{"id":171418,"date":"2025-09-26T23:00:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T23:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/171418\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T23:00:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T23:00:29","slug":"linton-besser-sneers-at-the-land-of-the-free-as-he-airs-left-wing-charlie-kirk-conspiracy-theory-in-spirited-defence-of-jimmy-kimmel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/171418\/","title":{"rendered":"Linton Besser sneers at the ‘land of the free’ as he airs left-wing Charlie Kirk conspiracy theory in spirited defence of Jimmy Kimmel"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE LATEST<\/p>\n

ABC Global affairs editor flies to New York to report on Israel\/Gaza<\/p>\n

On Friday 26 September, ABC Radio National presenter Laura Tingle, the ABC\u2019s Global Affairs Editor, spoke about Israel\/Gaza and all that to ABC Radio AM presenter Andy Park.\u00a0 La Tingle is currently in New York.<\/p>\n

It is not clear how much the ABC Global Affairs Editor knows about the Middle East.\u00a0 Interviewed by Sally Sara on ABC Radio National Breakfast on 22 September, Tingle seemed uncertain.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go to the transcript where Tingle responded to a question about Australia\u2019s position recognising a Palestinian State:<\/p>\n

Laura Tingle: Well, I think the point about it, Sally, is that we’re not the only people doing it. You know, we’re \u2013 the safety in numbers, I suspect, is the rule. The UK, Canada, Portugal, a number of other countries are also formally recognising Palestine today. So, the Israelis don’t like it. The Americans don’t like it. And I think the thing that’s important here is that the government is pointing out and insisting that this is part of a deal effectively, which was originally worked out in July, the New York Declaration. It’s part of a process in return for recognition of statehood. The Palestinian Authority is making various commitments, such as recognising Israel’s right to exist as a formal thing. Demilitarising. Reforming its own operations. It’s obviously been subject to a lot of criticism, and of course this whole thing hangs on the idea that Hamas cannot be responsible for running Palestine. So, it’s \u2013 it’s not just the one thing of recognising Palestine. The Prime Minister keeps emphasising that it does require a lot of work by the Palestinian Authority to get itself into shape. And it requires work by Australia and the other people involved in this and the other countries involved in this, to try to help the Palestinian Authority to get to that space.<\/p>\n

Sally Sara: The Prime Minister says recognition of Palestine, together with Canada and the United Kingdom, is part of a coordinated international effort to build new momentum for a two-state solution. Does it build momentum?<\/p>\n

Laura Tingle: Well \u2013 uh \u2013 so \u2013 uh \u2013 uh \u2013 uh \u2013 a UN observer said to me over the weekend that if you thought about the fact that a lot of these countries were not even contemplating recognition of Palestine a few months ago. There has been a lot of momentum towards it up until now. Whether it goes any further. You’ve gotta work out how you judge that.<\/p>\n

\"Liz<\/p>\n

You get the idea.\u00a0 Tingle went on to suggest that \u201csome\u201d are saying that \u201cwe\u2019ve been too accommodating\u201d to Israel.\u00a0 But now \u201cthe gloves are off\u201d.<\/p>\n

As mentioned, La Tingle rocked up on ABC Radio again on Friday 26 September \u2013 and was interviewed by Andy Park on AM.\u00a0 On this occasion, her report was more coherent.<\/p>\n

In the RN interview Tingle seemed to be of the view that the Palestinian Authority could be trusted to do what it says in order to achieve a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians.\u00a0 But four days later she expressed doubts about the prospect of the PA delivering on its promises.<\/p>\n

For the record, in her report on AM the ABC\u2019s Global Affairs Editor did not mention the terrorist organisation Hamas or its massacre of Israelis on October 7, 2023.\u00a0 A significant omission, don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n

MWD will continue to monitor La Tingle\u2019s reports on the Middle East.\u00a0 In the meantime, set out below is a question Gerard Henderson sent to ABC Communications on 24 September.<\/p>\n

