Dear Raymond: I don’t know how to ask this politely so I suppose I’ll have to come right out with it. Do you think Barnaby Joyce nudges the bottle a bit? He’s always got a bright red face and he hasn’t got the clearest of minds. Just asking.

Presently politically and MSM vilified, Joyce and Ironbar make a perfectly sensible, if unpopular (and unwise politically), argument.

Many politicians of both political parties actually agree with them but are understandably if somewhat cravenly, unwilling to stick their necks out for fear of the Labor machine and/or the MSM.

The recent RET and imminent pre Copenhagen cynically misnamed ‘CPRS’ bills will cause great economic suffering and lost opportunity and all for absolutely no discernible benefit even if you are an ardent
AGW believer.

When the MSM have got their leftist bit between the teeth, it requires a Lathamesque implosion to awaken the public to the truth.

I hold no great hope.

On seconds thoughts, I withdraw that suggestion until Pauline Hanson is deceased.

p.s. I wonder if Rudd sometimes feels that this is just too easy.

If Joyce and the Nats thought a bit more or listened to the knobs like Turnbull finance people in the Libs, they would realise that a carbon tariff or insurance black list would make the HIH disaster look like a bad overpriced expresso down at Bondi Beach. Sad but nothing to complain about given the view.

But perhaps to add that Joyce ought to be respected the way a doomed wolf decides to fight to the death rather than go down with a whimper. Not commented on much in his chat with the Meet The Press folks yesterday was his comment to the effect of ‘I’m also thinking about whether to get out of politics [pause] there’s a straight answer for you’.

Sooo BJ is having thoughts of political mortality. But the fact remains the land use issues of climate change are so profound, denialism has to be a quite logical reaction for many.

Hopefully someone will throw a canvas over him before he hurts himself.

Its hard to see how the mess that’s being created can be fixed and poor old Malcolm Turnbull must be wondering what he did to deserve this. Mr Turnbull’s leadership appears untenable as the opposition parties are in the process of complete self destruction under his watch - due partly to ego, partly to lack of discipline (read mixed and confusing public messages) and partly due to poor performances (Julie Bishop being a prime example).

It is becoming increasingly clear that the opposition has broken up into groups that are congregating around the people who can speak loudest, or are the best “sport” for TV news. It took John Howard a along time to get them all under control and with his departure the “power vacuum” has led to public civil war.

The departure of a well known “hard man” in the middle east and the power vacuum and total chaos that followed is not an unreasonable analogy of what is going on.