If Only We Could Draft An Australian for US President

I stumbled upon this article on the web today. Gosh, if only we had such sensible people in US politics, with the guts to stand up and say these sort of things. What a shame that sensible attitudes regarding Islam and immigration seem to only exist in Australia.

Some exerpts:

On Islamic law being practiced inside democratic countries:
Peter Costello: "What I've said is that this is a country, which is founded on a democracy. According to our Constitution, we have a secular state. Our laws are made by the Australian Parliament. If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you. This is not the kind of country where you would feel comfortable if you were opposed to democracy, parliamentary law, independent courts and so I would say to people who don't feel comfortable with those values there might be other countries where they'd feel more comfortable with their own values or beliefs."

On whether Iraq is the cause of the anti-America attitude in the Arab world:
TONY JONES: Right. Given that the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq is probably the leading cause of anti-Americanism in the Arab world, does that make us, as an ally of the Americans, a greater target for terrorists?

PETER COSTELLO: I don't think it's the principle cause at all. I think if you want to look for perceived areas of anti-Americanism in the Arab world, it was around a lot before Iraq. It's been around for a very long time, Tony, and most of it, I believe -

TONY JONES: I'm talking about what's happening right now. We're seeing it even in the lead-up to the Islamic summit we've been having in Canberra. What we are hearing is young Australian Muslims are particularly angry with the
American-led invasion and occupation of Iraq.

PETER COSTELLO: No, I couldn't disagree with you more profoundly. There was substantial hostility to the US in the Arab world long before Iraq. Whether it's over perceived injustices to Islam, whether it's over the Palestinian issue, whether it's over support for Israel. Most of these things, and I don't believe justify hostility at all, but it's been there long before Iraq. Let me tell you this, Tony - you are profoundly wrong if you thought hostility to the United States started in 2003. It was around long before that.

I was also led to this article, which has quotes from Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

John Howard:
"Immigrants, not Australians, must adapt. I'm tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia. However there are a few things that those who have come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand. This idea of Australia being a multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our language, and our own lifestyle.

"This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.

"We speak ENGLISH; not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!

"We will accept your beliefs; all we ask is that you accept ours and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others."

Man, do I wish we had politicians like these guys here in the USA.

Then you hear about things happening in the US like this.

6 Muslim Imams on a commercial flight, decide to kneel in front of the gate and chant in Arabic before takeoff. What did they think was going to happen, I wonder? I don't care if it was that time of day, have some common sense! There are prayer rooms in the terminal for that! Even in Muslim countries, they don't pray in the terminal at the airport. And furthermore, they have the unmitigated gall to blame the rest of the passengers and the airline for "ignorance of Islam". Hey, dudes, maybe you should think about how ignorant you are of other beliefs. I call this a total lack of respect for others. Would you want to be on a plane with these guys after seeing them have a group chant to Allah outside the gate before takeoff? This was either complete and total ignorance on the part of the Imams, or it was a premeditated attempt to provoke an incident.

Hey, Imams - the guys who hijacked the airliners and crashed them into the WTC, the guys who blow themselves up in Iraq killing hundreds of innocent people at a time, the people who talk about "wiping Israel off the map", the people in Pakistan that sentence women to be raped because of some imagined insult by their families, they are praying to the exact same god that you do and using the exact same book you worship to justify their deeds. Some of them proudly call themselves "Imams" as well. Don't go around pointing fingers at other faiths and belief systems and accusing us of "ignorance", OK?

There's a saying from the Christian Bible:
"Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother's eye."