Good afternoon ABC Communications Team.<\/p>\n

I have a question which I hope the ABC will answer by the close of business tomorrow. ABC Global Affairs Editor Laura Tingle has been commenting from New York in recent days on Israel\/Gaza\/West Bank etc. My query is this: Has Ms Tingle been to one or all of (i) Israel, (ii) Gaza and (iii) the West Bank?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s hoping for an answer in line with the ABC\u2019s commitment to the Right To Know Coalition.<\/p>\n

Best wishes<\/p>\n

Gerard Henderson<\/p>\n

ABC Communications had not provided the information before MWD went out.\u00a0 We\u2019ll keep avid readers posted.\u00a0 But don\u2019t hold your breath as the saying goes \u2013 ABC Communications is not known for communicating.<\/p>\n

CAN YOU BEAR IT?7.30\u2019s Sarah Ferguson cannot hide her evident contempt for President Trump<\/p>\n

It would seem that ABC TV 7.30 presenter Sarah Ferguson\u2019s \u201cwar\u201d against President Donald J. Trump is of the forever kind.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Avid readers will recall Comrade Ferguson\u2019s three-part \u201cTrump\/Russia\u201d series on Four Corners program which advanced the conspiracy theory that Trump\u2019s victory in the November 2016 presidential election was somehow brought about by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. This was totally discredited by official US investigations \u2013 but the program remains uncorrected on the ABC website.\u00a0 All this was documented in Media Watch Dog Issue 454, on 7 June, 2019.<\/p>\n

But MWD digresses (yet again). On 24 September, Sarah Ferguson interviewed Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong.\u00a0 Ferguson was in Sydney, Wong in New York and, initially, the discussion turned on Trump\u2019s address to the United Nations this week.<\/p>\n

Here are the 7.30 presenter\u2019s three questions concerning the US president:<\/p>\n

Sarah Ferguson:\u00a0 On the October meeting that will take place between the Prime Minister and the President, after the President\u2019s speech at the UN, what sort of excruciating diplomacy will have to take place for the Prime Minister to present himself as a friend and staunch ally of someone who holds such diametrically opposing views?<\/p>\n

Sarah Ferguson:\u00a0 How do you prepare for a face-to-face meeting with the most powerful but also the most capricious leader in the world?<\/p>\n

Sarah Ferguson:\u00a0 Amongst the most outrageous things that President Trump said during his speech, of course, were about climate change, calling it variously a green scam, a hoax.<\/p>\n

Senator Wong\u2019s responses were professional and considered \u2013 as would be expected of a foreign minister.\u00a0 It would appear, however, that Comrade Ferguson cannot disguise her contempt for the US president. Hence, such words as \u201cexcruciating\u201d, \u201ccapricious\u201d and \u201coutrageous\u201d.<\/p>\n

The task of a professional interview is to ask insightful questions and to let the viewers\/listeners draw their own conclusions.\u00a0 Comrade Ferguson, however, seems to believe that she should let viewers know her own views \u2013 rather than let the likes of Senator Wong give answers without attempting to lead them to an answer.\u00a0 This is treating viewers as duds.\u00a0 Can You Bear It?<\/p>\n

[If Comrade Ferguson wants to proclaim her own views, she could always become a politician or perhaps a columnist.\u00a0 Just a thought. \u2013 MWD Editor.]<\/p>\n

\"\u2018It\u2019s Peter Hartcher overlooked attempted Trump assassinations while supporting Gavin Newsom\u2019s view that trump lit the first match on American political violence <\/p>\n

On Saturday 20 September, the\u00a0Sydney Morning Herald\u00a0led Page One of its print edition (which spilled to Page 5) with a piece by its politics and international editor Peter Hartcher titled \u201cPresidential hopeful issues dire warning on US rhetoric\u201d. The presidential hopeful\u00a0is the California governor Gavin Newsom \u2013 who is a possible Democratic presidential candidate in 2028.<\/p>\n

Hartcher\u2019s report was not Page One news.\u00a0 Anyone who follows United States politics knows that Newsom considers himself a chance to win the Democratic Party\u2019s endorsement to be its candidate in 2028.\u00a0 And that Newsom and Trump are fierce rivals.\u00a0 And that in the US there is no formal position of leader of the opposition.\u00a0 And so on.<\/p>\n

