Rewriting history

New layers of varnish are being applied to the soiled image of recently released convict Marcus Einfeld ... Why does the media swallow this guff? ... And why is the bar's newsletter given over to items of political point scoring from a discredited attorney general?

It didn't take long for the revisionists to start etching a fresh history of Marcus (The Mensch) Einfeld ... or Marcus Minefield, as he is known to his nearest and dearest.

Moments before his release Crikey heralded his return to the free world, saying:

"Einfeld is a former UNICEF ambassador and is a spokesman for Israeli and Jewish causes. During his incarceration, he relinquished his Order of Australia and his commission as a Queen's Counsel and stepped down from the NSW Bar Association."

There it was again in The Sydney Morning Herald on March 19:

"While serving his sentence, Einfeld relinquished his Order of Australia and his commission as a Queen's Council. He also stepped down from the NSW Bar Association."

The Mensch's PR man Grant Vandenberg can be well pleased.  

Of course, Einfeld didn't "relinquish" anything.

On April 24, 2009 Quentin Bryce removed his Order of Australia, which was probably not all that difficult for her given the lingering memory of his gaucheries when they both worked at the Human Rights Commission.

In November 2008, while Einfeld awaited sentencing, the Sepulchral Kastelorizian, (aka John Hatzistergos), gave The Mensch seven days to show cause why his QC title shouldn't be stripped from his heaving bosom.

He great jurist pleaded nolle contendare and Governor Marie Bashir signed off on it on November 26 that year.

As for "stepping down" from the Bar Association, it seems memories must be muddled.

The Bar Association took proceedings against Einfeld to strike him from the jam roll. Initially he resisted but after a few rounds agreed to go and his name was removed on July 23, 2009.

No matter, Marcus still has other baubles fighting for space on his ample chest, including his "doctorate" from the acclaimed Pacific Western University.

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Hatzistergos & Cowdery: love couple

And what do you make of the NSW Bar 'n' Grill giving a free kick to Hatzistergos' self-serving double-talk?

The outgoing NSW Attorney General responded to an article in The Sydney Morning Herald from your editor about former DPP Nicholas Cowdery.

The AG's letter was published last Saturday (March 19) and was loaded with all the traditional political fudges and half-truths. e.g: I'm just wild about Cowdery, haven't you noticed?

Hatz added some gobbledegook about how he was governed by a "principle" that he should not appoint Cowdery as acting DPP for two months while the incoming government found a replacement.

This not what he told Cowdery on the phone. There is said that, regrettably, the legislation did not allow him to appoint the outgoing DPP to the acting position.

That too was nonsense, as the saving and transitional provisions of the amended DPP Act make clear - s.36(4).

Having his letter published in the newspaper in response to an article is fine, even with the distortions.

But why should the bar republish to its members Hatzistergos' drivel. See In Brief.

It was done on the insistence of Chief Bartender Selth.

There were barristers who were livid that their news sheet should be given over to fluff from this unsatisfactory attorney general. Fluff that already had been published in the daily blatt.

This is what can happen to people who spend too much time underground.