I Am Alert (but not alarmed)

Views from the Floor

Tom says:

Seriously. What the fuck is going on in this country!?

And what is with people saying, "yeah it's bad, but..."

It is entirely revolting, utterly cowardly and a disgraceful symbol of what so many people now seem to think is acceptable under Howard's dog whistle politics.

Is he going to say anything? No way. They were white and draped in the Australian flag - true patriots.

Advance Australia Fair.

kate says:

Apparently the buck doesn't stop anywhere. Howard says it's got nothing to do with him going on about home-grown terrorists, so obviously it doesn't. It's not like he's lied before.

Virginia says:

Dog whistle is totally right. I can't stand his smug little smirk as he says one thing ("the mob is bad") and signals another ("onya boys: smash those Lebs").

Huw Murdoch says:

His denial of an undercurrent of racism was pretty hard to take, given that one of the most quoted chants was somehting like "go home Lebs". What is racism if not disicrimination based on race? How is a bunch of white men draped in the Australian flag or wearing swastika symbols, while yelling "go home lebs" not evidence of widespread racism? And how easy it is to call all of it un-Australian, when, since 1996 it's exactly the kind of attitude that's been nurtured. In a country in which the woman who did so much to legitimize this attitude becomes a minor celebrity on Dancing with the Stars.

Virginia says:

Particularly hard to take, given that he'd named that particular shire as "a part of Sydney which has always represented to me what middle Australia is all about".

kate says:

I wonder though, what do we do? Apart from continuing not to vote for Howard, and continuing not to listen to Alan Jones.

Shaking our heads in horror doesn't seem to have helped. What needs to happen so that young drunk blokes don't think 'go home' is a reasonable thing to say? What needs to happen so that they learn that punching people doesn't help?

Virginia says:

Move to Canada? New Zealand? Saturn?

Morice says:

I was totally shocked at how quickly the situation in Sydney had escalated! - how did a fight that started between two parties evolve into such rage against a race of people - do we even know the cause of the fight? Are we even sure it was Lebanese youths that were involved? This rapid escalation of violence was almost single handidly contributed to the media - what did they think was going to happen when they broadcasted that txt message out to every red neck in the country! Please explain?

Jase says:

It's sickening that Howard doesn't even see his own involvement in this behaviour. Australia has always had a strong undercurrent of racism - it's only ever controlled by strong and decent leadership that publicly and without exception rejects any racist behaviour. Howard's history of pandering to the racist undertones in Australian society for his own political gain - whether it be his refusal to reject the ideals of Hansen or his immigration policies in the 2000 immigration election - has given the racist underbelly of Australia a sense of authority that it simply shouldn't have.

It's time for brave conscientious political leadership.

Virginia says:

Absolutely. It's also time for the weak-as-piss opposition to stand up and say to Howard "you can deny it all you like, but here are fifteen examples of times when you've stood back and let racism flourish in this country". They're soft, and Howard's thriving.

Speak, friend, and enter