Your man Hartcher\u2019s profile presenting as news was essentially a suck-up to the Democrats and an attack on Trump\u2019s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.\u00a0\u00a0 You be the judge \u2013 here\u2019s how Hartcher\u2019s piece commenced:<\/p>\n

The US system doesn\u2019t provide a formal position for a leader of the opposition. The aspirants have to forge one for themselves. Increasingly, Gavin Newsom is being nominated by friends, foes and pollsters as the new titleholder. And the California governor thinks America today confronts a profound crisis after\u00a0the assassination of US far-right activist Charlie Kirk: \u201cI am deeply concerned about the next few weeks and months. It\u2019s a helluva moment in our country,\u201d he tells me in a phone interview this week from the governor\u2019s office in Sacramento.<\/p>\n

Former president Barack Obama this week said America was at \u201can inflection point\u201d. Newsom says that \u201con the other side of this, there may be something radically different\u201d. Before Kirk\u2019s death, Trump already had lit a match under the gunpowder of American politics, according to Newsom. Now, the Trump administration\u2019s rhetoric of retribution is \u201can accelerant\u201d applied to the flame, he says.<\/p>\n

How na\u00efve can a Nine Newspapers\u2019 political and international editor get?\u00a0 It would seem that Hartcher was so overwhelmed by the articulate and clever Governor of California that he accepted Newsom\u2019s account of contemporary United States at face value.<\/p>\n

Take, for example, Hartcher\u2019s uncritical acceptance of Newsom\u2019s assertion that, before the assassination of Charlie Kirk (the founder of the conservative Turning Point USA organisation), Trump already had lit a match under the gunpowder of American politics. And that the Trump administration\u2019s rhetoric of retribution is \u201can accelerant\u201d applied to the flame.<\/p>\n

Believe it or not, Hartcher ran Newsom\u2019s line about Trump having \u201clit a match under the gunpowder of American politics\u201d without mentioning the two attempted assassination attempts on Trump in late 2024 \u2013 the first in Pennsylvania, the second in Florida.\u00a0 Hartcher seems to be in denial about left-wing political violence in the US.\u00a0 And yet he is Nine Newspapers\u2019 international editor. Can You Bear It?<\/p>\n

\"\u2018The Michael Koziol devoid of empathy in his report of Charlie Kirk\u2019s political assassination <\/p>\n

While on the topic of Nine Newspapers and assassinations in the United States, did anyone read the column by Michael Koziol in Nine Newspapers on 22 September 2025?\u00a0 Comrade Koziol is the North American correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.<\/p>\n

Titled \u201cMore MAGA rally than funeral, Kirk\u2019s farewell was the ultimate blur between church and state\u201d, Koziol wrote as if he were reporting a political rally \u2013 and only a political rally.<\/p>\n

Charlie Kirk\u2019s murder was one of the most significant political assassinations in American history \u2013 including the 20th century killing of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy in the 1960s. Media reporting on these occasions covered the political impact of the events \u2013 but also the human tragedy involved for the Kennedy and King families.\u00a0 Sure, Kirk is not of Koziol\u2019s political taste \u2013 since the left-of-centre Koziol exhibits contempt for the MAGA movement. But Charlie Kirk was a husband and a father of two young children as well as a conservative political operative.<\/p>\n

Nine\u2019s North America correspondent made only a fleeting reference to Erika Kirk\u2019s \u201chaunting call for forgiveness\u201d for her husband\u2019s alleged murderer.\u00a0 There was no reference to other members of the Kirk family.<\/p>\n

In short, Koziol\u2019s coverage of the memorial service from Glendale, Arizona was cold and without empathy.\u00a0 To Koziol, the occasion was a \u201cfive-hour ceremony, buried in copious layers of American certitude, pageantry and self-congratulation\u201d. In short, Koziol presented a totally political report about what was also a personal tragedy.\u00a0 Can You Bear It?<\/p>\n

\"Trump Laura Tingle declares in New York last Sunday that the value of meeting President Trump diminishes by the day <\/p>\n

