Free Republic

VETERAN newspaper columnist and editor Frank Devine has died. He was 77 years old. Friend and former New South Wales Opposition leader Peter Coleman, writing on The Australian website where Devine was a former columnist and editor, described him as the "laughing cavalier of Australian journalism". Devine had been editor of the Chicago Sun-Times and the New York Post, a senior editor at the American edition of Reader's Digest and editor-in-chief of the Australian Reader's Digest.

HAVING been reasonably diligent about splashing around in the torrents of commentary that marked the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 air raids on New York and Washington, I employed a refreshed mind to conclude that the best commentary came from President George W. Bush. This includes his main 9/11 speech and comments made privately to a small group of conservative journalists. Who else gets invited to the best parties these days? Bush's commentary was distinguished, I guess, because he had access to more information than other commentators and a larger audience, including many opponents and enemies keen to rip into...