Sol vs. Australia

Sol Trujillo to Australia: "You are a racist backwater."

Australia, all whipped up into a frenzy, replies: "Who are you to call us racist you Mexican bastard!"

While it's hard to summarize a few days of national dialogue, I think that is a fair take on how Australia responded to Trujillo's comments.

Between Rudd's characteristically pathetic "Adios" comment, the repeated "three amigo" references, the radio stations playing the Mexican hat dance at the mention of Trujillo's name, and even the Age's tasteless headline, I'd say Trujillo (who was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to a Mexican-American family) is on pretty solid ground. Crickey collected a number of examples. Once again, Rudd shows he has read and understood the John Howard guide for getting ahead in Australian politics: be as mundane as possible, treat outsiders with contempt and stoke existing prejudices.