Talk about flooding the zone.\u00a0 As far as Media Watch Dog can work it out \u2013 until recent times the ABC had four journalists in the United States.\u00a0 Namely, Carrington Clarke, Ben Knight, Jade Macmillan and Brad Ryan.<\/p>\n

Apparently of the view that this quartet could not report America adequately, ABC management appointed John Lyons as Editor Americas based in Washington DC.\u00a0 It subsequently appointed Laura Tingle to the plush job of ABC Global Affairs Editor. Since the United States is part of the world [Good thinking \u2013 MWD Editor] ABC sent La Tingle to New York to cover the Heads of State and Government at the commencement of the General Assembly session this week.<\/p>\n

Then at the weekend ABC TV Insiders presenter David Speers went to New York to interview the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen and \u2013 wait for it \u2013 La Tingle.\u00a0 Both interviews could have been done from Canberra where David (\u201cOh Yes, I\u2019m the Great Interrupter\u201d) Speers is based.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Melissa Clarke presented Insiders from Canberra.<\/p>\n

Is the Australian taxpayer getting value for having lotsa journalists from the taxpayer-funded public broadcaster in New York?\u00a0 You be the judge.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go to the transcript of David Speers\u2019 interview with Laura Tingle in New York last Sunday (Australian time).<\/p>\n

David Speers: And the meeting \u2013 the meeting we \u2013 you know, he [Prime Minister\u00a0 Albanese] doesn’t have a meeting scheduled [with President Trump]. He sort of says: “Oh, look, you know, we \u2013 we talk on the phone. That’s all going fine. We’ll meet eventually. There are summits coming up.” But does it start to look a bit odd at this point?<\/p>\n

Laura Tingle: It looks a bit odd on one level. But given that \u2013 um \u2013 Donald Trump is sort of being seen in increasingly alarming terms around the world by his various interventions that, that aren’t all working \u2013 the, the sort of value of meeting with Donald Trump, I think sort of diminishes by the day. But it will continue to be something that pesters the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

Turn it up.\u00a0 When La Tingle made this statement there was a conga line of world leaders hoping to meet with President Donald J. Trump in New York or elsewhere. And the ABC\u2019s Global Affairs Editor told Insiders that \u201cthe value of meeting Donald Trump\u2026diminishes by the day\u201d.\u00a0 How out of touch can a Trump antagonist get?\u00a0 And here\u2019s another question: Can You Bear It?<\/p>\n

[No. Not really \u2013 now that you ask.\u00a0 I note that \u201cSpeersy\u201d, as he likes to be called, did not challenge La Tingle\u2019s claim.\u00a0 I also note that Comrade Speers wrote an article for ABC Online on 24 September titled \u201cTo pretend Trump\u2019s meeting with PM (Albanese) doesn\u2019t matter ignores AUKUS reality\u201d.\u00a0 So, there you have it. David Speers was mute on Sunday when Tingle declared that there was scant importance in a Trump\/Albanese meeting \u2013 but by Wednesday he depicted the likes of La Tingle as ignoring the importance of the Australia\/United Kingdom\/United States Security Pact. \u2013 MWD \u00a0Editor.]<\/p>\n

\"Penny ABC\u2019S Brett Worthington claims that climate change authority\u2019s Matt Kean is a federal public servant <\/p>\n

As Media Watch Dog readers know, there\u2019s nothing that the ABC likes more than a present or former Liberal Party heavy who criticises the Liberal Party.\u00a0 Think the late Malcolm Fraser. Think Malcolm Turnbull. And think former NSW Liberal Party treasurer and energy minister Matt Kean.<\/p>\n

In August 2024, Mr Kean was appointed by the Albanese Labor government as chair of the taxpayer-funded Climate Change Authority which advises the Commonwealth government on emission targets and so on.\u00a0 Kean \u2013 who is a vehement critic of the Coalition\u2019s policy on emissions \u2013 was interviewed on the ABC Radio National Breakfast program on 22 September 2025.\u00a0 Sally Sara was in the presenter\u2019s chair.<\/p>\n

At the end of the (soft) interview, Sally Sara spoke to the ABC\u2019s Brett Worthington about her interview. Let\u2019s go to the transcript:<\/p>\n

