The Assange light and sound show overshadows government problems but it can't last

As scripted political dramas go, Julian Assange's (welcome) arrival in Canberra on Wednesday night would be hard to beat.Even before Assange exited the plane, Anthony Albanese was on the phone in a pre-arranged call. Immediately afterwards the prime minister, often reluctant to disclose the content of phone calls, happily shared details of their conversation with the media at a mid-evening news conference in Parliament House."I was quite pleased to be the first person here who he spoke with, [it] was mutually worked out that that would occur," Albanese said.Earlier in the day, the Assange team had suggested he might appear at a late-night news conference at a nearby hotel. Instead, his lawyers, led by Jen Robinson, and his wife Stella spoke for him, explaining his plea bargain and casting the pursuit of him as an issue of press freedom.Not far away at the United States embassy, they sucked up the end of what has been, in many eyes, a lose-lose saga for the Americans.The Assange team he...