Not new, but a goodie: George Bush’s inbox.
In other pseudo-political news, check out what I found when googling for images of John Howard.

A depressing trip down memory lane…
“An editorial in the influential newspaper The Australian launched a scathing attack on both John Howard and Kim Beazley before Saturday’s poll.
“The system has failed to produce candidates who offer what Australia needs – to look beyond the war against terror and the phoney war on boat people,” said the paper.
“In this leadership election, both Howard and Beazley are losers – and Australia will pay the price for years.” ” (BBC)

“The al-Qaeda terrorist network has singled out Australia for mention while claiming responsibility for last week’s bombing of the Marriott Hotel in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, CNN reported.” (Age)
Thanks, John Howard.

When sarcasm works…
“True, “survival of the species” wasn’t a term which had been used a lot lately – at least not since the planet’s population had passed 6 billion last century – but these people were no fools. They’d never gone in for this talk from the trendy lefty pinkoes that the greatest threat to the human race’s survival was global warming, failure to ratify the Kyoto Treaty, the AIDS crisis and the US starting World War III through over-capitalised hubris.
For each of them knew that the real threat to the planet was gay people being accorded even the most basic of human and legal rights. They understood that if society as a whole was obliged to recognise that the gays loved each other too, then the bonds between men and women, their very desire to procreate, would inevitably dissipate. The horror, oh, the horror.
Fortunately it wasn’t just John Howard saying this. As a matter of fact, the Pope himself recognised all that just last week when he authorised the Vatican to release a paper where it specifically stated that the whole concept of gay marriages was “evil”. The paper was further emphatic that “there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family. Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law”.
See? True, some did find it a little strange that a man who had never had sex and who was presiding over an institution which has been hemorrhaging hundreds of millions of dollars in legal suits because of wayward priests sexually abusing minors – to the point where Time magazine had a recent cover article saying “Can the Catholic Church Survive?” – should be so doggone dogmatic on a subject you’d think he would be running a million miles from, but there you go. Those who said the Vatican should be concentrating on cleaning up its massive mess – borne of its ancient dogma – instead of calling committed gay people “evil”, just didn’t get it.”
Peter FitzSimons in the (SMH)

“Prime Minister John Howard has aligned himself with the Vatican and US President George W Bush in ruling out gay marriages, saying they do nothing to support “survival of the species”.”
…
“That’s not an expression of discrimination – it’s just an expression that marriage as we understand it is one of the bedrock institutions of our society.
“It’s very much about the raising of children … and the continuation of our species.”
So he’d be against any rights for childless married couples then. He should at least have the courage of his convictions and admit he wants to discriminate between gay and straight couples.
He makes Costello look positively enlightened: “”Obviously I understand and accept that there are many people of the same sex who have a relationship and a partnership and sometimes long term partnership, I understand that, I respect that.””. Why, who would have thought those nasty gay people would have long term relationships? It’s almost as if they’re normal.
(Age)

“Three top agencies responsible for Australia’s intelligence, foreign policy and defence assessment – the Office of National Assessments, the Foreign Affairs Department and the Defence Intelligence Organisation – have now admitted being aware that the US State Department doubted claims that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa for a nuclear program. Yet all say they didn’t tell their political bosses.
For a man apparently seriously and embarrassingly dudded by his experts, John Howard appears extraordinarily forbearing. You have to wonder why.
ONA let him make a claim it knew was highly dubious, and yet the PM finds excuses for it. When it comes to the missing weapons of mass destruction, the PM wants to move on.” Age

John Howard is an insignificant twerp.

A succinct summary of why John Howard is bad: “The Howard prime ministership will leave enduring footprints on gun reform, East Timor and tax reform, and be remembered for its role in opposing a republic, the hard line on asylum seekers and the refusal to say sorry for past injustices to indigenous Australians.
But the decision to join the coalition of the willing in the war in Iraq will, more than any other, define the Howard era and, potentially, have the greatest influence on the nation’s future.” ()

I think my John Howard, Web Server Administrator and Prime Minister of Australia page has made it into someone’s thesis.

“O Muslims, take matters firmly against the embassies of America, England, Australia, and Norway and their interests, companies, and employees.” (‘Al-Qaeda’ statement, BBC)
Thanks, John Howard. How much do you suck? A lot.
On a related note, Suicide Attacker Wounds One