Sally Sara: Brett Worthington’s our political correspondent. He\u2019s with me in the Parliament House studio. Brett, Matt Kean told us the government doesn’t necessarily need a 2035 renewable energy target. Will that rebuff the calls for one?<\/p>\n

Brett Worthington: Yeah, I think it’s an interesting one. To listen to the language that you see coming from Matt Kean, in this new role of, to some extent being a federal bureaucrat, now that he’s out of the political system. And the line that we’re hearing from Chris Bowen. So, as we were hearing there, yes, Australia has set that renewable energy target for 2030, that’s the 82% target. Chris Bowen, when he was talking yesterday, very much wanted to focus on that rather than what it means for 2035 and clearly no target being set from the government side of it\u2026.<\/p>\n

Hold it there \u2013 amidst the confusion generated by this verbal sludge.\u00a0 Comrade Worthington is simply wrong.\u00a0 Matt Kean is not a \u201cFederal bureaucrat\u201d to any extent.\u00a0 He is chair of the Climate Change Authority \u2013 a part-time appointment.\u00a0 Brad Archer is the CCA\u2019s chief executive officer.<\/p>\n

Kean\u2019s full-time job is Director, Regulatory and Strategic Partnerships at Wollemi Capital. This is how Wollemi Capital describes itself:<\/p>\n

Our vision is to be a specialist climate investor and operator of global relevance and inter-generational impact. We strive to source opportunities in the sectors where our domain expertise is strongest, the need to advance decarbonisation is most critical and the prospective financial returns are greatest.<\/p>\n

According to Wollemi Capital, it focuses on decarbonisation in the area where \u201cprospective financial returns are greatest\u201d.<\/p>\n

For the record, your man Kean has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology, Sydney and worked briefly as an accountant before entering politics \u2013 initially as a staffer and then as a politician.\u00a0 He has no background in science or engineering and has no scientific input into climate science.\u00a0 Moreover, has never worked in the public service.<\/p>\n

Yet, Brett Worthington told RN Breakfast that Kean is to \u201csome extent\u201d a \u201cfederal bureaucrat\u201d. Can You Bear It?<\/p>\n

LINTON BESSER\u2019S SERMON ON THE MOUNT<\/p>\n

Since the ABC TV\u2019s\u00a0Media Watch\u00a0program commenced in 1989 it has consisted of presenters laying down the (media behaviour) law as if they were a modern-day Moses descending from the mountain, commandments in hand. All of them have been left-of-centre types as befits a Conservative Free Zone.<\/p>\n

Sneering Linton Besser runs left-wing conspiracy theory about the Late Charlie Kirk<\/p>\n

This is how Comrade Besser commenced the taxpayer-funded public broadcaster\u2019s Media Watch on Monday 22 September:<\/p>\n

Linton Besser: Hello, I\u2019m Linton Besser, welcome to Media Watch.<\/p>\n

And first tonight, we turn to the land of the free and home of the brave, where both freedom and bravery are in rapid retreat, as media titans bow to the new America.<\/p>\n

Rob Scott: \u2026 Jimmy Kimmel exits from a back door of the Hollywood theatre \u2026<\/p>\n

Person:\u00a0Jimmy, we love you, stay strong man.<\/p>\n

Rob Scott :\u00a0ABC America axing the show indefinitely after comments from Kimmel during Monday night\u2019s program.<\/p>\n

– Seven News, 18 September 2025<\/p>\n

Linton Besser: His crime?\u00a0 Making light of the murder of Charlie Kirk, the caustic right-wing polemicist who, in death, has been proclaimed a martyr by the cause.<\/p>\n

