---

Patriotism, said Dr. Johnson, is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Getting Us Out: Does anyone remember 1968? It's time for a reprise

1) A senior Australian defense adviser claims she was fired after refusing to write briefing notes that would exaggerate the threat posed by Iraq's weapons program. One clear inference can be drawn from Condoleezza Rice's testimony— She has been a bad national security adviser ...

2) Sadly, this [Bush] Administration has failed to live up to basic standards of open and candid debate. They repeatedly invent 'facts' to support their preconceived agenda. This pattern has prevailed since President Bush's earliest days in office. He has now created the largest credibility gap since Richard Nixon. He has broken the basic bond of trust with the American people.

Thoughtful new studies are now available online: Auditing the independence of the auditor-general
Independence of the auditor-general is now accepted as one of the important elements of accountability in democratic parliamentary systems like Australia. How well does the independence of Australia’s auditors-general measure up though? In this paper Ken Coghill assesses each Australian jurisdiction, focusing particularly on the Commonwealth and the Australian Capital Territory.
· [ PDF Format ]Who Audits the Auditors?: Tony Harrises of this world [ courtesy of The Centre for Democratic Institutions, Australian National University ]
· See Also Who Judges the Judges: Judge admits lifting '57 ProJo article for '93 Lincoln piece [ via Romenesko ]
· See Also Ben Reilly: the relationship between parties, ethnicity and democracy. (Political engineering of parties and party systems)
· See Also [ PDF Format ] For and against a bill of rights (Peter Bailey, Justice Michael Kirby and Michael Zander)
· See Also Stephen Sherlock: 2004 Indonesian elections: how the system works and what the parties stand for
· See Also Mr Paul Tovua: Rescuing democracy in Solomon Islands