Anthony Albanese’s recent performance on the world stage in New York was a breathtaking piece of rhetorical acrobatics.

Is it better to be friends with the biggest bully in the schoolyard, regardless of how he behaves? So far, Australia has always answered yes. But what if the bully's trappings of democracy, order, science and reason fall away?

Tired of being out of the political spotlight, Barnaby Joyce has declared he won't re-contest his New England seat at the next election, supposedly due to dissatisfaction with his party's leadership, but he hasn't yet quit the Nationals, or responded definitively to speculation that he's joining Pauline Hanson's One Nation.

Any self-respecting Australian leader would be running for the hills rather than be seen with the leader of the United States after that unhinged speech to the UN last week, but Anthony Albanese sought out not one but two photo opportunities with President Trump while he was in New York, along with an assurance of a face to face meeting in Goldfinger's oval-shaped lair next month.

In humans, delusional thinking is a mental health issue. In politics, believing in things despite clear evidence to the contrary now seems to be a prerequisite, along with the accompanying feelings of persecution and grandiosity.

More than 10,000 troops marched through Tiananmen Square in Beijing last week, accompanied by a large number of advanced weapons, supposedly to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war, but actually to demonstrate China's transformation from the sick man of Asia to an emerging superpower.

Beyond his growing Melbourne base, Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt has never inspired the same passion as the sainted Bob Brown, but his appearance at the National Press Club last week showed that unlike many modern politicians, he hasn't given up on the vision thing.

US President Donald Trump's disgusting, stage-managed TV ambush of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy didn't quite go to plan last week. Both leaders have a background as popular entertainers, but only one has any concept of what it takes to be a statesman.

Those who thought President Donald Trump could not be any worse than President Joe Biden on the Gaza issue had a rude awakening yesterday after his surreal press conference at the White House with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Incoming US President and convicted felon Donald Trump delivered on his promise to be a dictator on day one of his second presidency, defying his own country's laws and rejecting the institutions of international allies as he sought to 'Make America Great Again'.