Who Knew Blogs Were So Important?

An interesting dust-up in Australia. We noted earlier the vile anti-Semitic comments of Liberal Susan Chandler and now we have a full-blown purge over a blogging scandal.

Break out the popcorn.

THE purge of Liberals involved in undermining Victorian leader Ted Baillieu could reach into the offices of state or federal MPs, with several more staffers under threat of explusion over the blogging scandal that claimed a third scalp yesterday.

The internal war yesterday claimed a key ally of Mr Baillieu, the Victorian Opposition Leader, when state campaign manager Susan Chandler was forced to resign after revelations she described a party candidate in an email as a "greedy f..king Jew".

The anti-Semitic slur - which Mr Baillieu described as "appalling" - was released as retaliation by sacked former staffer John Osborn, who was dismissed for maintaining a blog called hewhostandsfornothing criticising Mr Baillieu's performance and policies.

In a bid to stem the rapidly escalating damage to the party, state president David Kemp gave a press conference yesterday announcing Ms Chandler's departure and revealing investigators were hunting a "small group" of dissident party members involved in the blog.

The crisis began when it emerged Mr Osborn and fellow staffer Simon Morgan were sacked for operating the blog.

Dr Kemp said investigations had revealed a "few" more Liberals were involved in the blog and they would be expelled over their actions.

However, he and Mr Baillieu now seem at odds over the extent of the crisis, with the Opposition Leader declaring it the "tip of the iceberg" and flagging a purge of his critics.

Purging? Hunting?

Wow, all over blog criticism? Touchy.

The blog in question is now an invitation-only site, as noted here.

More here.

"Their activities are a disgrace," Mr Baillieu said.

"They're at odds with everything that the Liberal Party stands for, but I don't believe they acted alone.

"(They are) a narrow, but deep-seated cell of people who are destroying this party," Mr Baillieu said.

"It is time to clean house. We have some cancerous elements . . . and they are destroying the Liberal Party."

The Herald Sun believes several other Liberal workers are now under investigation after the website was traced back to party headquarters.

It is believed Mr Morgan and Mr Osborn were exposed when a photograph was published on the site that could have been obtained only by a Liberal Party staffer.

Mr Osborn yesterday refused to back away from his criticism of Mr Baillieu.

Senior party figures told the Herald Sun the Liberal Party was in bad shape.

"It's the worst I have ever seen it for decades," one insider said.

Another said: "It's a complete disaster. Nothing good can come from it."

It's worth noting the Liberal Party is generally more along the lines of the GOP here in the United States, as the more left-leaning party is Labor.