Shame, Alan, Shame.

Loathe as I am to give oxygen to the ramblings of an embittered old man, some things need to be challenged. Tomorrow's Sunday Telegraph will feature a near-full-page article describing how broadcaster/shock-jock Alan Jones told a group of Young Liberals attending the Sydney University Liberal Club President's Dinner that Prime Minister Julia Gillard's father John, who passed away recently, “died of shame.” He said:

“The old man recently died a few weeks ago of shame. To think that he had a daughter who told lies every time she stood for parliament.”

Now, I don't care which side of the political divide you may be on, or what you may think of Jones... or Gillard, for that matter. A statement like this, made by someone with influence and clear political affiliations, is a gutter act that must be rejected in the strongest possible terms by all sides.

To lose a parent is unbearable. It's a loss I know, and that so many have experienced... and for Jones to use Gillard's loss as merely another excuse to spray abuse at her is nothing short of vile.

It's particularly ludicrous that Jones should speak of shame, when clearly he has none. His is a moral compass gone askew.

I expect Jones' statements to be widely condemned; I can only hope that the Liberals who invited him to speak join that condemnation.

But if you're reading this and you feel as I do, I urge you to make your feelings clear in the only way that Jones will understand.

Boycott his radio station. At the very least, tell them how you feel.

Boycott his advertisers. You can find them here.

Make him irrelevant. Make him forgotten.