MIC secretary-general S Sothinathan's suspension , in my view, adds another nail to the Barisan Nasional coffin. It has laid bare this 'coalition of the willing' as a charade (my apologies to Bush). Friends are allowed to disagree but clearly there was no love lost with Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz spewing his racist remarks.

Sad part is, the debate need not have been couched in such undertones in the first place. A legitimate query needs only an intelligent answer but our ministers are either lacking this ability' or are just plain lazy.

Breaking rank is a common enough occurrence in a healthy democracy, but Nazri has the gall to suggest that Sothinathan is having his cake and eating it. Frankly it smacks of arrogance, no doubt fueled by his own misplaced sense of importance and superiority .

If all Barisan MPs are expected to toe the line all the time, we are just wasting our time voting for them in the first place.

And what about Sothinathan's boss? He accepts the 'punishment' with hardly a whimper, more interested in pursuing his other 'interests' that are, of course, of more importance.

Pak Lah has unfortunately exacerbated the situation further by pandering to the 'ultra's' trying to score points by playing the only card that they know. Yet he preaches to us about harmony and nation building. Sometimes I wonder whether he means what he says or is just reading from someone else's script. He could have played this whole affair oh, so much better.