I pray every day that the Lord Almighty continues to keep Ted Baillieu in rude health. May he remain Leader for a thousand years.

Only a change of captain can stop the SS Titanic from sinking.

There is a big difference between a “perv” and an artist. Grow up.

Wonder what Cait Catt will say about this on the other blog?

What other blog, Andrew Bolt’s?

I can’t help but blame myself for this.

The Mulder Express has failed to turn a wheel.
The great hope is a great flop, a dud.
He nodded off in Parliament today.
The Libs need a man for the job, NOT a toff boy hiding behind his wife’s purse.

If you wanted an example of just how gravely cultured Australia misconstrues the broad sentiment of the ordinary public, look no further than the latest outbreak of the Bill Henson affair.

Presumably the thought behind publishing David Marr’s The Henson Case was to make a case for artistic freedom and the intrinsic quality of Henson’s work. Text publisher Michael Heyward is a friend of the artist. Author David Marr is sympathetic. Which is where in theory the thing might have ended — artist’s reputation restored — had the public nerve so readily irritated by Henson’s serial observations of early adolescent sexuality not been so raw.

The depth of the miscalculation is indicated by inclusion of the schoolyard recruiting anecdote in extracts from the book published with some ‘sets the record straight’ fanfare by the weekend Fairfax papers. It seems extraordinary that neither Marr, Heyward — nor even Henson — might not have seen how inflammatory of broad sensibilities that revelation might have been. The emerging controversy was initially left to the news limited papers. Presumably Fairfax was hampered by the commercial relationship with the text and the group’s innate liberalist sympathies. But the whole mess moved out into the open pretty quick smart with the official investigation into the conduct of the principal.

It now turns out that the publisher had a relationship with the school, which is to say his children went there. Might he even have played a role in introducing the artist? Who knows. What a kerfuffle.

Clearly Marr and Heyward live in a pretty well-insulated bubble if they thought an extract revealing the occasional schoolyard peregrinations of a photographer many perceive as something closer to a pornographer, could possibly work in the artists’ favor.

Then there’s the perennial and nagging issue of how much media outlets compromise themselves when they pay to participate in the elaborate process of book publicity. We saw it with Fairfax and Costello, how Fairfax writers held back their knowledge of the former treasure true political intentions to suit the publicity schedule of Melbourne University Publishing. Now we see Fairfax going soft on a legitimate public debate on Henson, perhaps because they bought the rights to his defence.

Then there’s one last clinching point. A sad one really. That many people of well-developed aesthetic sensibility would admit, if pressed, that they have long been a little uncomfortable about the shadowland encompassed by Henson’s lingering and sometimes eerily prurient focus on the cusp of adulthood. The deep truth in all this is that while the argument over freedom of expression might be well worth the trouble, Henson is an unlikely and compromised posterboy for the cause.

Do the Reforms, drafted by the Prosciutto and Snelly and proposed by Old Man Winter, defend human rights? If so, they have my support?

Especially if they defend my human right to ensure that only left wing soft-coqs get preselected?

McPerton, please use question marks only st the end of sentences that contain questions.

I am so looking forward to my LM-001 limo.

All will be welcome for parties in the back seat.

Victor do you think Town Hall will provide me with a 2009 Black Mercedes 350 CLK Elegance as a Mayoral Car? Maybe that lovely Miss Jess would like to be my chauffeur? She could wear that French Maid costume I purchased online.

Ted’s photo in the background does nothing to dispel the myth he is a toff.

All the other colts, dressed in their rugby jumpers, Ted dressed in a suit jacket and riding boots. Would have made a cracking second rower though.

Simon Troeth is a geeky twerp

AS Miranda Devine puts it today:

Dear parents:

Acclaimed artist Bill Henson, who specialises in photographing adolescents in various states of undress, is having trouble finding models and would like you to consider having your child pose naked for him. He will be attending the school this Friday at lunchtime to survey the students for potential candidates. This is a wonderful opportunity for our school community to show its support of the arts and I would hope that you will join us in welcoming Mr Henson. If there are any objections, please call the school office and we will arrange for your child to stay in the classroom at lunchtime.

Bailleau is a tosser. A pseud. A real estate salesman. A conservative and a politician he is not.

I feel a bit odd these days. Theana is a bit annoyed with me, but I had a lovely afternoon smelling the roses in the parliamentary garden.