Compassion? Enough with the bleeding hearts, surely Jesus meant, go thou and mock the compassionistas ...

(Above: and more Pope here).

If ever there was a time for compassion, now might be it. After all, even the HUNsters seem to have noticed a little activity:

And in what passes these days as journalism amongst the reptiles, the trending in Q and A occupied its usual 'top of the digital slot' spot:

Hardly seems any point watching when the reptiles feel it's their bounden duty to publish a digest the very next day.

And the essence of the digest?

Yes, the tardy, miserable response has been noticed. So naturally the reptiles did their best to boost Abbott, provided of course that compassion is selective:

But what's the real benefit for the reptiles of Oz of the current crisis?

Why it's to mock people daring to show compassion by calling them compassionistas and to berate Twitter yet again.

Here's how it's done:

Okay, enough of the blather about a deeply felt response, and Australia's wondrous altruism, mixed with a generous dose of fear, paranoia and deeply felt anxiety.

Time to get on with the mockery of the moral vanity crowd and Twitter and the compassionistas:

What a wonderful display of compassion.

The only difference this day is that the reptiles have felt the need to defend an unnamed Fairfax Media columnist, though everyone knows the name that dare not be named.

It was Paul Sheehan proclaiming that when the Titanic goes down, Christians should be the first to get the lifeboats.

It's the new definition of a Christian nation. Christians first.

It's moments like these that the pond is always tempted to do a bible reading, since it's clear that neither the reptiles, nor Sheehan, nor many Christians, including Sydney's Catholic Archbishop, have the first clue as to what Christ actually said.

Let us contemplate the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 
He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 
And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 
And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 
And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 
And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.  
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. 
Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

Sorry Jesus, the pond hates to correct you, but didn't you mean to say, Go thou, and mock the compassionistas, and berate the Twitterati, and go thou and put Christians first, and go thou and celebrate the reptiles, and really enough of this idle talk of well-meaning but completely wretched and foolish Samaritan, clearly saturated as he is with moral vanity ...

Why it's surely enough to kick a few refugees off the current program so that the focus can switch to include a few Syrian Christians within the current program ... such generous, deeply felt, wondrous altruism at work, such astonishing compassion, that Jesus is probably quietly weeping to see it all unfold ...

Because arguing over a few thousand extra people, for a token display of humanitarian concern in a disaster that involves millions, is a guaranteed sign that Australia has a wondrously altruistic leader showing the deeply felt response for which the country is famous.

And what if the limpet should be prised a little off his rock, and actually dares, in a grudging way, to increase the current program by a few thousand?

Why it's a certainty the reptiles will write another wondrous editorial explaining how deeply felt and prompt and immediate the response was ...

Which probably helps explain why the reptiles are inclined to mockery, at a time when even Peter Hartcher, once a blind worshipper at the feet of the PM, might now point out the bleeding obvious:

Uh huh. Why even the odd reptile noted the blaggard laggard at work:

Wouldn't have anything to do with the grudging, feet dragging, dilatory response, and the astonishing discovery that helping bomb the shit out of Syria might just sound a little tonally incorrect, when it was only a week ago part of the grand plan in the run up to Canning ...

And so to a Rowe cartoon, in which the answer to the question is self-evident, and more Rowe here ...