British law makes ambulance chasing and class action suits more complicated and difficult. It was far easier for Dutton to sue and defend than it is was Mr Average Journo Shane Bazzi 3) Dutton lost but Bazzi felt the impact far more than Dutton.4) Murdoch media retains Australia’s top lawyers to protect their stable of reckless talking heads 5) they negotiate settlements well before any court cases.
As Charlie Sykes points out, “it’s important to put this into context,” and the context is a global ‘conservative’ movement in which the crazy is not only tolerated — it’s encouraged.
Jones’ toxic, anti-governmental conspiracy theories have slowly but surely infiltrated the political waters. Things that 10 years ago would have been dismissed are now being repeated in the halls of Congress. And of course, former President Donald Trump is right there in the middle of it all…
Jones flourished in the right’s growing alternative reality bubble where he could drive the political narrative. Instead of being shunned or marginalized, Jones found that lying was a lucrative business model that leads to celebrity and political clout.
By imposing a cost on his lies, the Sandy Hook parents make the project of undermining reality and subverting democracy that little bit more difficult and expensive. ( John Birmingham )
I’m glad I waited a week to write about the Optus ‘hack’. Enough time has passed since the catastrophic data breach to be confident that it wasn’t a sophisticated hack by an advanced persistent threat-actor, like Optus would have us believe. It was just a cock up.
Is it too much to hope that Lachlan Murdoch might go swirling down the giant novelty defamation toilet with Ben Roberts-Smith and Christian Porter? This week’s legal rocket wasn’t the first salvo fired at Crikey from the thinnest-skinned Murdoch. It’s apparently the fourth in two years. But this one felt like one of those poorly aimed Russian rockets that keep falling on Ukrainian primary schools or retirement homes for aged guide dogs.
olddogthoughts 
You must be logged in to post a comment.