NSW sex scandal bigger news here than US elections

It’s true. Our headlines this morning are dominated by the latest setback for the NSW government, which seems in terminal disarray. It is such a shame that the only viable alternative look more and more like a bunch of maddies.

And a quick comment on the US. Very quick. Rumsfeld has gone, probably the best thing to happen to America for years. Cheney should go. Karl Rove should be unemployed as soon as possible. Seriously, whatever happens next, there is no easy fix.

Later

John Howard is clearly whistling in the dark. “Although Iraq was on people’s minds it wasn’t the only factor in the American elections. A lot of Republican supporters I believe stayed at home because they didn’t like fact that their administration was running a budget deficit. It went against their grain, they’re fiscal conservatives… What has happened in relation to Donald Rumsfeld is in the realm of what you might call gesture politics. A recognition that there had to be something done by the President to acknowledge that there is concern about the conduct of the war.” Gesture politics? Come on! See also When obstinacy becomes reality deficit, who is “weak and gutless”?.