“Don’t ask me”: Australia’s chief medical officer.

The Australian reported yesterday on the strange inability of Australia's chief medical officer to identify fifty percent of the nation's population:

Australia’s top health bureaucrat has been slammed for refusing to provide a definition of the word “woman”. ... Liberal Senator Alex Antic posed the question to Health Secretary Brendan Murphy ... “Can someone please provide me with a definition of what a woman is?” he asked. ... The question was met with uncomfortable silence. ... "Department of Health? Definition of a man, definition of a woman? Anyone? Professor Murphy?” Senator Antic said.

Finally the chief medical officer ventured a timid reply, like Oliver Twist asking for more porridge or a juvenile delinquent owning up to stealing a pig:

“Look, I think there are a variety of definitions ... "

"Look"? That sentence prefix is shorthand for 'I know this is a pathetic answer but I'll give it anyway'. The CMO can't define a female but if we can define a man as variously possessing bravery, backbone and some balls - and sometimes, incredibly, all three together - then Dr Murphy fails. Sans cojones, sans a spine, sans courage. As you like it, Dr Murphy.