Views on the news from Canberra’s top columnists
To quote American journalist Ambrose Bierce: "A Scotsman is a man who, before sending his pyjamas to the laundry, stuffs a sock in each pocket." Whimsy columnist CLIVE WILLIAMS wonders why Scottish people are renowned for their frugalness.
"Of course, it’s laughable that God wants Donald back in the White House, but try telling that to Trump’s evangelical base," writes ROBERT MACKLIN.
It's called Canberra Promises and, as KEEPING UP THE ACT reports, it's an exhibition of all the ACT government's artistic impressions of the magic that can be achieved through dabs of light, smoke and mirrors.
Biden out, Harris in? EMMA SHORTIS explains why this risky, unprecedented move could be the circuit breaker the Democrats needed
How does the ACT government ensure that raw political and union loyalties are more than balanced out by higher quality experience, skills and abilities needed for publicly paid-for staffer positions, asks letter writer SUE DYER, of Downer.
Tension is mounting as the countdown to the Paris Olympics take hold...
The Trump shooting is a warning about how toxic language leads to violence, says MICHAEL JENSEN.
We seem to have lost sight of the importance of generous open space and landscaping with large, shade trees in more recent residential development in Canberra, say RICHARD JOHNSON & MERVYN DORROUGH
"The Australian experience differed from the West Indies slavery in that the Aboriginal people were enslaved in their own beloved country as their spiritual and physical identities were stripped away," writes columnist ROBERT MACKLIN.
"The inaction of the Democratic Party is just as much a failure to uphold democratic ideals as the Republican Party’s promotion of a convicted criminal to be their demagogue leader," writes HUGH SELBY.
KEEPING UP THE ACT asks the choir of local Labor pollies what faith-based politics might mean to Australia.
Trump’s raised fist is a go-to gesture with a long history of different meanings, writes ROGER J KREUZ.
The blinding brightness of exterior vehicle light indicator and headlight design, whether electric vehicles or just the ordinary sedan, adds to what is already a volatile driving experience on Canberra roads, writes ANGELA KUETER-LUKS.
Columnist HUGH SELBY mixes lots of fiction with a little fact to conjure up some telling ironies in American politics.
Cartoonist PAUL DORIN casts a wry eye to the housing crisis.
"Younger leaders will make mistakes, even create catastrophes, but they offer something that old fogeys can’t: vision, excitement, a feeling of belonging, and hope," writes (mature) columnist HUGH SELBY.
"On any given day, the ABC's viewing line-up is overwhelmed by repeats; most of the rest are BBC propaganda freebees such as Antiques Roadshow or Grand Designs," writes The Gadfly columnist ROBERT MACKLIN.
Whimsy columnist CLIVE WILLIAMS says being a celebrity usually implies a favourable public image, as opposed to someone who is merely “famous” or “notable”, or even worse – “infamous” or “notorious”.
"Love is lifting your friends. Tackling them before they do Stupid, inviting them to do what’s right and reminding them that they are good enough." ANTONIO DI DIO continues his series of Short History of Kindness columns.
