An Amusing Prank

The third member of the Holy Alliance, John Howard, appears to be dying as he has lived, politically at least; a literal drowning in a bucket of bloodied excrement is probably too much to hope for. Some of his closest associates have been implicated in a black propaganda campaign involving the distribution of a leaflet accredited to a fictitious Muslim organisation, the Islamic Australia Federation, which calls on people to vote for the opposition in tomorrow's election. The leaflet claims that the opposition Labour party supports a radical cleric "who has described scantily clad women as 'uncovered meat'"; apparently Australian women cook with less lard than their British counterparts.

Those directly implicated are the husbands of two Howardettes, Karen Chijoff and Jackie Kelly. Both deny all knowledge of their husbands' activities, and Kelly has described the leaflets as an amusing prank, the kind of thing any self-respecting politician might get up to after a gallon or two of beer. Howard has said that the leaflet "does not represent my views", which is no doubt perfectly true. As if the call to vote Labour were not enough, the offending document also includes the phrase "Ala Akba", which appears to lavish gratuitous if misspelt praise on the American Library Association.