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.

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?

And now, the lying begins.

So, we are subjected to stupidity again. Harper has broken his own law in order to have an election when it is convenient for him.

Why, exactly, w0uld anyone vote for these power-hungry scum?

Oh and before any of the usual suspects accuses me of being a Liberal, rest assured I'll highlight the Liberals lies as well - and you Dion, Rae and Iggy are queuing them up. And Layton and May as well. Hell the only one likely to tell any semblance of the truth is Duceppe and only then in English Canada because he has nothing to lose.

Tally up the lies. Tally up the orgy of pre-election spending.




And then realize we don't need any of these clowns to tell us what to do or how to act.

Blogging Angry

I have avoided blogging for close to a week. I try not to 'blog angry' because I have found that you often say something in the heat of anger that you regret later. I try to cool down, to let a clearer head prevail so that I can write more reasonably.

Not today.

No, I am still angry beyond words. I am disgusted by what is laughingly referred to as our political system. We live in horrific times where we are ruled by a group of clowns pretending to be acting "in our best interests."

Bullshit.

We have a government that is now openly taking measures to censor films that don't pass the muster of religious bigots like Charles McVety. We have a government that is actively attempting to take away not just a woman's right to choose or control her body and trying to call it "Protecting a womans" right to choose, in a perfect example of Orwellian doublespeak. This government that ran on transparency, accountability has become the most secretive, most centralized in Canadian history. They pass an "Accountability Act" but haven't quite got around to getting the regulations in place, allowing their top aids to easily go back and forth in the Ottawa lobbying industry. They allow no-bid military contracts, spending billions on ships and planes the CF itself doesn't want. Hell, it seems while they were hammering the previous Liberal government for being corrupt, their operatives where attempting to buy the vote of a dying man for "financial considerations".

They are smug, authoritarian and undemocratic. They are natural-born liars and thieves, every one of them.

There is only one thing worse than the CPC right now and that is the Liberal Party of Canada and their spineless milquetoast leader, Stephane Dion. He has allowed the CPC to rule for as thought they have a majority, while desperately trying to tell us how bad they are.

Case in point - the vote on C-484. A clear attempt by the so-cons to try to introduce fetal personhood into Canadian law by stealth (and not very stealthy since ever fetus fetish blogger has stated that is exactly what the bill is for), a clear attempt to start the re-criminalization of abortion and the resulting enslavement of Canadian women. So what does Dion do? Does he whip his caucus to ensure this obvious piece of social conservative nonsense doesn't pass? No! Does he even show up to vote himself? No! Where was he? Holding a party for female reporters and politicos to celebrate International Woman's Day.

Are you fucking kidding me?!? He was holding a party to talk to women instead of actually doing something to protect their rights from the authoritarian fascist jerks that want to take them away. I guess he had more important priorities, eh?

Dion is not a leader. Not even close. He is a chickenshit, spineless worm.

The NDP doesn't get off either, hell no. While this is going on, they are carrying water for the Conservatives on the Cadman affair, looking to attack the Liberals when they actually do something right. No, they seem very interested in making sure there is proper packaging for candy cigarillos, so kids don't mistake them for the real thing. Or trying to help the Bloc pass legislation to allow the CRTC to regulate violence on TV (yes, I'm sure Charles McVety is pretty happy too). Thanks but as an adult and a parent, I think I can make those decisions on my own, I don't need a mindless bureaucrat or MP deciding this stuff for me. Honestly, the economic illiteracy and nanny-statism of my former party is really breathtaking sometimes.

I've really had enough, and I suspect a lot of other folks out there have too.

Well enough is enough. They say the best way to get out of a hole is to stop digging. I say the best way to beat a crooked game is to simply not play. It is clear that voting doesn't matter. The Conservatives in many ways, turned out to be just as dishonest and power-hungry as the Liberals. The Liberals turned out to be as socially conservative as the very so-cons they warned us about in the last election. The NDP has stopped being the conscience of Canada and become a junior version of the Trudeau Liberals of the '70s, now just as opportunistic and power thirsty as the others.

We cannot rely of slick and dishonest salesman to protect our freedoms, we can only rely on ourselves. People laughed at me a little over a year ago when I became a market anarchist. They thought my position of not participating in a corrupt electoral system was silly. Well, after a year of nonsense and the bullshit of the last week, I feel completely vindicated.

