A feast of gloom ...

A feast of gloom … and the pond felt a strange urge to plunge into it all, bask in the gloom, frolic and gambol in the gloom …

But the pond also realised it had a duty to back slam a journalist, do a body slam, provoke cries of joy and delight and laughter and jeers. What could be more presidential in the week a journalist was gruesomely butchered?

Oh irony, oh Dame Slap, so beautifully juxtapositioned …

Yes, there she was, off blathering about Milo and identity politics, while her hero the Donald was doing his wrestling moves and inciting violence … and her conclusion?

Actually, if we're talking of a sinister race to the bottom, one day MAGA-hat-wearing, forelock tugging, quisling fellow travellers of the Donald will be seen as the scourge of civilised societies …

But enough of the tiresome MAGA hat wearer, the pond had come to feast on gloom, and who better to feast on than nattering 'Ned'?

Yes, it would be one of those epic journeys into despondency, almost endless, quite unique (thanks ABC), with a sense that no one would ever get there yet …

Analysis! And so much gloom …

Hang on a tick, hang on a mo, didn't the pond just see the bromancer out and about during the week?

Unwise, unjustified and dangerous v. bold, measured and responsible?

Good grief, it's reptile on reptile, and body slamming is all the go …

Back to the gloom ...

At this point the point could sense a certain restlessness. There's Wuthering Heights and then there's nattering 'Ned'. What about some light comedy relief?

Yes, Dame Groan has gone full climate science denialist. It's been lurking for a long time, but who could doubt her impeccable scientific credentials.

The pond merely notes it as a curiosity - another job for Media Watch - because the gloom parade must continue …with a tone that's all the more ironic, as the pond just recalled Dame Slap's deep MAGA-hat wearing love of the Donald ...

Actually around this point 'Ned's' palpable gloom was beginning to lift the pond's spirits … it seems Scotty doesn't know, which is something to sing about …

Scotty doesn't know
(So don't tell Scotty).

But tell him, and tell him good, nattering 'Ned' must, as his credulity is stretched ...

But surely a slap in the face is just what any MAGA-hat-wearing Donald lover like Dame Slap would want? 

After all, it's not as bad as a body slam, or even hacking a journalist to death, so why would the foppish Indonesians get upset about a glove to the cheek? Even if it means there's a duel to follow ...

Never mind, it's time for the last gobbet of gloom ...

Astonishing really, that 'Ned' should suddenly realise that he works for an organisation which slavishly endorses the Donald, mainly via Fox News, but with valiant domestic efforts from the likes of Dame Slap … 

But now the pond must pause for cartoon relief …

Yes, when the climb gets tough, and the view gets rough, and the ride turns roller coaster, there's always a papal pleasure to be found here … which is just as well, because this was a kind of Red Sox nattering 'Ned' double header yet to play out ...

It also fell to 'Ned' the sorrowful duty of explaining how bigotry was a good and sustainable thing and spending Australian tax dollars on supporting religious bigotry was a wise move.

Of course this came at a time when the Sydney Anglicans, always handy when searching for a complimentary woman, excelled themselves with a rampant display of homophobia and sundry other bigotries …

So many stories, as at Fairfax here, so little time, so take it away 'Ned' ...

Indeed, indeed, the distinctive contribution of gay bashing and consigning wicked poofters to an eternity of hellfire and damnation … as a helpful way of improving self-esteem amongst gay kids and adults… who could step in the road of such socially useful and Xian work?

Such a singular distinctive contribution, and never forget the role of complimentary women … but do go on 'Ned' ...

Indeed, indeed, the very last thing a religious school of the Islamic or fundie Xian kind needs is some bloody teacher wandering around pretending or even proclaiming that gays are real human beings entitled to dignity and respect … when everyone knows that they're inherently wicked and destined to an eternity of damnation and hellfire.

What a terrible way to subvert a school's noble mission, what a splendid use of taxpayer dollars ...

And there in a nutshell, with that approving blather about Thai staff in a Thai restaurant is why the bigoted Islamic and fundie Xians are so completely and utterly reprehensible and should be stripped of government funding. 

If they want to run a restaurant, rather than honour the integrity of human beings, let them do it on their own dime, and see if they can make a buck out of the restaurant on their own …because the last time the pond checked, the superabundance of Thai restaurants on the King street strip didn't have their hands out for a little hit of government cash in the paw when the customers made life difficult for them … poor old Thanh Binh, it could have used a little a government money, but instead tottered off to oblivion ...

And speaking of religion, so to a little final cartoon relief from the immortal Rowe, with more relief here …