One of the main reasons I did not like Howard was his Americo-philia:
It seems like the week that he spent stuck in New-York after 9/11 was deeply engraved in his soul.

But if Rudd has become the new American toyboy, and since the curse of the FTA cannot be lifted anyway, then Howard may still be the preferrable choice.

the yanks didn't come to 'rescue' oz from nips. they didn't move a muscle until after they were attacked. at that point, oz became a convenient staging point for initial resistance.

palimpsest, it's true i'd like to improve australian society by putting the ordinary people in an over-sight role in the management of the country. ideally, ozzies should be able to vote directly for minister candidates, so we could have good environment policies, good good treasury policies, good foreign policies, etc.

now, we can only vote once, and generally choose the party that looks like putting more money in our pocket. so we're lumbered with second rate people who only get in power because of their party, rather than their policies.

changing the australian constitution is a big project, but there is plenty of evidence that the current situation doesn't work - if the goal is prosperity and survival of society at large.

Consider this scenario.China lands 1000 old 747 jumbos laden with 500,000 armed troops at various Australia airports and takes our major cities.What are the Yanks going to do?Send in their troops just like Iraq and suffer major loses or threaten China with a nuclear war or do nothing and trade off our freedoms to appease the peace mentality of the American people.It would be more likely be the latter.

We need a better defence system than just relying on the word and good will of the Yanks.When push come to shove,they will sell us down the drain just like Saddham whom they created to control Iraq.

It is nothing personal that I have against the ordinary American people,but just the reality of Global and national US politics that makes us small fish very expendable.

Howard will not be defeated by his own success, he will be defeated by his failure to listen to his own people. Had he shown more reserve towards the unilateral invasion of Iraq and didn't lie his way out of a big mistake, then he would deserve our respect.

The economy is not a reflection of Howard, it is a reflection of the world economy. It is not the miracle that the sellers of snake oil claim it to be. New Zealand is doing just as well as Australia under a Labor Government and they didn't have to go to Iraq.

Most western economies have done reasonably well within the last 10 years. Was it some kind of miracle under Howard and Costello? Some reforms may have tweaked the peeks but generally it would have been similar under a continued Keating Government. Remember the "recession we had to have" was really a world recession. Just as the economic prosperity now is generally a global prosperity.

Also, minority groups have not benefited from the Howard Government. Pensioners are worse off now than they were. Gays and Lesbians have all but been pushed backwards into a community recession. Seen Oxford Street lately? It is not a coincidence that their businesses are suffering.

So Howard "thought he was the King of America" but it was a "big mistake".

The damage has been done, the battle lost and won. The King is dead, long live the King. Will justice allow us to prosper or will we slide into economic oblivion? Will life return to Australia with more optimism socially as well as economically?

We all love the lights of a casino, but the day after, someone has to clean the mess.

That reminds me of the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1yry55waS4&mode=related&search=

Enjoy, its a good song.