"You have to hand it to John Howard. He made mincemeat of us all. There is no point raging against his policies or the citizens who returned Howard to office. The voters had their reasons. While the case for dethroning the incumbent was strong, it failed to dent the fear that the alternative was worse. What can be done?

"Cheer up dissenters; three years is not eternity. Cool the hysteria. Beware the tendency to moralise. Break free from the ghetto of groupthink and learn to communicate a noble vision for humanity with grace, good humour and deep listening - a goal that often eludes me.

"Yes, the times are perilous. The world is burning, and we have rewarded a government that adds fuel to the flames. Kyoto is spurned; Iraqi citizens are murdered in their homes at midnight by skyborne cowards who are treated as heroes. It is mad, it is criminal. Howard puts our nation on the wrong side of history and is lauded by voters, cheered by the majority of media mercenaries. That's why dissenters lose their cool. Rage and despair seems legitimate ­ ever more so the closer you get to the truth ­ but it fails to win hearts and minds in an age of shaky abundance."