Andrews and the Nazis: Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews addressed a Unity for Peace forum in Melbourne last week, and offered this odd response to a question about Iraq war information management (listen to it here):

Just three comments. Firstly, it’s wrong to suggest that I’m saying things haven’t improved in Iraq; I’m saying quite the opposite. Things have improved in Iraq. You just have to look at schools and hospitals and a whole range of services in that country that are operating today in a way they weren’t operating in the past. That country has improved and that’s why I’m saying we should stay there. Secondly, in relation to any conflict this conflict has been covered by the media more than any other conflict in history. There are journalists in Iraq every day. There are reporters in Iraq. There is more about this warfare on our daily television news sets and in the media than any other war before. So the media are there and they’re freely there in that country and they can report what’s going on. That’s the reality. I mean we’ve got more media, more instantaneous media in the world today, including in situations of conflict, than we’ve had in any other conflict, in any other war in the past. That’s the reality in relation to it. Finally can I say that somebody mentioned, one of the panellists mentioned Nazi Germany. Can I quote from Arthur Koestler who was writing about the burning of Berlin’s Reichstag in 1933, the event which gave rise to Nazi Germany, and he said this and I quote: “We said that if you don’t quench those flames at once they will spread all over the world.” And I think the same can be seen, can be said about extreme Islam today.

(Crowd heckles)

Somebody said that’s racist. I said extreme Islam, I did not say Islam in general… (inaudible) I’ll finish on this note, ladies and gentlemen, if you want to pretend that there is not an ideological battle in the world… (crowd heckles). Have the decency and courtesy to listen to the answer. If you want to pretend that there is not an ideological conflict between those who believe broadly in Western democracy and those who believe that there ought to be a state of affairs which is ruled by an extremist ideology I think you’ve got your head in the sand.

Speaking of Nazis, Celebrity physicist Karl Kruszelnicki has described clean coal as a “complete furphy” and likened it to Nazi propaganda.
“Goebbels, the Nazi propagandist, said if you’re going to tell a lie, tell a big one, and this is a beauty,” Dr Kruszelnicki said today.

Stand by your man. Lucy Turnbull thought she would write a letter to the electorate of Wentworth, letting them know “all about the man I have known for thirty years.” Now you know too (click the images to read the whole letter). Give her a call on 93602941, to discuss Malcolm further.

 

PM blows the job. The Chaser team aired some compromising footage of John Howard last night. If you missed it, you can watch the PM’s “Monica Lewinsky moment” below by clicking on the image.

 
And it’s not the first time…

Sprinkles Kev07 vs Original John. Election sweeteners got a whole lot sweeter today with Krispy Kreme’s announcement of a new political line of doughnuts. The ‘Go for Glaze’ campaign pits Original John against Sprinkles Kev07, the Greenies and the Lemoncrats. Each party has a re-named doughnut recipe devoted to it, and KK are offering six free doughnuts to every registered voter who visits a store the day after the election.

We must declare that the Crikey bunker was larded with free Krispy Kremes this morning as part of the promotion. We can be bought. Burp.

Howard’s hits the track. In an effort to avoid yesterday’s scene of madness, the Prime Minister today shifted his morning walk to the Flemington Racetrack. He had a private canter around the 3200m track, ahead of the Melbourne Cup meet there this week.

Coalition odds widen. The probability of the Coalition winning the federal election is just 31 per cent according to the latest betting odds from national bookmaker, Sportingbet Australia. Labor’s odds are now $1.38 with the Coalition wobbling out to $3.05.