Jacqui Lambie nailed it last week when she opened fire on Pauline Hanson. Every round hit the target. But it was the headshot which impressed me the most.

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"She wouldn't serve one day in that uniform because she wouldn't last," Lambie roared in defence of fellow veteran Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, defamed as a "traitor" in an infamous cartoon from the creative geniuses at One Nation.

No, Hanson wouldn't last a day and not just because she's more Dolce&Gabbana than camo and combat boots, more lip gloss than gun grease, more five-star Taormina than Kapooka or Holsworthy.

Hanson would be drummed out for tactical incompetence and a fatal lack of discipline which has put her whole unit at risk.

Posting the cartoon in the first place was silly enough. Calling someone who served with the SAS in Afghanistan a traitor not once but eight times not only infuriated Hastie, it's outraged his friends and political foes in equal measure. Even Angus Taylor registered an emotion. And veterans who might have toyed with voting for One Nation are probably having second thoughts.

But refusing to remove the cartoon and doubling down with lame gaslighting - claiming it's satire and not about Ben Roberts Smith - betrays a special kind of stupid, especially in a country where military service is so revered that even a computer game based on the Gallipoli campaign ignites controversy.

Lieutenant Joyce knows that. It's why he's stepped forward with a mop and bucket to try to clean up yet another mess of his captain's making. He personally apologised for the cartoon. "I don't believe Mr Hastie is a traitor, of course. That's an absurdity, he's not," Joyce told News24.

Barnaby must be growing tired of mucking out the latrine. His job's not made easier when One Nation colleagues like Senator Sean Bell contradict him, saying there's nothing to apologise for.

It's too early to tell but maybe, just maybe, the Hastie incident will be the high water mark of One Nation's surge, the moment the wheels begin to wobble.

Taken with the embarrassing contortions over Victorian leader Warren Pickering's past drug use and drink driving - denial followed by........

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