This is not humour.\u00a0 It\u2019s sneering.\u00a0 Also note the (sneering) reference to the United States of America as \u201cthe land of the free and home of the brave, where both freedom and bravery are in rapid retreat\u201d. \u00a0But are they?\u00a0 The US remains a free society.\u00a0 And, whatever may be the thought of the US\u2019s attack on Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities \u2013 well, it was certainly brave.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, no one has declared that Jimmy Kimmel committed \u201ca crime\u201d before his show on the ABC in the US was suspended indefinitely.\u00a0 Also, it was not \u201caxed\u201d \u2013 and was reinstated not long after your man Scott said it had been.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the late Charlie Kirk was not just a \u201ccaustic right-wing polemicist who, in death, has been proclaimed a martyr by the cause\u201d. This is just abuse. [I guess that Comrade Besser meant to say that Charlie Kirk has been proclaimed \u201ca martyr for the cause\u201d \u2013 not \u201cby\u201d [sic] the cause. It would seem that Besser needs some lessons in grammar \u2013 re which see last week\u2019s issue. \u2013 MWD Editor.] \u00a0<\/p>\n

Comrade Besser went on to claim that Jimmy Kimmel \u201cwaded clumsily into the affiliations and motivation of the man accused of shooting one of Trump\u2019s most vocal supporters\u201d. Turn it up. There was nothing \u201cclumsy\u201d about this claim from Kimmel:\u00a0 \u201cThe MAGA gang [is] desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimmel\u2019s claim was absolute tosh.\u00a0 There is no evidence that Kirk was murdered by \u201cone\u201d of the MAGA team.\u00a0 None at all.\u00a0 Kimmel just made this up.\u00a0 Indeed, all the available evidence indicates that the alleged murderer detested Trump and MAGA and all that. Yet Comrade Besser presents as a considered commentator.\u00a0 But, in this instance, he has embraced a conspiracy theory put out by the American left.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s another point.\u00a0 Linton Besser only sought comment from Trump antagonists to support ABC TV\u2019s Media Watch view that President Donald J. Trump is in the process of setting up an authoritarian state.\u00a0 Namely, Professor Emeritus Richard Gunther, Professor Lucian Way and Professor Karrin Vasby Anderson. No other view was heard as Preacher Besser laid out his oh-so-familiar Monday Evening Sermon.<\/p>\n

\"\u2018RatherNEW FEATURE:\u00a0 DISCOURTEOUS MOMENT OF THE WEEK<\/p>\n

As avid Media Watch Dog readers are well aware, Ellie\u2019s (male) co-owner is very, very courteous.\u00a0 Due, it would appear, to being well brought up \u2013 albeit a long time ago.\u00a0 So much so that Hendo has awarded himself a gong \u2013 as in Gerard Henderson AC (aka Always Courteous). [Well done \u2013 but even with this (fake) gong you have a long way to catch up in so far as awards are concerned with your man Phillip (\u201cI was once a teenage commo \u2013 or was I an adult?\u201d) Adams AC AO\u00a0AM, Hon DUniv (Griffith), Hon DLitt (ECU), Hon DUniv (SA), DLitt [sic] (Syd), Hon. DUniv (Macquarie), FRSA, Hon FAHA. \u2013 MWD Editor.]<\/p>\n

So, it comes as no surprise, then, that Hendo is on the look-out for discourteous moments in the week \u2013 including the current one \u2013 in order to draw attention to bad manners in the hope that courtesy will prevail throughout the land.<\/p>\n

\"AnthonyON NICK BRYANT\u2019S SATURDAY EXTRA \u2013 JON SOPEL DIRECTS A CLICH\u00c9D TERM OF ABUSE AT UK PM KEIR STARMER<\/p>\n

On ABC Radio National Saturday Extra program on 20 September, the British-born Nick Bryant interviewed the British-born Jon Sopel.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how the segment was described:<\/p>\n

Jon Sopel from the award-winning podcast The News Agents delivers a chilling warning: when leaders go unchallenged, authoritarianism follows. In the wake of President Trump\u2019s UK state visit and the furore over TV host Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s removal from air after comments about the assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Jon Sopel joins Nick Bryant to discuss the week in US and UK politics.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, this was essentially a rant about President Donald J. Trump. Yet another one on the taxpayer-funded public broadcaster \u2013 during which Nick agreed with his bestie Jon and Jon agreed with his bestie Nick. Groan.\u00a0 And, in the middle, there was this exchange:<\/p>\n

Nick Bryant: Do you think there are tips that Anthony Albanese can get from Keir Starmer about how to deal with Donald Trump?<\/p>\n

