Melbourne's Age, that rouged and sherry-tippled great aunt of the Australian media, takes the baton

As I suspected, but cautiously awaited, John Howard's momentarily forgetting the name of the Liberal candidate for the Tasmanian federal seat of Franklin headlined news reports and bulletins right across the media world. It was clear that our overwhelmingly leftist media was having the time of their lives. This was something they could really work over and beat up right up (hopefully) to the death-knock for the despicable conservative (with a capital 'C') who, in a travesty perpetrated by an ignorant electorate, has headed Australia's government for the last eleven years.

Note that I say 'headed' the government - for we know that some of Australia's most powerful bodies and institutions are really the captive of the PC class. Count the ABC as heading that long queue. It's worth a further note to point out that John Howard's realistic and prudential dealing with the concrete circumstances of the PC class's hegemony has been cynically exploited by that class. It has enabled them to misrepresent his skilful and effective political dealing as cynicism and lack of principle.

It was instructive to listen to the ABC radio interview in which the Prime Minister forgot the name of his candidate. Firstly you could hear anticipation in the voice of the interviewer, as if she had already been informed that he did not know the name. Then the thrill in the voice as she knew she had trapped the Prime Minister. You could almost hear her thinking, 'wow, what a coup, and won't I be noticed!' No doubt she received the necessary congratulations from her jealous colleagues, and perhaps a glass of ABC hypocrisy at the local ABC watering hole.

But let me not underestimate the high level of media skill the people of the ABC exercise in such cases. There is always some admirable self-restraint which can add superficial cover to their deep ideological partiality. It must be left to the more forthright uncensored Age to compete for the lead in the twenty-five year old smear campaign, a campaign that appears to be at last having some bite.

Of all the media reports, The Age's 60s time-locked reporting was the most fulsome in its gravity, conveying the dire significance of the PM's memory lapse. After all, they must keep up the pandering to their mindless unreflective Howard-hating constituency.