Tim Blair: Left's loony losers

OUR friends on the left aren't coping well with the election result. Perhaps they didn't see it coming. In any case, they've been getting their hate on during the past week.

Our friends on the left aren't coping well with the election result. Perhaps they didn't see it coming. In any case, they've been getting their hate on during the past week. Here's how Fairfax reported the election reaction of columnist Clementine Ford:

"As an antidote to the crushing reality of Post-Abbott world she's created some cathartic t-shirts with slogans that include 'F**k Abbott' and 'Abbott is not my Prime Minister' that can be bought online."

An adult subsequently edited that free ad for Ford's T-shirts, removing the most obscene option: "As an antidote to the crushing reality of a Post-Abbott world she's created some cathartic T-shirts with slogans that include 'Abbott is not my Prime Minister' which can be bought online."

Besides cleaning up its promotion for a columnist's little side project, Fairfax also claimed that "Ford is going to direct profits" from the T-shirts to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, the Aboriginal Legal Service and the Council of Single Mothers and Their Children. Not mentioned was the exact quantity of profits that would be so directed. Ford later clarified matters on her Twitter feed:

"This is for all the pro-Abbott folks out there who hate my T-shirts. I've made around $4500 in profit in two days … Some profits going to charity though!"

By "some", it turns out that Ford only meant "at least 20 per cent" of her T-shirt profits. So that's $3600 to Clementine and just $300 each to her three nominated charities. Tony Abbott hasn't even been sworn in yet, but he's already generating wealth for the privileged white professional sector of our economy.

Welcome to capitalism, Clementine. Good for you. The benefit for the rest of us is that we once again see where the left's values lie. Imagine if Abbott wasn't Australia's elected leader but an Islamic terrorist whose followers killed nearly 3000 people. Did Fairfax sell "F**k Osama" shirts? Not exactly.

Here's Fairfax columnist and cartoonist Michael Leunig writing shortly after September 11, 2001: "Might we, can we, find a place in our heart for the humanity of Osama bin Laden and those others? On Christmas Day can we consider their suffering, their children and the possibility that they too have their goodness? It is a family day, and Osama is our relative."

Fairfax types are more inclined to express hatred towards an Australian conservative than they are to a murderous Saudi psychopath. Over at the ABC, Australia's other leftist media collective, a similar divide is evident.

Recall how cautiously the ABC stepped back in May, when Mujahid Adeboloja hacked off-duty soldier Lee Rigby to death in a London street. Adeboloja lingered after the killing to explain his motivation. "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. You people will never be safe," the Islamic convert declared.

The ABC's response was bafflement. "What happened was clear," the ABC London correspondent reported. "The motivation, less so." A few days later, ABC staffers complained to 2UE after I'd mentioned this extraordinary delicacy. "Where is your primary and official source that these crimes were carried out in the name of Islam?" one demanded. Answer: the killer's confession.

Another ABC identity sent this note: "If we get it wrong it can be an international incident and inflame enormous social disharmony." Well, all Mujahid Adeboloja did was slaughter an innocent man. Let's be gentle with him. It's not as though he did something seriously wrong, like suggest a reduction to ABC funding.

That was Chris Kenny's crime. For this, the News Corp columnist was depicted by the ABC's The Hamster Decides having sex with a dog. In case nobody got the visual hint, the ABC added a handy graphic: "Dog F**ker."

Play it safe next time, Chris. Steer away from issues like ABC funding and kill somebody instead. If you claim Islamic motivation, the ABC and Fairfax will look for the possibility you, too, have some goodness.