Jon Sopel: Keir Starmer has gone for the ugly, sycophantic, obsequious \u2013 there is, you know: \u00a0\u201cI will be so far up your backside that only my shoes will be showing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick Bryant: You can say that in Australia, Jon. You probably couldn\u2019t say that on the BBC.<\/p>\n

Jon Sopel: I \u2013 I \u2013 yeah, I know. I \u2013 I was wondering as \u2013 as those words were spilling from my mouth, whether we’ll get away with this or whether it will be edited out by the time this is broadcast.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t. ABC management saw fit to let this abuse go to air \u2013 in spite of the fact that the interview seemed to be pre-recorded and, if so, it could have been edited out. And there\u2019s another point.\u00a0 The abusive \u201cjoke\u201d was not only unfunny. It was first heard when Moses was a boy.<\/p>\n

Jon Sopel \u2013 off to the Courtesy Classes conducted by the late Nancy (2002-2017) with a little help from the American psychic and medium John Edward.<\/p>\n

\"\u2018She\u2019sYOU MUST REMEMBER THIS<\/p>\n

Media Watch Dog\u2019s\u00a0\u201cYou\u00a0Must\u00a0Remember\u00a0This\u201d segment is based on the chorus line in the song\u00a0As Time Goes By,\u00a0which was popularised by the film\u00a0Casablanca. It is devoted to reminding the usual suspects of what they and\/or those they supported once wrote or said or did \u2013 or, indeed, what they failed to write or say.<\/p>\n

Nine\u2019s Nick O\u2019Malley predicts immediate risks to major coastal cities in the north that were also predicted in 1988<\/p>\n

Without question, Nick O\u2019Malley is one of Australia\u2019s leading eco-catastrophists.\u00a0 He commenced his column in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald on 16 September as follows:<\/p>\n

Those fearing that the Albanese government would water down the threat of global warming in its long-awaited Climate Risk Assessment report should be reassured. The report,\u00a0published on Monday morning, makes for horrifying reading. It paints a picture of a nation facing escalating climate risks that have already been realised and that will be felt by every Australian, particularly those living on the outskirts of major cities or in the far north.<\/p>\n

Ellie\u2019s (male) co-owner was contemplating Comrade O\u2019Malley\u2019s latest contribution to The-End-of-the-World-is-Nigh movement, when he happened to come across a report in the Brisbane Sunday Sun dated 2 October 1988 \u2013 i.e. 37 years ago \u2013 headed \u201cGreenhouse effect will drown Cairns\u201d.\u00a0 It commenced:<\/p>\n

Of all the Australian coastal cities, Cairns will suffer most when the greenhouse effect takes full hold. The only way to save the city will be to build dykes like the Dutch have done in Rotterdam. The dire warning for Cairns, which is now the tourist capital of the nation, was given this week by Professor Eric Bird, of Melbourne University, an expert in geomorphology, the study of land formation. A seawall would have to be constructed across Cairns harbour and the city protected with dykes, he said. Professor Bird has made a study of the Cairns area, and said he could now predict exactly what would happen in 50 years or less when the sea rises.<\/p>\n

Professor Bird\u2019s paper was delivered to a conference organised by the Commission for the Future and the CSIRO.\u00a0 The Sunday Sun reported Phil Noyce, the Commission for the Future deputy director, as saying that bureaucrats, politicians and scientists were now comparing the greenhouse effect to nuclear weaponry in terms of its capacity to threaten the future of life on earth.\u00a0 Really.<\/p>\n

So, according to Professor Bird in 1988, Cairns would be flooded by 2038 or earlier. [Do you mean now? \u2013 MWD Editor.] unless a sea wall was constructed across Cairns Harbour.\u00a0 And, according to Phil Noyce, in 1988 bureaucrats, politicians and scientists were comparing what was then called the greenhouse effect with nuclear war.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the problem with prophecy. It\u2019s unwise to make predictions \u2013 especially about the future, as the saying goes.<\/p>\n

