I managed to get the TV working last night in the Victor Harbor holiday shack. (Something is wrong with the arial connection). It was just in time to catch a few seconds grab of John Howard holding forth in the House of Representatives about the weapons of mass destructon issue.

Our Prime Minister was responding to claims that Australians had been misled over the weapons of mass destruction issue and a forthcoming Senate inquiry into the misleading.

His response?

"I had some investigations made through the Office of National Assessments. have been informed as follows: that United States and United Kingdom intelligence agencies have concluded that at least one of the three vehicle trailers found in Iraq is a mobile production, biological weapons production facility."

No one else is saying this. Never mind. Australia is speaking independently for once on foreign policy.

Then there was this great line:

"Those on the opposition who now seek to denigrate what this Government and this country did are in effect calling for the restoration of Saddam Hussein."

Then a big patriotic flourish about the Government being proud of Australian involvement in the Iraq war rounded off the speech.

I was so knocked out I went and poured myself a drink of a good quality chardonnay. This was beyond political bluff. Howard was losing it. He looked threadbare and pathetic. There was no aura of the statesman.

As Tim Dunlop comments this is "reaching the bottom of the barrel" and "getting close to being the sort of 'reds-under-the-bed' comment that finally got Malcolm Fraser laughed out of office."