Dorothy wasn't in Kansas anymore when she pulled back the green curtain and exposed the Mighty Oz for the fraud he was. Americans have just had a similar revelatory experience as the Russiagate special counsel revealed himself to be a doddering, incoherent figurehead hired to tint the intended coup against Donald Trump with a patina of probity

Would any Aboriginal leaders have the hide to air Recognition's real intent -- to formally divide Australians by race -- as a nation prepared to cast its votes in the referendum Ken Wyatt endorsed in his address to the National Press Club? I doubt it. Such frankness would guarantee yet another entry in the long ledger of referenda Australians have rejected at the ballot box

There are stories of violence in the holy scriptures of all faiths. What if those stories were to be cited as examples for adherents to emulate, or at least respect? Freedom of speech is one thing and should be supported to the hilt, but legislating an unfettered freedom of religious expression is fraught with the gravest peril

How might we begin to solve the problems afflicting Aborigines? The example of Italians, Greeks and other immigrants perhaps provides a template. They, too, were outsiders in an alien culture, so they formed ethnic clubs while integrating over one or two generations to fully realise the opportunities open to all -- including indigenous Australians

Those so keen to pillory Israel Folau for his uncompromising beliefs should remember that the further pendulums are pushed in one direction, the harder they return in the other. Gay activists might simply have dismissed him as a holy rollin' ratbag. That they didn't may well prove cause for considerable regret

Australian reporters assigned to cover the United States pack their leanings -- Left ones, of course -- with their socks when they jet off to relay the action in Washington. Either that or they are bone lazy. There is a ripper scandal unfolding on Capitol Hill but explaining it in full has been too much trouble

Trump may well be -- undoubtedly is -- a difficult and abrasive individual, but in honouring his election promises he is putting runs on the board against formidable odds. The mainstream media won't tell you that, but come the next US election American voters very likely will

One need not have made the smallest personal contribution to the success of Western civilisation to take a measure of pride in its achievements, despite the cultural scolds' excoriation of pale people. Fact is, the world is a better place for the legacy of colonialism's institutions, especially British ones

You expect the likes of Penny Wong to peddle multiculti pablum in defence of the burqa, identity politics being modern Labor's stock in trade. But a Liberal attorney-general bringing himself to the brink of photogenic tears in defence of a vile, misogynist garment, that is beyond disgusting