You Must Remember This.<\/p>\n

\"AnthonySHANE WRIGHT AND CANDLESTICKS<\/p>\n

As\u00a0Media Watch Dog\u00a0readers are well aware, Nine\u2019s Shane Wright has risen without trace (as the late Kitty Muggeridge once said about the late David Frost) to become the senior economics correspondent for\u00a0The Age\u00a0and\u00a0Sydney Morning Herald\u00a0\u2013 not having published anything of note apart from newspaper articles and columns plus the occasional essay. Even so, you would expect a person in such an elevated position to know about the international energy market.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only a few years since your man Wright ridiculed anyone who said that coal had any future as a part of energy supply \u2013 even in such markets as India, China and Indonesia. He declared on ABC TV\u00a0Insiders\u00a0on 11 June 2017 that \u201ccoal is like candlesticks\u201d and compared those who said that there is still a demand for Australian coal exports with members of the Candle Makers Union circa 1870 who (allegedly) argued the case for candles over electricity. Now read on.<\/p>\n

\"DavidGood news for coal from Queensland \u2013 and bad news for Shane Wright<\/p>\n

Shane Wright\u2019s dire prediction concerning the future of Australian coal seems to have taken another blow this week. On Wednesday, Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki said that coal will remain a part of Queensland\u2019s energy mix for \u201cdecades\u201d.<\/p>\n

Queensland\u2019s Crisafulli government is set to hand down its energy roadmap on 10 October. And, based on Mr Janetzki\u2019s comment, it will be anticipating coal lasting beyond the previous government\u2019s set end date of 2035. Queensland currently gets 60 per cent of its power from coal and has relatively young coal plants which could operate for many years if needed.<\/p>\n

As MWD has previously covered, Victoria and New South Wales have already had to extend the life of coal plants to prevent shortages, with further extensions seeming inevitable.<\/p>\n

Mr Wright\u2019s bold 2017 prediction about the bleak future of coal looks ever more foolish, with coal likely to remain in use for decades to come.<\/p>\n

\"AnthonyHISTORY CORNERRemembering Essendon\u2019s 1965 premiership<\/p>\n

Hendo is an Essendon Football Club tragic who is of the view that he will not see Essendon win another Australian Football League Grand Final in his lifetime \u2013 or, indeed, his after-life (if there is one).<\/p>\n

How appropriate then to remember the days when the Bombers dropped real ordnance and won finals on a fairly regular basis.<\/p>\n

25 September 2025 was the 60th Anniversary of Essendon\u2019s victory over St Kilda (commonly called The Saints) at the MCG.\u00a0 The score was 14.21 (105) to 9.16 (70). 25 September is also the feast day of Saints Cosmas and Damian \u2013 for those who care about these matters.<\/p>\n

Here is the Essendon side which (with perhaps help from Saints Cosmas and Damian) prevailed over the (other) Saints 60 years ago.\u00a0\u00a0 Ken Fraser was the captain and John Coleman the coach.<\/p>\n

B\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 D Gerlach\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 G Brown\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 C Payne<\/p>\n

HB\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 B Davis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I Shelton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 G Pryor<\/p>\n

C\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A Epis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J Clarke\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 R Blew<\/p>\n

HF\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 G Johnston\u00a0\u00a0 K Fraser \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 G Gosper<\/p>\n

F\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 B Sampson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E Fordham\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 D Shaw<\/p>\n

Ruck\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 D McKenzie\u00a0\u00a0 H Mitchell\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J Birt<\/p>\n

Reserves\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 B Waite\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 K Egan<\/p>\n

Coach\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 J Coleman<\/p>\n

Note that John Somerville was knocked out in the previous final against Collingwood and replaced by Graeme Johnston on the half-forward flank in the Grand Final team.<\/p>\n

Media Watch Dog thought that avid readers would like to know this.<\/p>\n

* * * * * *<\/p>\n

Until Next Time.<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n

Gerard Henderson is an Australian columnist, political commentator and the Executive Director of The Sydney Institute. His column Media Watch Dog is republished by SkyNews.com.au each Saturday morning. He started the blog in April 1988, before the ABC TV\u2019s program of the same name commenced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE LATEST ABC Global affairs editor flies to New York to report on Israel\/Gaza On Friday 26 September,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,111843,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-171418","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-media-watch-dog","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}