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It makes the Borgias seem like the proverbial vicar's tea party.
At the last count, 44 people had resigned from the British government because they cannot serve under Boris Johnson (by the time you've read the sentence, the number might have gone up).
One of those who has resigned is the chancellor (or treasurer in our terms). Back in those vaguely-remembered "normal" times, that would provoke a crisis in itself.
He's sacked one of the other "big beasts" in the cabinet - Michael Gove - for disloyalty. Mr Gove had told him earlier in the day that the prime minister should become the ex-prime minister. The knives are well and truly out.
Boris is defiant. It's not technically a siege - Mr Johnson has not appeared at a Downing Street window shouting, "Come and get me, copper" - but it is a siege mentality. He now has few loyal allies and they are sticking together,
But it won't last. Even the toughest limpet can be prised off a rock - and Mr Johnson is a clinger (apart, of course, to his former wives and the mothers of his literally innumerable children).
I don't say this lightly. I tend to think that politicians in trouble will survive until I actually see the removalist's van or the body in the gutter. Obituaries can be premature.
But there can't be an observer of British politics who doesn't think that Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a dead man walking. It may take a month or it may take a day - but the knives are out and they will not be sheathed again before blood is spilt.
BJ's real crime is to have been caught out not telling the truth - repeatedly.
And to get his ministers to defend him on air for them to find out later they were defending falsehood - and people don't like being made to look like fools. There's a lot of revenge to be had in a tragedy Mr Johnson would no doubt recognise from his love of classical Greek drama.
The current brouhaha concerns one Chris Pincher MP whose sin (which he has admitted) was groping unwilling men in the Carlton Club, that bastion of high Tory plotting since 1832. Satire, you might think, is dead.
Mr Johnson had maintained that he didn't know the man's history as a predator when he was appointed as deputy chief whip. Out went the ministers to mount the defence - only for a former head of the public service to give details of when Mr Johnson was warned.
"That is news to me," the deputy prime minister had to say on air. He had been utterly wrong-footed by his boss. And politicians don't like being made to look like fools.
Mr Johnson then said his memory must have failed him! But it turned out that Mr Johnson had known of Mr Pincher's wandering hands long ago. "Pincher by name, pincher by nature," he had joked insouciantly.
The difficulty for Mr Johnson is that he has become a laughing-stock, his lovable rogue image long gone.
There is a cynical view: the Conservatives look like ditching him only now that the electorate has turned.
We shouldn't make too much of the crowd at a cricket test chanting "Boris is a wanker" (T-shirts are also available), or of some in the crowd outside the Queen's Jubilee service booing him. But recent by-election defeats have been devastating.
Our last prime minister was dogged by claims he was a liar, none more powerful than that from President Emmanuel Macron of France.
But in the falsehood stakes, Scott Morrison was an amateur. Look north for the champion.
By the way: Boris Johnson once claimed to have slept on a roundabout in Canberra. Do you believe him?
HAVE YOUR SAY: What do you think about the contrast between Australian and British political misbehaviour. Is the misbehaviour the problem or the not telling the truth? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au/
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Revelations by ACM that tennis superstar Nick Kyrgios has been charged with common assault sent shock waves around the world.
Banks are raising their lending rates in response to the central bank's decision to lift the official cash rate. ANZ followed the lead of the Commonwealth Bank in passing the rise on in full by increasing rates on variable home loan products.
THEY SAID IT: "[Johnson] is a man who waits to see the way the crowd is running and then dashes in front and says, 'Follow me'." - former Conservative minister, Michael Heseltine.
"He's lied his way through life, he's lied his way through politics, he's a huckster with a degree of charm to which I am immune. As well as being mendacious he's incompetent." - former Conservative minister, Chris Patten.
"Boris, well, he's the life and soul of the party but he's not the man you want driving you home at the end of the evening." - former Conservative minister, Amber Rudd.
"Everybody likes him except the people who know him." - former Conservative minister, Steven Norris.
YOU SAID IT: You had interesting and wise things to say about the situation in America regarding guns and also democracy.
"I have met some warm and generous Americans while visiting my grandchildren who live there. Their parents though can't wait to find the opportunity to return to Australia," Ian said.
Diane said: "America is my birth country. I am also half Aussie. You could not pay me to go or to live there. It deeply saddens me to see what is happening and worry for my grandchildren who are there."
And this from Terry: "My admiration and respect for our American friends has not changed despite the terrible events of the last few years. I just feel so sorry for them. They must change their ridiculous Constitution which was written for totally different political and world environment."
"As long as Americans love their guns more than they love their children the mass murders will continue," Clare said.
Keep your thoughts coming. There are always too many to include all of them but they are all read and appreciated.