All in the family. The Australian stands accused of “deceptively abridging” quotes to engage in “weak and contemptible smearing” of a respected public figure. Or so says Andrew Bolt, in one of his three or four defences of his Adam Goodes comments posted to his blog this morning.

The first, posted at 7.35am  is a response to The Australian’s Cut and Paste today, which makes fun of the Bolter’s logical contradictions on whether or not Goodes was right to point out a young girl who racially abused him at a match two years ago. Bolt seems to have held both positions at different times over the past few days, but he says only a selective reading of his comments supports that hypothesis.

“This is not the first time that I’ve wondered whether The Australian has lost its head and its direction. The fact that it is increasingly at serious odds with its readership,” Bolt warns his Holt Street colleagues.

Later, he notes Miranda Devine has been similarly mocked. “What the hell is going on with that paper?”

Frankly, The Australian‘s criticisms of Bolt seem gentle besides the pasting he was given last week by former Daily Tele editor and now Advertiser columnist David Penberthy. The Adelaide-based journo wrote:

“Andrew Bolt seems to live in fear of being hit with an imaginary spear. He describes imaginary spear-throwing as dangerous and violent conduct. He wrote this week that Lewis Jetta and Adam Goodes could incite a race war. Coming from Andrew, that’s not a criticism. It’s a demarcation dispute.”

Ouch. — Myriam Robin