I've adapted American Senator - John McCain's farewell speech
to the American people that we may find useful and inspiring
at this time and in this discussion:

"We weaken our greatness and our country when we confuse
patriotism with tribal rivalries that sow resentment and
hatred and violence. We weaken it when we hide behind
walls rather than tear them down. When we doubt the power
of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force
of change they have always been."

"We are 25 million opinionated vociferous individuals. We argue
and compete and sometimes even vilify each other in our
raucous public debates. But we have always had so much more in
common with each other than in disagreement. If only we remember
that and give each other the benefit of the presumption that
we all love our country. We will get through these challenging
times. We will come through them stronger than before.
We always do."

"Do not despair of our present difficulties but believe always
in the promise and greatness of Australia, because nothing is
inevitable here. Australians never quit. We never hide from
history. We make history."

My apologies to Senator McCain. Hopefully we may get some
inspiration from what he said. Australia and her people can
move forward - providing she does not listen to the siren
calls of charlatans, demagogues, and ideologues.

Hi Foxy,

A timely adaption by you of the words of an outstanding human being. As they apply to America, they very much apply to Australia. We should all be thankful such a person lived, but also be thankful that in death their words still resonate with so many. The struggle for fairness and equality for all must continue, if it should stop, the consequences are far too grotesque to even contemplate.

Thank you for that post.

o sung wu,
Don't let the insipids wind you up with hateful rhetoric. Just remember they have nothing but indorctrination (not a spelling mistake) for life experience so, you can't really expect anything of substance based on integrity from these college kids.

Dear Paul,

Sometimes we do need reminding for what it is that we
want to be known for - and what we stand for as a people
and as a country. Thankfully a small minority of" Nay
Sayers" will get even smaller with time and they will end
up on the ash heap of history.

Dear Paul,

You might enjoy this small ditty:

A bit of light-hearted tongue-in-cheek.

"Why I like police officers is because they act so tough
They're often pugnacious and quite often rough
They're people who can't stand losing
Defeat is not their game
They're a force to be reckoned with
They're definitely not lame

Cop, Sarge, Chief, are names by which they're known
They're part of a team, and never alone
Fighting for good causes, for justice, to be free
Fighting for the under-dog
For folks like you and me

And as we drive along the roads,
And their sirens we do hear
We stop and sit and tremble
And try not to show our fear."

FOXY...

Your reiteration of Senator McCain's farewell speech, is good, coming as it did, according to some, from?a 'war mongering' baby killer in Vietnam. But at the same time 'an outstanding human being'? I'm sorry it does not compute?

How can an individual at one minute be complicit in an illegal war, being a war monger, a baby killer...and at the same time, be an outstanding human being? 'Lefties like that disgraceful piece of rancid meat and self confessed coward and 'draft dodger', PAULINE1405 really make me puke!