Intellectual dishonesty is pure poison – A Crikey weblog

Category Archives: Dennis Shanahan

Bob Brown retires; Christine Milne new leader of the Greens

April 13, 2012 – 12:11 pm

Predictions from the obvious quarters of the imminent demise of the Greens (again) in 3… 2… 1… UPDATE: Senator Brown’s twitter account linked to Pure Poison yesterday. Today he’s no longer leader of the Greens. Coincidence? Or the first example of a devastating political effect? UPDATE #2: There’s a shock. The Herald Sun headline? Maybe [...]

By Jeremy Sear | Also posted in David Penberthy, Miranda Devine, Open threads, Simon Benson, Terry McCrann | Comments (69)

De-mutinified!

March 6, 2012 – 10:00 am

Mutiny kills PM’s Bob Carr plan mutiny |ˈmyo͞otn-ē| noun an open rebellion against the proper authorities, esp. by soldiers or sailors against their officers: verb refuse to obey the orders of a person in authority. If I ever become the captain of a seagoing vessel I sure hope that any mutiny that I suffer goes [...]

By Dave Gaukroger | Also posted in Andrew Bolt, Michelle Grattan, Posted | Comments (7)

Why must Bob Brown be so mean to those honest, fair-minded gentlefolk at News Ltd?

May 20, 2011 – 10:32 am

What have they ever done to him? News Ltd responds to Bob Brown’s criticisms of their relentlessly one-sided, dishonest “reporting” against the Greens with a coy, disingenuous, “Why us? We’re just providing scrutiny”: Brown’s contempt was misplaced, as the story was on the front page of The Sydney Morning Herald. His mistaken naming of The [...]

By Jeremy Sear | Also posted in Andrew Bolt | Comments (70)

Confronted by a man you accused

March 15, 2011 – 6:37 pm

I’m assuming many of us have now seen the Prime Minister’s turn on Q&A this week – a turn in which, and I’m not generally a huge fan, she acquitted herself fairly well, I thought. One aspect is now being beaten to within an inch of its life, though – the fact that the ABC [...]

By Jeremy Sear | Also posted in ABC | Comments (31)

We understand the romance because we own the romance

February 27, 2010 – 9:48 am

Dennis Shanahan writes one of the most unintentionally ironic columns in the history of The Australian. I’m not going to do a detailed analysis because I wouldn’t want to give the impression that his commentary on polling and media narratives should be taken seriously. Just read it and enjoy the hypocrisy of Mr The Narrowing!!1! [...]

By Tobias Ziegler | Tagged , , | Comments (76)

Hero worship as analysis

December 18, 2009 – 8:21 am

In trying to strengthen the Liberal Party’s prospects for the coming election, there’s a common technique being used by some of the conservative opinion-makers. They’re writing columns that project an image of the candidate as a hero. But are these public love letters capable of winning over anyone?

By Tobias Ziegler | Also posted in Arthur Sinodinos, Imre Salusinszky, Janet Albrechtsen, Miranda Devine | Tagged , | Comments (80)

A beginner’s guide to the psychic world.

December 3, 2009 – 9:14 am

It would be naive to believe that every word uttered by a politician should be taken completely at face value, but perhaps overly cynical to believe that nothing they say or do. It’s difficult to precisely know the thoughts or plans of anyone without the benefit of hindsight, unless, of course, you are Dennis Shanahan. [...]

By Dave Gaukroger | Comments (19)

If you want to be the government, you need people’s votes.

November 30, 2009 – 11:14 am

There is, unsurprisingly, a lot being written, said and tweeted about the potential outcomes of the Liberal party’s current round of leadership theatrics. Unfortunately a lot of this writing about the soul of the Liberal party completely ignores the electoral reality that they find themselves in. While writing about exciting the party’s base might allow [...]

By Dave Gaukroger | Comments (40)

All adrift on asylum seekers

November 18, 2009 – 10:25 am

The Australian is giving it to Kevin Rudd over the Oceanic Viking today, and not without reason. I tend to agree with Dennis Shanahan and Paul Kelly – of course there was a special arrangement, and for Rudd to try to hold a line of denial on that point is a ridiculous attempt at impression [...]

By Tobias Ziegler | Also posted in Greg Sheridan, Paul Kelly | Tagged , | Comments (10)

In the absence of opposition, govern yourselves

September 11, 2009 – 10:54 am

Dennis Shanahan’s latest column tries to blame the low standard of political debate on the Rudd government. His argument seems to be that in the absence of a viable opposition, the government is responsible for holding itself to a higher standard. From Shanahan’s perspective, Question Time has degenerated into a farce with name-calling and mockery [...]

By Tobias Ziegler | Tagged | Comments (12)