In which the pond joins the savvy Savva in singing a song for the fearless leader ...

The reptiles were at it again yesterday afternoon ... the dear things love to slip in a few negative stories when they think no one except their devoted base is looking ...

There they were .... the reptiles getting agitated about another direct challenge to freedom of speech, and freedom of religion ... fancy not being allowed to assemble in a casino ... and a naughty activist caught by an actual camera, and the onion muncher going nuke, all grist to the mill and a way to generate hope in reptile followers everywhere ...

But even the most hardened reptile can't live on natteringly negative energy alone, and so today comes a missive direct from the PM's table, a paean of hope, a plea for understanding ...

Yes, it's the savvy Savva's time in the sun and it's good news because Malware is at the helm, and the fearless leader shows an unnerving compassion and deep understanding, as he benevolently protects us from madmen ...

What a natural segue, from gun laws to the doings of  our natural born leader, and with a tasteful remark about taking a shot at reform ...

... because Malware loves to take the shot, he truly does, he's up there with Mark Wahlberg, and what better or more timely or apposite or sensitive way to talk at this moment than of taking the shot?

A bit of smugness? A hint of self-satisfaction?

No, never, and never mind the process, or even the result, think of the thumping turnout, as big as the Donald's hands, and therefore entirely proper and right ...

Of course there have been dissidents, producing the bizarre sight of the onion muncher joining the savvy Savva in praise of the dear leader ...

Naughty old Bob.

Whenever the pond reads the savvy Savva, it's reminded of a recent story in The New Yorker, featuring a visit by Evan Osnos to North Korea (luckily outside the paywall at the moment).

Osnos offered many insights but this one stuck in the pond's mind:

I stood in front of a large photo of Kim touching a fuzzy red blanket. The principal stepped aside, and, with a flourish, revealed, in a Plexiglas box, the blanket. “He personally touched it,” he said. So it was with other specimens—the white painted chair that he blessed with his presence in the lunchroom; the simple wooden chair from the language lab, on which he rested from his labors—all preserved under glass, like the relics of a saint. I asked Pak Yong Chul how it felt to be visited by the leader, and his eyes widened. “That moment is unforgettable. I would never have dreamed of it,” he said.

The pond still dares to dream the impossible dream ... of a Malware blessing.

Now Savva is far too savvy for this sort of simplistic worship of the relics of a saint.

She adopts the Chairman Mao model and allows a certain amount of self-criticism:

Conscientious practice of self-criticism is still another hallmark distinguishing our Party from all other political parties. As we say, dust will accumulate if a room is not cleaned regularly, our faces will get dirty if they are not washed regularly. Our comrades' minds and our Party's work may also collect dust, and also need sweeping and washing. The proverb "Running water is never stale and a door-hinge is never worm-eaten" means that constant motion prevents the inroads of germs and other organisms. To check up regularly on our work and in the process develop a democratic style of work, to fear neither criticism nor self-criticism, and to apply such good popular dinkum Aussie maxims as "Say all you know and say it without reserve", "Blame not the speaker but be warned by his words" and "Correct mistakes if you have committed them and guard against them if you have not" - this is the only effective way to prevent all kinds of political dust and germs from contaminating the minds of our comrades and the body of our Party.

But any doubts are but thistle seeds in the wind, taking a message to Santa ... so it was in Tamworth, and so apparently it still is in Toowoomba, as Thistle seed wishes float away to Santa ...

Let us do the self-criticism with Savva, then catch the Xmas thistle ...

Oh yes, everything is for the best in the best of all possible Malware worlds, and we are grateful that there is a hem to be kissed ... or perhaps a bum ...

By the end of it, the pond was convinced. The country was in the very best possible hands ... there was no need to worry about further impinging on traditional freedoms, it was all for the best, and the country was in superb condition, provided everyone, including silly state premiers, listened to our fearless leader, and to the savvy singer of his praises ...

Oh fuck it, sorry, the broadband is still malfunctioning, yet another wondrous gift by that wonderful Malware ... so it's time for a Pope cartoon, with more Pope here ...