Headlines Saturday 14th June

Barack Obama: Messiah or a naughty boy
Piers Akerman
DEPENDING on your politics, George W. Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard were amigo heroes or a demonic gang of three, when they were united in arms at the pointy end of Western democratic politics. -Although it is often portrayed as being too different to compare, US politics and Australian politics also have similarities which make them easy to interpret. The facile politic of Obama compares broadly with Rudd, and the politics of McCain has similarities with Dr Nelson.
I do not approve of McCain's record as a liberal. I do not think that conservatives court liberal votes by being liberal in policy, but by being effective. It matters nothing if Obama appeals to Democrats or if McCain appeals to Republicans. It is disputable that there is a middle ground, too. The idea of a compromise middle ground flies in the face of evidence, where people are swayed by the portrayal of consistent policy.
Rudd's policy was never challenged by the media, and now it is apparent he has none. People knew what President Bush stood for, and that was why he was so easily elected. The winner of the next US election will be the one who can show that they have a policy that is commensurate with the times. Maybe Obama can do a light show like Rudd, but it is doubtful. If McCain wins, it won't be because he was a closet liberal, it will be because his opponent had nothing to say. -ed.
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Hamas has an itchy trigger finger
Andrew Bolt
Hamas on Thursday:

Four Palestinian including a baby girl was martyred and more then 50 others were wounded in a huge explosion caused by the Israeli air strike.

Hamas on Friday, after actually checking the wreckage of its clumsy bombmaker’s house:

Members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades were trying to prepare for a Jihad operation… An error occurred and led to the explosion and they were martyred.

No Jews involved? That’s all right then.
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The beginning of Labor’s end
Andrew Bolt
If true, it will spell deep trouble for the government, even with Beattie gone:

THE Crime and Misconduct Commission will assess fresh claims disgraced former minister Merri Rose forced electorate staff to falsify documents to ”conceal a relationship” between her and former premier Peter Beattie.
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Their Mr Bean looks like ours
Andrew Bolt
Laurie Oakes sees a parallel between Britain’s hapless Prime Minister and our own:

For example, in the current debate over why it has all gone wrong so quickly for (Gordon) Brown, there are echoes of the concern in Australia over Kevin Rudd’s 24/7 work ethic and his control freak reputation.
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You want power or pointless purity?
Andrew Bolt
There’s the collision, right there:

“Brown coal, with its current high level of emissions, will not have a future. It’s just too polluting,” says the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Don Henry.

But close down brown coal and you close down Victoria’s electricity grid.
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Not just Newman’s shame
Andrew Bolt
An evil thinker is being deprogrammed:

SAM Newman began the fight to return to TV yesterday when he attended his first Channel 9-ordered counselling session…

The session with consultant psychologist Dr Judith Paphazy lasted an hour, but he emerged in what seemed a darker mood.
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Hands up who thinks it made sense?
Andrew Bolt
Even Lenore Taylor, global warming disciple and friend of the Left, can’t believe it:

BEFORE we all start doing the Toyota jump-for-joy with John Brumby about 10,000 Australian-made hybrid Camrys each year, we need to have a bit of a think about exactly what we are trying to achieve here.

If the Rudd Government’s aim is to reduce Australia’s contribution to global greenhouse emissions and slow the effects of climate change, it has just wasted the $35 million it has offered to Toyota, and the Victorian Premier has wasted the $30 million to $35million he has offered.

It would have been far cheaper for the governments to trouser their $70 million, ditch tariffs on imported fuel-efficient cars, abandon multimillion-dollar industry assistance plans and allow Australians to buy the cheapest and best technology available from overseas.
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Dude, where’s my warming?
Andrew Bolt
John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel, wants Al Gore to show him that catastrophic warming:

Well, it is simply not happening. Worldwide there was a significant natural warming trend in the 1980’s and 1990’s as a Solar cycle peaked with lots of sunspots and solar flares. That ended in 1998 and now the Sun has gone quiet with fewer and fewer Sun spots, and the global temperatures have gone into decline. Earth has cooled for almost ten straight years. So, I ask Al Gore, where’s the global warming?
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A dissenter writes
Andrew Bolt
Reader Pene, writing in today’s forum, is furious that I’m out of step with the temper of the times:

(A)re you just nitpicking and trying to spread dissent? In these times where it is important to protect our democratic rights, and we often even need to remind ourselves that this is a democracy, it is irresponsible for an educated person to use an opinion column in this way.
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Spain’s rain plain contradicts
Andrew Bolt
Spain sure is raining on the global alarmists’ parade.
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A promise broken
Andrew Bolt
I’m actually pleased the Rudd Government is breaking its promise to give every senior secondary student a computer. I never thought much of the idea in the first place:

But professors who have banned laptops from their classes say there is no going back. Classroom discussions suddenly come alive when the laptops are gone, they say. -pleased that it is broken, and yet promoted the promise in the campaign, right? -ed.
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Lunatic, brave, mistaken and inspirationa. Papers can't agree how to assault conservative.
Andrew Bolt
No idea what David Davis has done, but I do know the staff of London’s Telegraph can’t reach a consensus on it.

Iain Martin: (The Telegraph) - David Davis’s decision is political lunacy
Simon Heffer: (The Telegraph) - David Davis has set a powerful example
Leading Article: (The Telegraph) - David Davis has made a brave mistake
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Job application written
Andrew Bolt
Problem: You are a biologist and you want funds.

Solution: You need 1. A big scare. 2. An uncertainty only a grant can fix. 3. A tie-in to global warming, to amplify scare, attract publicity and gain moral credits.

And so we read this:

ENTIRE species may have already been wiped off the face of the earth because of climate change, scientists believe.

But due to a lack of research - caused by minimal funding from governments - it may be some time before it becomes known which species, a CSIRO marine biologist said.
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Drought at the flick of a switch
Andrew Bolt
Victoria’s green-preaching government says we need a supply of water that isn’t dependent on rain:
Water Minister Tim Holding said the solutions to Victoria’s water challenges were based around dramatically improving water-use efficiency by modernising irrigation systems and by finding non-rainfall-dependent supplies, such as desalination.
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Interest rate pain here to stay
INTEREST rates will have to remain high for the long term, the Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens says. - or until the ALP are ousted federally and at state levels. - ed.
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Della Bosca 'fuming' at Premier Iemma
SUSPENDED NSW minister John Della Bosca said to be furious he was 'hung out to dry' by premier.
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Beattie 'relationship' claims assessed
CLAIMS a Queensland minister faked documents to "conceal a relationship" with the former premier are being looked into.
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Banjo waltzed with more than Matilda
By Ron Reed
LEGENDARY poet Banjo Paterson has been accused of being "a cad and a rotter" who wrote Waltzing Matilda with the help of a woman he was wooing while he was engaged to her best friend.

And the swagman who features in Australia's best-loved song was actually a German-born arsonist who was probably murdered by "the squatter mounted on his thoroughbred" - and the police covered it up.

These remarkable claims have emerged in a so-far unpublished book by a Victorian singer-songwriter, historian and folklore expert who has spent 15 years researching the Waltzing Matilda story.

Dennis O'Keeffe, originally from Warrnambool and now living in Geelong, says his book, The Creation of Waltzing Matilda, is "the most definitive academic document ever written" about the world-famous ditty.