John Stuart Mill vs. Michael Ignatieff

I am reading, with much enjoyment, a biography of John Stuart Mill. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on his time in the British Parliament ( 1865 -1868 ).While he was not the Liberal party leader ( Gladstone was ), there is much our current Liberal leader could learn from his trials and tribulations as a new MP. His erudition and fame as an intellectual, while helping to elect him, was no advantage, as he was criticized for his “superior tone”, “too clever for this house” and lamented by newspapers as the “lost philosopher”.

He soon found his stride, however, and left us with some memorable quotes, viz. after being taken to task for a derogatory statement in his Representative Government, he rose in the house and said:

What I stated was that the Conservative party was, by their own constitution, necessarily the stupidest party. Now, I do not retract this assertion; but I did not mean that Conservatives are generally stupid; I meant, that stupid persons are generally Conserative.

Where is Mill now that we need him.

“Police dragnet oversteps” –Star Editorial Monday Nov.16th

This conundrum could be called a Hobson’s choice: do I let the police in, or do I stand on my Charter rights and refuse. If I do refuse, surely I will give the police no choice but to get a warrant, since my refusal could indicate that I have something to hide. I don’t envy the police who have to make such individual decisions.

I empathise with the police force faced with this dilemma, but I do question the efficacy of going through everyone’s garbage. If anything were to be found, it would surely be gone after all the publicity. Perhaps what we are dealing with here is theatre: the appearance of “leaving no stone unturned”. Why else would you turn police into expensive garbage collectors?

We should not abridge citizens rights unless in the most dire circumstances. Once done, we are on a slippery slope –it will become routine, and eventually substitute for real detective work.

“Something rotten at Queen’s Park” –Star Editorial, Sept.1st

Yes, indeed –it stinks. It’s e-Med redux. It does not seem to matter which party is in charge –civil servants will find a way to feed at the public trough. In the last two instances, women were at the head of the organization, but it seems they are just as venal as the men-folk.

Perhaps the time has come to appoint a special auditor for such government agencies. He should be an expert in forensic accounting!

It’s all so disheartening. Yet, there is a silver lining: we live in a country where even top civil servants and politicians are subject to scrutiny by a free press and opposition parties. That gives us some succour.

“Stephen Harper and Israel: No crass political calculation” –Ezra Levant, Star OPINION, May 29/09.

While not a Stephen Harper fan by any measure, I must agree with Ezra Levant that he deserved the Saul Hayes Award. His, and other’s criticisms, that the various human rights commissions excesses as “egregious” and “abusive”, is well founded.

While I agree in the main with Mr. Levant’s points in his article, I must question one aspect of Saul Hayes’ pronouncements, namely that “the Nazis had the right to wave a swastika.”

There is a limit to the freedom of expression. While you have a might have a right to make offensive statements that you believe is true; when these statements go beyond being opprobrious and incite hatred and violence toward another person or group, it is no longer worthy of protection. Anti-Semitism might have been latent in pre-war Germany, but the Nazi propaganda fuelled the visceral hatred that presaged and enabled the Holocaust. The Jews there hoped it would abate; not acerbate. But it didn’t –lest we forget.

“What price our pseudo-empathy” –Steyn; Maclean’s June 8 issue.

Most of the time I feel like wringing Steyn’s neck, but I still keep reading his column. His incredible stew of hyperbolae, sarcasm, feigned indignation and pseudo-righteousness makes for good entertainment and considerable hilarity. His quip about Mariam Farahat is caustic and wonderfully stated. Unfortunately, it’s not a joke. His picking on Obama, not so much. But hey, we’ll take the good with the bad. Iconoclastic, contumacious contumely is rare in today’s politically correct media, especially written intelligently. Carry on, soldier!

Jean sparks feeding frenzy”–Star May 27, 2009.

Let me see; we have a multitude of problems in this country, not least a dire economic situation and record deficit. So what should occupy the great unwashed masses, the Canadian public and the media? Well, of course, our Governor General dining on traditional seal meat with her Inuit brethren and fellow citizens in Rankin Inlet –these terrible “Neanderthals” who insist on continuing the age old tradition of hunting and eating seal.

