David McKnight gives us the tools to work out where we stand - and what unites rather than divides us - as the struggle to defend our democracy begins in earnest

I believe I can steal Fairfax's reputation in six months. It is an empty edifice. It has collapsed.

No country can hope to beat the Yanks off with conventional weapons - they've got air, sea and land completely covered. The only recourse is chemical, biological and nuclear weapons (the Yanks used them in Vietnam, and have not ruled out using them in this war).

An American soldier, Saddam in his sights, has a picture of a naked, buxom woman on his dashboard, an obvious affront to Muslim sensibilities.

Rupert Murdoch's vast newspaper empire has waged a relentless pro-war propaganda war before and since the war began.

On each side of the war against war, hopes soar, hopes dive, hour by hour now. Resignations abound, timetables slip, and the world waits, mesmerised. I'm off to Melbourne to record an arts chat show.

Simon Crean has painstakingly built a platform for a potentially devastating assault on Howard's fitness for office.

As I write, Kim Beazley has the numbers and the game looks over.