Always a glass-half-full sort of lass, The Australian‘s Janet Albrechtsen thinks she sees a “silver lining” to the Greens’ influence in the present Parliament: More important than uncovering the clamouring self-interest of a few independents, the last election has allowed the electorate to move from a state of somnolence to one of deep circumspection about [...]

“The storm had now definitely abated, and what thunder there was now grumbled over more distant hills, like a man saying ‘And another thing…’ twenty minutes after admitting he’d lost the argument.” -Douglas Adams, So Long And Thanks For All The Fish. Chris Mitchell, editor of The Australian, on Monday, cancelling an appearance by Paul [...]

ABC riots coverage IT’S particularly flattering to have PM described as a “highbrow program” by Janet Albrechtsen What a pity, though, that her article, claiming that PM’s coverage of the British riots was excessively liberal, fell at the first hurdle: that of plain fact. A direct, to the point, rebuttal of Janet Albrechtsen’s latest ABC [...]

Janet Albrechtsen revises Australian political history – apparently, by the end, playing it for laughs: The best political leaders grow in the job. Consider Bob Hawke and John Howard. Or Gough Whitlam and Robert Menzies. Love them or loathe them, these prime ministers commanded respect. They had convictions. Politicians being politicians, they sometimes strayed. But [...]

The Australian’s Ms Albrechtsen still hasn’t gotten over Larissa Behrendt: It’s a serious debate about free speech …Let’s get one matter out of the way up front. There is nothing personal about this, Dr Behrendt. This is not a catfight. Or a brawl over politics. Put aside the conspiracy theories. This is about a big [...]

Competition: pick the most ridiculous lines in this late-to-the-party Greens-bash by Janet Albrechtsen, published today in The Australian. I’m inclined to go with her apparently non-ironic description of her employer as part of “a free and sceptical press”, but there’s also this hilarious strawman: Too much of the mainstream media has let Brown glide effortlessly [...]

When Andrew “Perhaps just a taste of our future” Bolt and Janet “Someone please spike the drinks at Liberal Party HQ” Albrechtsen pointed to a Tea Party style movement potentially becoming a part of Australian politics, I’m positive that this wasn’t what they had in mind. All sides of politics need to make a commitment [...]

Here’s a follow-up on the efforts to pump up Tony Abbott’s standing as a genuine guy who, once you get him away from the biased ABC and the stage-managed world of press conferences and political advertising, can connect with the true heart of the electorate. Today we get another endorsement of Tony Abbott as a [...]

Astounding parallels in the recent writings of those non-barbarian non-elites who earn a living promoting conservative talking points. Janet Albrechtsen: Our leaders need more Q & A in the real world Elections are about voters. And when 200 undecided voters probed our leaders at the Rooty Hill RSL last Wednesday, they asked intelligent, challenging questions. [...]