So instead of relying on these jackasses, lets just do it ourselves. Ignore whatever silly laws the pass. Don't pay their taxes (as much as you can). Refuse to participate in their fixed game.

And fuck 'em. All of them.

Support the Troops

You might not agree with Ron Paul in the US, but listen to this American soldier. Does our government honestly think we don't have soldiers with the same sentiments on the ground in Afghanistan?

Supporting the Troops requires listening to them, all of them and even when they say things that you don't agree with. Some soldiers don't support the mission.

Or does that make them - and me - Taliban sympathizers? Or traitors? Or 'islamofacists'?

Hat tip to Lew Rockwell.

Update:

In case some smug Conservative supporter thinks they are somehow different, they are not.

The Moral Relativism of the Conservative Party

It is a moral certainty that no human or institution owns another human being. From that moral certainty we arrive at a second moral certainty - that no human or institution may, without the express consent of that person involved, take the life of another human.

In other words, murder is morally wrong, in all circumstances. Period. End of story.

But now, as both Chet Scoville and James Bow have so aptly pointed out, our government and the Conservative Party of Canada no longer agree with that assertion. For them now, it seems, the value of a human life is dependent on circumstances, dependent on political relations ships and on vague definitions of things like "democratic state with respect for the rule of law". They say now it is dependent on whether the process used to take the life was done correctly and fairly.

In short, the CPC now believes it is possible for another person or institution to own another human, if the circumstances are "correct". They now say that another person or, worse, the State, may now take the life of another person, against their will and without their consent, simply because of what they do, or where they do it, or if our government is friendly with the government of the state in question, or if it fits in with their own domestic policy aspirations.

All of this means that the Conservatives now consider the morality of the taking of a human life to be relative to the circumstances of their own choosing - the very moral relativism they have always stated one of the greatest failings of the left. Only they have done it with perhaps one of our most widely held moral certainties.

Many of their supporters are trying to minimize and obfuscate this position by stating it is merely the government choosing not to "defend" a self-admitted double murder who was "correctly" and with "due process" sentenced to die - Ronald Smith in Montana. They are attempting to justify this by pointing out how horrible Smith's crimes were and that he has admitted his guilt. But this only serves to further demonstrate their moral relativism. That no person or state can take is a moral absolute regardless of what the person did, where they did it or who they are. What Smith did or how fair the process by which he was sentenced to die is irrelevant to the fact that as a human no one can morally take his life. Except if you are a member of the Conservative government.

It is wrong for a state to take Smith's life without his consent, just as it was wrong for Smith to take the lives of his victims without their consent. A murder planned by friendly people, following the rules in a fair process and living in a "free" and "democratic"country is still a murder, regardless of the process.

If our government won't stand up for that principle of moral certainty and seek clemency for the most heinous, like Smith, because they accept the moral relativist position that human life can be taken if the circumstances are right, then they accept that any citizen's life can be taken if circumstance match those they decide are right. They have joined in this belief regimes such as Stalin, Pol Pot, Hitler, Idi Amin. They agree on fundamentals - that human life can be taken by the state if the circumstances are "right" - and differ only in degree. And that minor degree is something that allows what Hannah Arndt called "the banality of evil" - that seemingly minor policies and actions by ordinary individuals can be used to perpetrate tremendous evil that seems banal and normal.

And this morally indefensible situation and policy was thrust upon Canada without consultation, debate or input from our supposed representatives. Once again, demonstrating that authoritarian, secretive, anti-democratic and arrogant nature of the Conservative government. It is even possible that this outrageous position was announced to simultaneously appeal to their angry, revenge-seeking socially conservative base and to draw attention away from the government's problems with the In and Out Scandal, poor polling numbers and once again its anti-democratic actions against it s own party members.

Canada is ruled, it seems, by an anti-democratic, authoritarian and secretive government that now considers the value of human life to be negotiable upon political considerations. This is nothing short of creeping fascism. Imagine what they would do with an unstoppable Majority. This is no longer about things like tax policy, the amount of social programs or the level of state interference in the economy. This Conservative Party has fundamentally, arbitrarily and unilaterally changed the relationship between the citizen and the state - the citizen is now expendable.

All Canadians of principle and everyone who respects the basic human right that no other person or institution can take away a human life - whether they are "left" or "right" Liberal, principled Conservatives, NDP, Green, Bloc, FCP or any other - should fight this change in policy by the Harper government. The principled must call their MP, write their MP, send letters to the editor and demand a proper debate and a repeal of this position. Principled Conservative need to re-claim their party from these extremists.

