I suppose that it is good to see that the author has at least one friend whom he can call upon to support him when nasty horrid people choose to hold up a mirror. It would be horrid to think that he might be a soul so lonely and embittered that he ... oh. Hmm.

Nice attempt to dig him out of a hole, TBC. I suspect you might yourself be a poltician of some stripe or other, given your easy approach to i) excusing the inexcusable and ii) answering a different question than that which was asked.

>>But he is, of course, quite right. Julie Bishop is a political-intellectual lightweight<<

The phrase upon which he built the piece was in fact that she had "the stench of political death about her". There is no mention anywhere in the article of her political-intellectual weighting. Whatever that piece of inventive flummery might mean.

The article, even on a second or third reading, can only be read as personal bitchiness, without a single redeeming fact or observation.

She "completely lost the plot in parliament when Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard targeted her for criticism, responding with cat-clawing gestures"

She was "humiliated and sapped of confidence"

"...the rot has set in on her political career"

"The level of self-denial over her failings has been staggering."

"...by not admitting to her poor performance or her plagiarism of ideas, has consigned herself to the dustbin of political history."

"...she is damaged goods... a deputy leader without credibility"

TBC's offering is in comparison a goldmine of observations and opinions, unfortunately totally wasted in an effort to redeem the original article's author from the charge of self-indulgent rudeness.

Periscopes.... take a trip to AustralianPolitics, do not pass Go, do not pick up $200:
http://australianpolitics.com/2008/11/11/is-julie-bishop-a-political-clown.html

Full marks for consistency, TBC.

Ignore the point, change the topic, provide irrelevant supporting material.

You've clearly partaken of the politician's Koolaid. You either are one, or are channelling one.

Impressive.

Pericles,

You have to admit Julie Bishop was performing dismally and showing no signs of getting better. It's all very well to bemoan others kicking her when she was down. But the Liberals are probably right to dump her now rather than be blindly loyal and take her to the next election. (Remember Mark Latham?)

The comparison with Julia Gillard will continue to favour the ALP by a huge margin. Cut your losses and run I'd say. How about a left-field replacement like Greg Hunt. A least he's articulate and knows how to run a decent argument.

Spikey, I'm not sure that my views on Ms Bishop's competence constitute an excuse for the author's arrogance and spite.

>>You have to admit Julie Bishop was performing dismally and showing no signs of getting better.<<

In fact, it wasn't only the pummelling...

>>It's all very well to bemoan others kicking her when she was down<<

...after all, as a politician she would be well used to it.

It was the complete absence of evidence. His mate The Blue Cross eventually felt obliged to provide some, possibly out of embarrassment, in his apology for "Peter van O's" behaviour. Together with, of course, a plug for his book.

I think it was the sheer self-important smugness of it all that got my goat.

Pericles,

"I think it was the sheer self-important smugness of it all that got my goat."

That may be so, but it's Julie Bishop's competence, not the author's attitude that's at stake.

The Liberals have to act now, or they'll be a three-term Opposition.