In which the pond is distracted by semantic and pedantic amusements ...

   

Greetings from the mutton Dutton's most civilised of nations, but has the pond forgotten someone in this collection of concerned crusaders? 

Ah of course, the Terror, at the top of its game …

We keed, we keed, after shearing the sheep of a little loose change, the Terror was also in the game ...

The pond isn't generally a conspiracy theorist, but did Malware pay the Australian cricket team to bung on a do? 

Here's the lizard Oz highlighting Malware's 29th epic failure …

We keed, we keed, the reptiles could try to tamper with the result, but in the end even they couldn't hide  from view …

And that's more than enough of that, but what with the cricket, and the consternation, and the reptile paywall in full swing, it's a dull day for the pond …

The US continues to be a major distraction for the pond - the lawyers were in, then they were out, the Stormy weather continues, the trans bigotry is fully on display, the young people are anguished and defiant - so what was the best the reptiles could do this day with their cutting and pasting?

That's it?

That's the best they could do about Obama? That wouldn't make up a single news day at the moment, and it would leave cartoonists desperately short of material ...

As a list of crimes, it was truly pathetic, the main one seeming to revolve around an epic reptile sulk that they weren't allowed into the tent ...

Actually it was beyond pathetic, but not to worry, things are on the move …

And as the pond was loosely speaking of the press's freedom to be stupid and sound like pathetic gherkins, there came  this …

Up to this point, it's a perfectly dull and predictable reptile story, with the only argument whether Malware or the onion muncher the worst of it, but then came a howler which captivated the pond, thanks either to Xian Porter or to the reptiles mis-quoting the Xian …

There you go … it never takes much to lift the pond's Monday gloom, and this did it …

Mr Porter said: "As the only purist libertarian in the parliament, I understand …"

So now there are two purist libertarians in the parliament? As to that propositional preposition, the pond could only take a detached view and remark on what a perfect performance it was …

Let us maintain the highest levels of robust freedoms of free speech and reporting and, it goes without saying, the abuse of the English language … 

Oh, and if you insist, the abuse of cricket balls …which just happens to bring the pond back to where it started, with a Rowe, and more Rowe here …

Was it just Malware luck? Or was it something more? As the only purist libertarian in the country, the pond understands a conspiracy or three ...