And if the Conservative Party continues with this policy, they have lost the moral authority to govern and any law or regulation they pass should be ignored. Refuse to cooperate. Stop paying taxes, license fees or other tariffs. Do not obey them.

Do not let the moral relativism of the Conservative Party drag Canada into a terrible darkness.

Disappointment. Again

Somewhere in the ethereal bowels of a server at Blogger, is a post I wrote. It was, I think, one of my more eloquent works.

In that post I wrote, quite honestly and magnanimously about the great job Stephen Harper did yesterday in apologizing to Maher Arar. I congratulated the Prime Minister on his statesmen-like demeanor and his ability to rise above partisan politics to do the right thing for a wronged, innocent citizen. I almost gushed at how he apologized for the things the government of Canada did that caused and assisted in his ordeal. I applauded how the Prime Minister forcefully, yet diplomatically called on the US government to not only remove Arar from their no-fly list, but to apologize for its actions as well. And finally I wrote how Arar, a man who can no longer work because of his ordeal, was justly compensated. It was a real feel-good post, almost a literary group hug between all sides of the political spectrum.

But that post is gone. I had to delete it, because that's not what happened.

With one small sentence, Stephen Harper ruined the entire thing:

"Although these events occurred under the last government, please rest assured that this government will do everything in its power to ensure…"

He once again returned to the tired, old partisan mantra "For 13 years, the Liberals...". Another score for the "but the Liberals..." crowd. A ham-fisted attempt to use this important venue for cheap political points.

As others have brought up, if Stephen Harper brought up the Liberals record during that time, then his own and that of his party need also be brought up. Its quite clear from the things he, Stockwell Day and Diane Albonczy said they thought he was guilty as charged. They weren't upset that Arar was imprisoned in a Syrian jail, undergoing torture, they were upset that the US had to arrest and deport this "terrorist". They were up in arms about our lack of security. Based on the Prime Minister's own words and the words of those currently in his cabinet, it is quite clear that if they had been the government back in 2002, Arar would probably still be in that Syrian cell, because unlike Wayne Easter, Bill Graham and other members of the Liberal party at the time, they thought he was guilty.

And now, for the Prime Minister to try to use this occasion to smear his political opponents is disgusting. Hypocrisy and opportunistic do not begin to describe that action.

Do not think of this as defending the Liberals. As Amnesty has pointed out, they were slow to help but, at least they accepted his innocence.

"The Liberals dragged their heels as Arar suffered in a Syrian prison, while prominent Tories -- then MPs for the Canadian Alliance -- chided the former government for trying to help at all, says Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada.

Liberals have angrily shot down recent Tory accusations that they didn't "lift a finger'' to help Arar during his ordeal in Damascus.

"It's unfortunate that a case that's this important and significant is being reduced to that sort of political mud-slinging,'' Neve said in an interview.

"If the Liberals had been any more active than they were at the time, I think the (former Canadian Alliance) would have been apoplectic.''"[emphasis mine]

I wanted to write and post that positive, feel good post about the award to Arar, but I couldn't because Stephen Harper ruined it. And instead of being happy about a job well done and feeling good for Maher Arar and his family, I am instead angered by another example of the slimy political grandstanding, mud-slinging and opportunism that seems to have been the hallmark of the last year of Conservative rule.

Perhaps its time for the Conservatives to stop blaming the Liberals for all of the ills and issue they are facing, especially when their own behaviours at the time either contributed to the problem or, as in this case, were far worse. I may not philosophically agree with the Conservatives, but I genuinely thought when they took power last year, things in Ottawa would be different. Sadly, they are exactly the same.

Right now I am trying to be happy for Maher Arar and to look forward to Abdullah Almaki, who lives in my neighbourhood in Ottawa, getting his justice. But it is hard, knowing that this might be another opportunity for the Prime Minister to exploit in order to smear his opponents.

Update:

Once can be talked away, twice is a pattern. It appears from what Stockwell Day said today on The House, the Conservatives are going to continue with this disgraceful behaviour of blaming the Liberals and outright lying about their own position - the Arar was a terrorist and the US was right - at the time.

Enough of this. Its time for the Conservatives to stop this feckless smear tactic and tell the truth. Or shut the fuck up, one of the two.

And yes, this makes me incredibly angry, and I don't even support the Liberals...

(H/T to Dave at the The Galloping Beaver.)