Getting ridiculous - Racism's left-right swap and the national interest

It is ridiculous when you find yourself agreeing with Greg Sheridan and Ted Baillieu on the one topic.

And offended by the sharp conduct of people you thought you respected, on the same topic.

It's politics, I get that. And nobody in electorland wants to offend the bogans, I get that too. So what's needed here, in the national interest, is for the Foreign Minister to use the external affairs power in the Constitution to take conduct of the issue, as far as possible, off the Victorian Government. It's not so much a case of legislating or litigating, but rather of Rudd and Smith strongly reprimanding their stateside brethren for damaging Australia's regional relations, economy, and potentially even national security.

The denialism is, in itself, grossly offensive to our neighbours, and is damaging a strategically-crucial relationship in the name of placating people in marginal seats. Imagine how we as a nation would be taking it if Aussies were being so consistently targeted in another country, and we were being fed some tosh along the lines of 'well they're asking for it, the way they hold their mobile phones'...

That's right, we'd crack it. The bogans would be baying for war. And our trash papers would be treating the truth as selectively as theirs are. There's been some hype and exaggeration in India, but nothing that can't be easily understood with just a smattering of knowledge about the effect the long tail of colonialism has on these issues through most of the non-white world.

Rudd, Smith, step up and take control.

I'm not a die hard centralist, to say the least. In fact what I'd conclude with is that THIS is the sort of issue Rudd should be wading into, before water rights or hospitals. It's national business and it's about time it was taken into hand and dealt with firmly.