Paul,

<<Does not the Tampa issue point to overt racism from Howard>>

No. What the repeated retelling of an edited version of the Tampa incident most clearly illustrates is the scurrilous nature of the Greens.

The "passengers" on the Tampa were rescued close to Indonesia.According to ALL international protocols they were required to be taken to the nearest port, which turned out to Indonesian.

And, the ship made sail towards Indonesia until--until -- the crew were intimidated into turning the ship around and sailing towards Christmas Island.

It has now become something of a leftist folktale being repeated in a much edited form on a thousand lefty websites and ten thousand different publications (no doubt in Foxy's library--as in most 'public' libraries --you'd only ever get the Green edited version).

Another such Green-left folk tale is the riot at Cronulla --already used on another thread within the last couple of weeks. To hear people like Paul tell it, one would think it was an entirely unprovoked attack --out of the blue--on innocence Muslims who just wanted to enjoy the sea breeze.

Relating all of the above back to the topic of this thread which was originally about Mr Mandella - it shows the power of repeating something. If the Greens media machine repeats something often enough it will have most of the Green membership, and the lesser number of gullibles outside the Greens, believing most of it, most of the time.

I am more than happy the world has shown it shares my views about the great man.
And too for the chance to tell of my opinion of him.

So Paul1405, if I was opposed to Malcolm Fraser's ban on the Moscow Olympics, then on your logic I was a supporter of communism. So that means that the entire Labor Party in the 70s and 80s were actually communists.

It's a lunatic conclusion, but it appears to be the one you support. And extending it further, it would appear to be the case that you think that the choice in Australian politics during the 80s and the 90s was probably a choice between communists and racists.

That's a pretty paranoid world you live in.

Foxy, you complain that people on these threads accuse you of being things you are not, but use the same standard to judge John Howard and others and say because you or others believe them to be a particular way, then they are, for practical intents and purposes.

I hope you remember that standard of logic next time someone misrepresents your position on OLO.

Dear Graham,

Actually what I am doing is simply providing links
to show different perspectives to issues being
discussed. For example when someone makes a statement
like "John Howard was not a racist!" I ask the
question on the web, "Was John Howard a racist?"
and supply the links that come up. I leave the
judgements for people to make for themselves.
My aim is simply to provide information to broaden
the discussion. What people make of that information
is up to them. However, inventing things, and accusing me of things I
did not say in my posts and then slandering me
for those inventions - is
what I do object to, as well as making assumptions about
what I do or don't think - is something
to which I am entitled to object. This is afterall
a forum of social and political debate and
as such I'm sure you'll agree
we need to look at more than one side of any issue.
I feel obliged to provide information with that view in mind.
It doesn't necessarily mean that that is the view that
I personally hold.

And, talking about racism, and Mr Howard, - here's a few more
links on the topic:

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/12/15/1134500961607.html

And :

http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2009/august/1272421563/waleed-aly/comment

What you make of that is up to you. I simply supply
the links - for the sake of the discussion.

SPQR, I can not recall making ANY COMMENT on the Cronulla riots "To hear people like Paul tell it, one would think it (Cronella riots) was an entirely unprovoked attack --out of the blue--on innocence Muslims who just wanted to enjoy the sea breeze." So please do not attribute such a statement to me.

Graham I will overlook the little personal insult there,
"That's a pretty paranoid world you (paul1405) live in"

The Moscow Olympics banning issue as raised by the conservatives at the behest of America is an entirely different set of circumstances to the White only Springbok rugby tour. If as Beach claims justification for rugby tour support was possibly "the issue would have been opposition to politics in sport" Then to be consistent Howard would have had to be in favor of Australia's participation in Moscow, not opposing it as he did.
The truth is conservatives were never strong on opposition to apartheid, as represented by the rugby tour, but were most vehement in their opposition to communism as represented by the Moscow Olympics, so at least Howard was true to his conservatism.

Belly, the world has lost a truly great person, and we are poorer for his passing. But lets be positive Nelson Mandela done more than any other individual to destroy the evil that was apartheid in his country, and bring freedom to millions.
One thing is certain John Howard who also graced the political stage in his country for a very long time will never receive the adulation from the world that Nelson Mandela has. In the end its the fighters the world respects and the passing of the sops and apologists gets no mention.

Paul, it's an old tactic. The bully lashes out, and when the bullied retaliate he then complains that they hit him. You set out to smear John Howard and others, and that is OK, but I point out what you are doing and that is an "insult".

You have no evidence of what Howard thought on South African Apartheid, the Springboks Rugby tour, or the boycott of the Moscow Olympics, yet you make outrageous claims based on your unsupported imaginings.

You also make claims about conservatives and apartheid which are smears and wrong as well. I was a member of the Liberal Party during some of the period when apartheid was in place in South Africa and I do not remember one motion being passed supporting it, or anyone speaking up and defending it.

If you want to see the face of racism in this country at the party political level you would have to go to an ALP branch meeting - the authors of the White Australia policy.