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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 2 of 2. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Sigismund on December 8, 2008, at 18:45:12
Malcolm Fraser was the Liberal (and therefore conservative) PM of Australia from 1975-1982.
On a show last night there was some old footage showing him meeting some Aborigines somewhere in the desert when he was PM.
Mr Fraser (without his suit coat) approached the Aborigines who were sitting in the dirt.
Then he too sat down in the dirt with them, looking faintly ridiculous in his clothes, and his craggy patrician reserved manner.At that point I wept.
Wondering why, all I could come up with was the feeling of gratitude for conservatives like Mr Fraser and (yes) Kevin Rudd, and a feeling of shame and anger for the last 10 years.
I know symbolism is never enough; it certainly wasn't enough for the Aboriginal people.
But it is absolutely critical, even so.
Posted by fayeroe on December 8, 2008, at 19:36:19
In reply to Conservatism (again), posted by Sigismund on December 8, 2008, at 18:45:12
When I was spending so much time on the Navajo reservation I always shook hands with everyone.
A bullrider told me one day that they all took that as a symbol of my being open to them and the way they live. I know that he didn't know that I had come from Choctaw country and was well versed in how Indians were treated there.If I gave them something, they gave me more.
There is also a lot of symbolism in treating a felon like a human being. Not a day went by that someone didn't mention the "symbols" of my trust and respect for them. They never called it symbols but they put it in a way that meant that to me.
We never know, do we?
This is the end of the thread.
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