Unfortunately, Pegasus, it's not just our money that Howard is throwing away. He is also trashing our reputation and self respect with his latest abuse of those unfortunate Sudanese refugees. This article, however, gives me some cause for optimism. If David Burchell is right then Howard may aced here too. Howard could be about to reap the whirlwind as he stirs up this flurry of prejudice into a storm of xenophobia. Could this be an ambush? We've been led to expect dirty tricks; Labor's refusal to take any bait offered so far has driven Howard to pull the race card; and he's shown his hand too soon, before he's called the election. It could be that community leaders, editorialists and state premiers will be raising a storm of protest by the time Field Marshall Rudd arrives on his white horse to address, not his troops, but the assembled people, united in their contempt for the Coalition. The war could be over before it's been declared!

Forgive my mixed metaphors, but I am quite exhilarated by the images stirred up by this article. Are we seeing entrapment here? Is this what Kevin07 meant when he talked about playing with Howard's head?
This isn't "political prudence", this is political cunning!