What annoys me most is the hypocrisy of the moslems.
Just read some time the invective and hate that they direct at Christians
and the west in particular.
One story put out was that at a particular festival Jews choice a child
to eat at the dinner.

Bit far out, but I have seen a number of such things.
If the "Christian" world reacted like the moslems there would have been
nuclear war long ago.

Hi again Cohenite,

Yes, quietly pleased the analysis of the Murdoch campaign to rehabilitate Andrew got a run.

As discussed earlier, Bolt is perfectly free to express whatever opinion he wishes about pale Aborigines or anyone else with no restrictions whatsoever. The judge made this quite clear. But he cannot fabricate false claims about the behaviour and motivation of named individuals, can he? Simple as that.

The thread running through Eatock v Bolt, the commentary on Muslim extremism here and this weekend’s fuss about Alan Jones is Australia’s extraordinary practice of elevating proven liars and shonks to positions of great authority.

Did you see that the ‘apology’ by Alan Jones at the weekend was itself riddled with blatant lies? There is a full recording of the entire Young Libs meeting. Much of what Jones claimed had been said there - about Chatham rules and no journos and so on - simply hadn’t been. He just made all that sh!t up after the event.

Anthony, can you see how bizarre this appears from vantage points where lying is not celebrated as a great national virtue? Many Australians laud Jones, Bolt, Akerman and others for their extremist language and continual fabrications, and are happy to see them paid handsomely. Yet when unknown Muslims do the same – as in your links here to The Australian and Bolt – it is a worry.

Just hilarious!

hi Alan,

nice to hear you again. Do you agree with my views on the protests?

It's an aspect, that in the rush to sensationalise and for ratings, All media outlets overlooked. Not just the usual suspects. Do you think that a reasonsable indictement of Aussie media.

I personally found the Al Jezeera coverage the most balanced. Odd isn't it? Or is it? I think with all the personal denigration and attacks from our parliaments to our P and C's we've finally reached the nadir. Once personal vitrol was introduced into political debate we started on the slippery slope.

I blame Keating and the media who went in raptures over his 'spite and spittle'. That was the start. The highlighting of the abusive non answers in question time accentutes the slide. Hopefully Jones performance sees an end of it. I hope the media wake up to themselves. The enviroment today is toxic and at flashpoint. People are really angry and peed off. Media coverage is fostering that.

I believe the sensationalism around the riots was just another slip down that slide.

regards Keith

Hello again Keith,

Pretty sure I do agree with you on this. (But don’t worry, I don’t intend to make a habit of it.)

Protests are generally to be encouraged as a positive expression of opinion, passion and engagement - as long as they are not violent or excessively disrespectful of those with other views. Moderately disrespectful is okay.

Agree regarding Al Jezeera’s coverage. It’s a good source of news and opinion on issues not covered in the West, and certainly seems to provide often a balancing viewpoint.

And yes, I agree political vitriol accelerated during the Keating era with PK largely to blame. That it subsided during the Howard years was a good thing. Its recent reappearance does appear to be doing a lot of damage to political discourse in Australia.

I blame the media too, Keith. But you know that already …

Cheers, AA

@ Alan Austin,

<<Many Australians laud Jones, Bolt, Akerman and others for their extremist language and continual fabrications, and are happy to see them paid handsomely. Yet when unknown Muslims do the same – as in your links here to The Australian and Bolt – it is a worry>>

Some say that one picture is worth a thousand words.

When the words are those of Alan Austin, one picture is worth a million words:http://tinyurl.com/987wsar

Seeking to equate the comments of Jones, Bolt & Akerman with the comment being made in this picture --very, very sad!

Hi SPQR,

I wasn’t actually referring to that photo. Was referring specifically to Cohenite’s links to The Australian and to the proven racist, Andrew Bolt.

But no, I wouldn’t try to equate the offences of Alan Jones with those in your photo.

Too many stark moral and ethical differences.

One. Alan Jones has called specifically for the killing of named individuals – twice now. He wants your Prime Minister drowned in a chaff bag, and he wants her beheaded by guillotine. The child in your photo does not seem to be calling for the killing of anyone in particular.

Two. The child in your photo probably doesn’t even know what the sign says. Pretty sure Jones understands and believes the significance what he is calling for.

Three. Your PM has done nothing to warrant calls for her death. From the vantage point of Arabs and Muslims who have had hundreds of thousands of their countrymen – and women and children – slaughtered in recent invasions by Christian nations, there are quite valid justifications for them wanting to see militant anti-Muslim blasphemers killed. (I don’t agree with them. They are wrong. But we can understand their viewpoint.)

Four. The child in your photo does not have a radio station to foist on the public his calls for killing. Jones and 2GB express their views via Australia’s public broadcasting network.

Five. The little boy is not paid to say what he is saying. Alan Jones gets rewarded very handsomely. He is paid by corporations which enjoy wide popular patronage.

They are both wrong, SPQR. Both bad. But not as bad as each other.