Fellow travellers, as we all know, conservatives want nothing more than to take Australian society back to the fifties. But when we point this out they always deny it. It's very much like their reaction to accusations of racism. You know for sure that someone is guilty of that if they deny they are. Really, it's as clear as black and white (and I don't mean that in a racist way of course).

But sometimes they don't deny it. On the contrary, they occasionally proudly claim allegiance to some oppressive figure, symbol or policy from the distant past. This also proves how backward-looking they are.

Take the loathsome reactionaries at Menzies House. They've even named their website after the definitive conservative politician of that dark and dismal era.

Completely. Utterly. Shameless.

Still, any forward thinking Marxist would not be remotely surprised.

Their latest regressive idea: a petition to stamp out Julia Gillard's visionary carbon tax.

Appalling. Just appalling.