Dear Michael Coren

My letter, sent April 21, 2009:

Mr. Coren,

You, sir, are a disgusting worm. How dare you disparage the service of Trooper Karine Blais, 12e Régiment Blindé du Canada serving with the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment, in order to tout your misogynist nonsense.

Trooper Blais was a soldier. She died doing her job, just like any other soldier. She passed her course, just like any other soldier.

And you, sir, demoted her to mere object, mere pretty thing full of something you call 'grace' rather than acknowledge her for the brave soldier she was.

You should be ashamed. I hope your next column either profusely apologizes to the Blais family and the Vandoos or is a detailed treatise on how a to fire a C-7 rifle with a penis.

I hope you are fired over this outrage.

He won't be fired of course. He'll make light of it, or same halfhearted "sorry you were insulted" type apology and then move on to insult someone else. and will Sun Media fire him? Nope, because it seems their editorial position agrees with this.

Tune in when Can West Christaliban mouth breather and misogynist David Warren writes a column agreeing with him.

I sure hope a few compatriots of Trooper Blias get the opportunity to express their feeling to Coren in person someday.

The Obama Disappointment

I know.

I know, I know, I know.

Its only been about 3 months since he took office. Give the guy a chance right? Wait for the first 100 days right? Well, unfortunately there are signs that Obama is not all that different than Bush and is prepared to continue with the many parts of the last regimes program.

1. The Torture Memos - while admitting there was torture (finally, a good thing) he has given the torturers the Nuremburg defense. They were just following orders. So, he coninues to deny justice for the victims and protect the guilty. He seems to want to reserve the right to torture if he feels its needed too. Just like Bush.
2. Bush and Cheney - while clearly both of these men committed war crimes (as the above Torture Memos indicate), Obama is not prosecuting. He is not investigating. There is nothing.
   
3. Maher Arar - still on the no fly list, despite being proven innocent. No reasons given.
4. Wiretapping - despite claiming it was dangerous, he voted as a Senator to keep the program going and now wishes to continue to use it.
5. Packing the Justice Deptartment - and packing it with RIAA lawyers. RIAA LAWYERS. What on earth is THAT?
6. Stimulus Spending - started by Bush and Obama is merely continuing it. Where is the change in that? Well except for those who attend teaparties now that a Democrat is doing it.
7. Closing Gitmo - while this is another good thing, its been put off for a year, rather than immediate. This means, of course, that he could change his mind next December. It also says nothing of the other black prisons around the world that continue to operate.
8. Habeas Corpus - it is still unclear, even after Gitmo being closed, whether habeas corpus still means anything in the US.
9. Withdraw from Iraq - except its in 3 years and meanwhile most of those guys will go to Afghanistan. So how exactly is this a withdraw from Iraq? Why haven't the permanent bases been closed?

All of these were obvious abuses and wrongs from 8 years of the Bush presidency. To my civil libertarian mind, there is no reason to go slow on any of these. My hope, despite being an anrachist who despised all government, that at least Obama would be principled enough to right these wrongs, even while I fully expected him to screw up economically. If I were still and NDP member, almost everything in that list would still disappoint me.

Well clearly I am wrong.

The only conclusion I can come to is that once he obtained the power that Bush and Cheney wrought - the power to ignore the US Constitution at will, the power to hold people without trial and the power to torture if desired. This is change?

Meet the New Boss, same as the old boss.

Update:



Its getting worse and worse.

Even the Right-Libertarians aren't fooled by faux 'Tea Parties'

Over at Lew Rockwell, we see despite what some may say, libertarians aren't really very supportive of the 'Tea Party' phenomena. Anthony Gregory lambastes the Republicans and the "right" taking part in these protests for their rank hypocrisy and their blind stupidity for being willing participants in - and "useful idiots" of - a fake grassroots campaign.

"The contradiction is a wonder to behold. In one breath, they talk about the fundamental violations of natural rights and constitutional law that modern American statism represents. In the next breath, they decry the president for being insufficiently enthusiastic about American imperialism and the national security state. He is too soft on foreigners and not proud enough of the history of the US war machine – this is still a key rightwing criticism of Obama, right alongside the contradictory claim that Obama puts love of the national government ahead of individual rights."

Anthony Gregory is, by the way, a writer and organizer for The Campaign for Liberty so hardly a "socialist" or "lefty" as some I am sure will want to characterize him.

The right-libertarians aren't fooled. Nor are many of us left-libertarians. I wonder why they Republican base seems to be?

Show me the Money II

Our "conservative" government has decided, in its infinite wisdom, that The Federal Government will honour the warranties for newly purchased GM and Chrysler vehicles.

Again, I have to ask, where will this money come from? Why should the taxpayers of Canada pay for the warranties of GM and Chrysler cars?

One does not need to be a libertarian to see the incredible folly of this. Why not Volkswagon or Toyota?

Does Tony Clement not understand the concept of 'moral hazard'? No, I bet he doesn't...

This is nothing more than economic fascism. It will further wreck our economy, not help it.

No. No. No.

How many of us need to say no before this government will listen? When will this nonsense stop?

Does anyone still wonder why I am a no-state, market anarchist libertarian?

Show me the Money

Can someone, anyone, tell me where exactly this miraculous $1 Trillion USD will come from?

Seriously, we are in the midst of an economic crisis caused by over spending, and too much debt and credit. How will spending $1 Trillion we don't have - $1 Trillion in more credit and debt - will make the situation better and not worse, in the long run?

This is madness.

Update:

Catelli and I aren't the only ones who think this is insane. Check out Sheldon Richman at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE).