So easily the words slip from politicians' mouths. So easily they prance and bray

THE refugee camp on the Thai border, right across the Mekong River from Laos, was hot, dusty and crowded. A big, awkward Australian in a wide-brimmed hat plunged between the bamboo huts, trying without success to avoid stepping into stinking open drains. He was on a mission, and he stomped on, searching for a little family in one of those huts.