>Doug...
>
>> >if you overlook the Aborigines and the folks in the immigrant
>>>detention centers.
>
>What a joke. Why should we overlook these folks?!
You shouldn't overlook them. It was a joke, a serious joke.
For an American leftist in the habit of thinking this place the most brutal and racist on earth, it was quite enlightening to hear tales of Australian history - and contemporary tales of Australian treatment of immigrants and refugees. There's something to be said for professed U.S. hospitality to immigration, even if it's bullshit a lot of the time; at least there's something to appeal to, some standard to use to indict actual behavior.
Doug