In which a remorseful pond deeply regrets overlooking our Gracie and the bromancer ...

After the winnowing and the culling this morning, the pond immediately began to have regrets. It seemed so arbitrary and fair. 

Oh sure, the essence of the oscillating fan had been conveyed in a few word, and the hagiographic work of the bouffant one celebrating the thoughts and deeds of little Johnny was in the oral tradition of Homer, repeated thousands of times, and recited like the Catholic catechism …

But what of our Gracie, and her splendid idea to bring in the rich and pluck them clean, like a goose ready to offer up a plate of pâte-laden toast? 

The pond had to admit it had made a grievous mistake, and so cleared a little space for a late Sunday posting. Few will see it, but the pond could embark on the week ahead knowing its conscience was clear, it had turned a mortal sin into a venial one …

Ah the app …luckily First Dog had a few thoughts on the matter, with anyone wanting the full cartoon advised to click here …

Now it takes some time for our Gracie to get to her gee willikers, gee whiz idea, but it's such a ripper, it's worthwhile ploughing on through the rest of her privacy routine ...

Now is everybody ready?

Bbecause our Gracie tosses out her gemstone, her cascading brilliance,  in just the last few, regrettably short, pars ...

Yes, indeed, high-asset individuals, willing to do a little strawberry picking, cane harvesting, and such like. What a way to fuel growth …

And they'll do it willingly, the pond is sure of it. No need to invite in those islanders, the filthy rich can handle the job, while presenting as ducks ripe for the plucking.

But hang on, how strange that our Gracie should hint at a high taxing system? Will that only apply to the filthy rich suckers lured to our shores? Or must we all suffer a haircut?

Are the reptiles aware of this heresy? Was it only in 2019 that SloMo was flinging about tax cuts as if balancing the budget and paying off the national debt was just a passing delusion?

Here, you might be a little startled at the revolutionary nature of our Gracie's thinking, a genuine sans-culottes, have a reassuring cartoon that illustrates better ways to fix the virus than an invasive app …

You see, as First Dog noted at the start of his cartoon everything can be fixed with an app … everything … and the Donald app just needs a few bugs taken out, and everything will be fixed ...

… except perhaps the bromancer, and the broken relationship with China, and more generally, reptile panic and hysteria about the world …

Now a warning before we begin. The pond is likely to get bored and head off in different directions before we've finished. Of late, the bromancer has become the Chicken Little of the lizard Oz, running around in all directions, and was mentioned in despatches in the weekly Beast …

So that's why the pond must step lightly. Who knows when the "glass jaw" bromancer might chuck a hissy fit … and the Chinese better watch out, because this dummy spit is coming their way ...

Now the pond, as it noted this morning, is somewhat pleased. 

China has an offensive surveillance regime, and so it's good that we will adopt the logic proposed by the bromancer, and stop shipping them coal, iron ore and sundry other goods. Think of what that might do for climate science, and how that'll learn 'em a darn good lesson…

On the other hand, did someone say squirrel?

Sorry, but the pond did warn that it might get easily distracted ...

Yes, yes, cut them off from that dinkum clean Oz coal and teach 'em a lesson, but did someone say squirrel?

Sorry, the pond must stay focussed and ignore distractions of the Seurat kind, and return to the bromancer doing a ranting and railing worthy of a morning Joe, about how we're going to teach those pesky Chinese a damn good lesson, perhaps with a thrashing for their impudence ...

As for that question the bromancer asked, "what Australian politician on speaking terms with reality could possibly say she trusted Beijing after the coronavirus performance?"

The pond is ever so pleased the bromancer referenced Australia, because it might have been a tad tricky if he'd invoked the Donald …

There's more at Politico here, but the pond might return to that well a few more times, given that the bromancer is just reciting lines, as predictable as Polonius and the dog botherer doing over a Malware ...

He's still banging on about transparency? Calling any Donald, calling him by name, and by some chance the piece of orange marrow or pumpkin might tweet at you …

And so to the big sulk, and at last the bromancer demanding that China be stripped of all our precious bodily fluids and minerals and coal and such like … because that'll learn 'em, and there's nowhere else in the world where they can possibly find substitutes ...

Indeed, indeed, and if only the Donald shared the bromancer's concerns and dreams, and could stamp his feet in the same glass jaw way…

Thankfully, we've arrived at the last gobbet of hysteria, which stops a little short, when really the bromancer should be calling for the start of world war 3, or at least a ban on shipping dinkum clean Oz coal by tomorrow ...

Oh yes, it will be tricky times no doubt, but given the craven way the local mob suck up to the Donald, they might experience a little internal emotional conflict … what with the Donald seeming to have plenty of reasons to love China's transparency, and surveillance state, and full-blown dictatorship …

There goes the ball game, and there goes the chance to explain how Joe Biden is in China's pocket, and there goes the hopes and dreams of Americans rabbiting on like the bromancer about making China pay for the havoc it produced …