Critics' complaints that Fahrenheit 9-11 is propaganda rather than documentary is more understandable having seen the film myself, but I was never under any illusion that Michael Moore would present anything other than his own perspective. That's OK; in a democracy we're supposed to be open to dialogue, to allow airtime for opposing views. What was disappointing for me was that Moore's selective use of information, while targeted to a US audience, detracted from the potency of his message.

The clearest example of this selectivity was in Moore's roll call of the 'Coalition of the Willing'. Omitting to mention Australia (or the UK) as collaborators in the Iraq invasion may have passed unnoticed in the US, but here it contributes to the sense of helplessness I feel in the face of a government that cynically distorts facts to suit its own purposes.

It is clear from the opening scenes of Fahrenheit 9-11 that Bush should never have been elected President. However, it is equally clear that despite his Government's record of disregard for ordinary citizens, the Republican 'spin' machine still has a very good chance of returning him to the White House for another 4 years. The parallels to our own situation are stark.

A much more useful analysis than Fahrenheit 9-11of the Iraq debacle for the Australian context are the chapters dealing with the topic in NHJ. John Howard's political opportunism, and contempt for ordinary Australians were never more apparent than during the visit on 23 October last year by President Bush to our Parliament. Government courting business and media elites is nothing new, but blindly following a President's decision to unilaterally go to war and then forcibly holding our Parliament captive to an occupying foreign power betrays a profound lack of confidence in our own democratic process.

I have been wearing a black armband since 18 March, the one-year anniversary of the day the Iraq war was declared, and will continue to do so until 23 October, in mourning for the day our democracy went under.

It's not much, but I hope worth it for the dialogue it can start.

Thanks for NHJ. I hope the opposition parties can get their heads around the issues well enough to inform their strategies in the election campaign. After 8 years of relentless coalition spin, I am not hopeful, but I love surprises :-)