A stranger comes into town, and stops at the local bar and asked the bartender, "Say, how are the people in this town?"

The bartender replies with a question of his own, "What were the people like where you came from?"

The stranger gets a faraway look in his eyes and says, "Well, they were great. Always kind and helpful. Always a cheery hello. Wonderful people."

"Well, the people in this town are pretty much like that as well, " answers the bartender.

The next day, another stranger comes into town, stops in the bar and asks the same question. The bartender gives the same reply, "What were the people like where you came from?"

The stranger answered with a sneer, "Those people were awful. Rude, obnoxious and really busybodies to boot..."

"Well, the people in this town are pretty much like that as well, " responded the bartender.

I thought of this story which someone told me over thirty years ago, when I read this piece.

It's safe to say there was a collective sigh of brown relief when the Tucson killer turned out to be a gringo. Had the shooter been Latino, media pundits wouldn't be discussing the impact of nasty politics on a young man this week — they'd be demanding an even more stringent anti-immigrant policy. The new members of the House would be stepping over each other to propose new legislation for more guns on the border, more mothers to be deported, and more employers to be penalized for hiring brown people. Obama would be attending funerals and telling the nation tonight that he was going to increase security just about everywhere.

We are all just puppets in the theater of her mind.