Have these bleeding hearts ever been in an abattoir? Have the righteous Europeans seen how their native livestock is treated? It’s easier to focus on a small group of Newfies hunting seal for a living, or Inuit doing what comes naturally.

A Kudos to Jean for having the “guts” to eat raw seal liver. I could not do it. And I am certain the Inuit appreciated the gesture.

Hey, at least we got some International attention, eh?

"NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT!!"

"I am completely ticked with this disruption by less than 3% of a city's population and every one a foreigner wanting the country they adopted to solve the problems of the country they left.

Round up every Tamil protester, provide transportation and send them back to "help out." Sort out your own mess. Don't blame the country you chose to live in because that country will not devote massive resources to your cause.

Go back home and speak out there against the atrocities that you see happening and help fight it from there. Sacrifice yourself, your sons, your daughters and your wealth, as little or as much as that might be. Put your money where your mouth is not our money and our families where your mouth is!!
Our ancestors stood up to carve out a way of living that we enjoy today. They did not go to your country, accept your hospitality then disrupt your way of life & demand you fix the injustices that they themselves would not address. Accept responsibility for allowing your country to fall into the chaotic state it is in today!! Don't shirk your own part and think we will arbitrarily shoulder your social debts."


Don Warnell
RCAF/1St Cdn Sigs Regiment/Airborne/4yrs attached to RCN east coast

Angus Reid Poll -- Maclean's

Maclean’s John Geddes has provided a balanced and interesting delineation of the Angus Reid online poll. Islam, in particular, has been getting much negative attention since 911, much of it justified, if one look at the rabid, extremist Muslim factions. Sikhs also have been involved in extremist acts; the Air India affair being the worst example. Tamils, though practically “inventing” suicide attacks, have had less impact on Canadian society.
It is unfortunate that new Canadians bring their origin countries conflicts with them here, especially when it leads to violence in their adoptive country. It does seem that the current crop of immigrants, especially those with strong ethnic and religious connections, have more difficulty accepting and adjusting to the values of their host county, than did earlier arrivals. The extremist behaviour displayed by some groups, reflected in some youth and a few families such as the Khadr clan, is causing damage to the Muslim image everywhere, and one can fault, to a degree, the moderate Muslim community for not taking a more vocal and firm stance against the few recalcitrant extremists among them.
However, one need not be a historian to know that these problems have always been with us, in one form or another. For example, Irish Fenians caused much conflict and consternation both in Canada and the United States, including physical attacks and the assassination of a member of the Canadian parliament and former sympathiser, Thomas D’Arcy McGee, in 1868. The Irish have maintained a strong Irish cultural identity over the years, but no one would suggest today that they have failed to adapt to Canadian society.
It is unfortunate that extreme tribalism, both of the political/social and the religious mode, is allowed to prevail in our society, but it is difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. The same churches, temples, synagogues and mosques that serve as a support system for new arrivals, can also act as an incubator for extremism. We must always be vigilant in ferreting out the lunatic fringes, but also be mindful that given time, the greater good for our society will persevere. It did in the past, and it will do so in the future. Our ship of state is built for stormy weather, and behind the clouds the sun is still shining.

The Obama inauguration - Jan 20th,2009

In watching the Obama inauguration,and listening to his speech,I was a little surprised how low key it was. I had half expected some superlatives or Kennedyesque quotations, but he stayed close to message.

Possibly he avoided such hyperbole just because he knew people expected it from someone that eloquent; had he engaged in highfaluting phrases and statements, he might be accused of being a copy-cat or worse. He soon will face the sombre task of leading his country out of the abyss created by his predecessor; for as the priest said to the farmer who was imploring him to pray for his withering crops: here you need more than prayers, you need manure.

One thing struck me as rather profound and telling: he talked about coming together as a people and as citizens of this world, and to get away from the petty provincialism and tribalism that so often divide us –into them and us. There was another phrase that belongs with the word tribalism, and that is religious fundamentalism of all hues –be it the fanatics of the Christian or Islamist variety.

When used in such exclusory, tribal ways, I think one must question if religion, on the balance, has been a benefit and a blessing to humanity, or a “millstone around our neck”.