In which the pond relishes a post-ironic Oreo ...

There's nothing like a post-ironic, post-modernist dose of surrealist absurdity to get a Monday off to a most excellent start, and this day the reptiles deliver in spades, with a survey of a survey ...

Of course it might have been simpler just to have voted in a News Poll survey, or offered an opinion, in which case, despite the reptiles' FUD headline, the result would have been done and dusted ...

It takes singular skill to lift 57/34 into an hysterical FUD headline, but that's what a survey of a survey can do for you ... and naturally the drones at their ABC endlessly repeat the angle because that's what robots do ... even if that survey of the survey has not the foggiest clue what might actually be happening with the real survey, because that happens to be voluntary and perhaps only the most passionate of bigots will turn out ...

Certainly the pond won't be trusting young people who wouldn't know what to do with an envelope if it bit them on the bum ...

More Pat on a Monday here, but we must move along, because the pond has already marvelled at the way a wired Malware has managed to throw the country back to the speedy days of the one penny black. But then he loves Queen Victoria's copper, so why is the pond surprised?

In the same post-ironic spirit, the pond decided to do a survey of the reptiles as they surveyed the results of the survey surveying the survey ...

Over at the Terror, the usual homophobic bigotry was on parade, with the Bolter doing his thing, and little Timmie Bleagh celebrating the onion muncher ...

Well actually the absurdity of surveys surveying a survey is in fact all Tony's fault, at least where it isn't the fault of crazed reptiles ...

Back at the lizard Oz, there was a fine array of FUD in the digital fickle finger of fate space ...

The pond was both moved and made to marvel - it seems after all these years, Richo has managed to discover a sense of shame ...

The pond must spend some time on the Gold Coast to check out this shame thing.

Astonishing stuff, and if nothing else, a survey of a survey can clearly produce miracles, or at least the bouffant one blathering on about how Australia's media, dominated by the Murdochians, is in danger of humiliation ...

But astute observers will have already noted that up in the top left corner of the tree killer edition proudly sits the Oreo.

Of course she must sit on the left, because she's for liberalism, free speech and democracy ...

Given the rich ironies of the day, the pond was moved to wonder whether political incorrectness was closing Australian minds too, but decided that the mood sweeping the United States needed honouring ...

It was time to have a snack and settle back on the couch for a dose of the Oreos ...

The pond freely admits that it didn't invent the Oreo meme but golly it comes in handy for almost every occasion ...

There it is, after the gray (grey if you will) lady and WaPo entries...

Trump's free speech shows contempt for free speech ...

Why that's just a short jump to the pond's notion that the Oreo's and the reptiles free Murdochian sponsored speech shows contempt for any free speech outside the Murdochian la la world of the shared kool aid ...

What better way to proceed, in a post-ironic way, to the sight (site if your spell-checker insists) of the Oreo claiming to be liberal?

Now there will be many who will marvel at the cheekiness of the Oreo calling herself a free thinker.

The pond is happy to settle for the post-modernist irony of the Oreo calling herself a thinker ...

Of course in the United States, where gun rights are such an important issue, surely the best way to sort out issues is not to shout people down, but to shoot people down, GOP NRA style ...

Naturally the Oreo also has some thoughts on the survey, thereby becoming part of the ponds survey of the survey arising from the survey, and naturally the Oreo is agin it ...

And there you go, apparently the reptiles and the Oreo are the sound of democracy ...

Is it any wonder that most Mondays the pond wakes up thinking democracy is fucked?

And so, in that post-ironic spirit, the pond offers a Rowe which makes the wry observation that between the sound of democracy and the sound of totalitarianism, there's not much difference at all, just as there might not, in the end, be much difference between the Oreo, the reptiles and Der Stürmer ...

And as the pond pays homage to its Godwin's Law swear jar, more Rowe can be found here ...

No apologies are needed of course. It's fine company for a Rowe and a pond, and monstrous black crows:

They were standing under a tree, each with an arm round the other's neck, and Alice knew which was which in a moment, because one of them had 'DUM' embroidered on his collar, and the other 'DEE.' ''I suppose they've each got "TWEEDLE" round at the back of the collar,' she said to herself. 
They stood so still that she quite forgot they were alive, and she was just looking round to see if the word "TWEEDLE" was written at the back of each collar, when she was startled by a voice coming from the one marked 'DUM.'  
'If you think we're wax-works,' he said, 'you ought to pay, you know. Wax-works weren't made to be looked at for nothing, Nohow!' 
'Contrariwise,' added the one marked 'DEE,' 'if you think we're alive, you ought to speak.' 
'I'm sure I'm very sorry,' was all Alice could say; for the words of the old song kept ringing through her head like the ticking of a clock, and she could hardly help saying them out loud: -- 
'Tweedledum and Tweedledee 
Agreed to have a battle! 
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee 
Had spoiled his nice new rattle. 
Just then flew down a monstrous crow, 
As black as a tar-barrel! 
Which frightened both the heroes so, 
They quite forgot their quarrel.'