An all too familiar ring....

Can anyone forget the disgraceful bigotry and racism of PM John Howard, and his Minister Reith, who not only played the race-card in the 2001 election but also, knowingly, falsely accused boat people of throwing their children into the sea - and then went on to proclaim that we don't want "these people" in Australia.

No wonder George W and John Howard are such good friends..... It all seems like a case of deja vu when one reads this on TomPaine.common sense:

"President Bush today: "These people attacked us before we were even in Iraq!"
Can we have a little frankness, please?

The President of the United States is a racist. Or at the very least, an anti-Muslim bigot.

In Iraq, Shi'ites and Sunni are fighting each other to the death. Under what possible logic can they be joined by a common identity?

There is no "these people" except in their common Middle East-ness.

Iran and Iraq fought a decade-long war - Shia against Sunni. They are, to our president, "these people." "They" attacked us. "They" continue to attack us. Iran, Iraq: all the same.

The people who attacked us on September 11 were from a group called "al Qaeda." According to U.S. intelligence, Iraq was one of the few countries in the Middle East where Al Qaeda did not have a beachhead.

In the 1960s, to much of the public, China and Russia were equally "these people." Even as those countries were on the verge of nuclear war with one another. Bad people stoked the equivilance of the two even after they knew better. They did it to keep a monstrous war going, as the American people began to know better.

It's much worse now. Who are "these people," Mr. President? Why are you worse than McCarthy?"

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