The Phantom Menace

While I frequently deride the Ottawa Citizen for being the looney bin of the Postmedia newspaper empire (formerly the CanWest media empire, before the company brightened my day by going broke), it has to be said that a glimmer of sanity is occasionally seen from the paper, despite its propensity for American-style wingnuttery.

While the wording of this piece by Dan Gardner is occasionally unfortunate (as I discussed in this post from 2008), the diction doesn't negate the importance of the point he makes. Nor does it make his shots at professional bedwetter Mark Steyn any less delicious.

Anyhow, here is the article.

Shorter David Warren

For today's shorter, I was tempted to use this little gem from CanWest-Global's most flatulant gasbag, with a minor editorial modification:

Horrid Little Game

"The idea that I know nothing about [this subject], and therefore should not write about it, occurred to me just before starting this sentence, but I will not let that slow me down."

That, while humourous (maybe even "funny") would be a bit of a cheap shot, especially if you actually read the piece. This, however, would not be:

New governor

Finally, Canada has a governor general who is a posh white man.

Shorter David Warren

From the Ottawa Citizen, loony-bin of the CanWest-Global media empire.

Article: Copenhagen

Human beings have never changed the environment, and anybody who tells you otherwise is a Communist.

Shorter CanWest Global x 3

Today, The Proud Islamist is reading Canada's 3rd-rate journalism so you don't have to.

I give you the latest from Canada's print and television empire, noted purveyors of the American magazine that has become the traditional bastion of Republican wingnuttery.

Shorter David Warren:

Article: Rebuilding

The Judeo-Christian tradition is the only one in the world that believes that people are responsible for their choices. Hopefully, Barack Obama will realize this, and stop trying to help poor people escape what they deserve.

Shorter George Jonas:

Article: The war before the war

George Bush Sr.'s participation in the 1990 war with Iraq was an act of noble self-sacrifice. George Bush Jr's war in 2003 was a reasonable act of self-defense; Saddam shouldn't have spent so much time convincing everyone that he was a threat.

Shorter Baron Conrad Black of Crossharbour:

Article: Obama's victory marked by a wealth of opportunity

Having a lot of time on my hands these days, I've been thinking: even though Obama is a dangerous Marxist, he could institute some important reforms in the US financial sector and labour market. He could also get Iraqis to pay us for all the good we are about to do for them.

His Lordship looks best in stripes

O God, grant me the ability to distinguish stupidity from malice.

Shorter Robert Sibley

Article: Recalling another 9/11 Attack

George Bush's glorious "Coalition of the Willing" in Iraq is just like the European army that triumphed over the Ottoman hordes at Vienna in 1683, which is really the main reason why Muslims are angry at the West today.

The allegations are NOT serious

There is considerable disagreement in this country between the Harper Konservatives and well, all the decent people, about what to do about Omar Khadr. The decent people find it beyond comprehension that the government would not be lobbying for the release of an abducted Canadian citizen. The Harper Konservatives think that the "established process" (as I heard one spokesman put it on the radio yesterday) should run its course, even if that involved having a fifteen year-old be sleep deprived prior to interrogations, and held at facilities notorious for abuse and murder on the part of the abductors. Incidentally, 2 U.S. Supreme Court rulings an 1 Supreme Court of Canada ruling have all declared the "established process" to be illegal.

Curiously, though, everyone seems to agree that the allegations against Khadr are "serious" - when this is raised, no one seems to quibble with it. "Of course the allegations are serious, but we have to do protect our citizen," say even those who are sympathetic to Khadr.

Are they though? What's he accused of? Throwing a grenade at US forces in Afghanistan, that killed one soldier. Never mind that the claim is itself dubious (which is to say, baseless), we are using standard American combat procedures here:

1) We go to 3rd-World country.
2) We drop bombs all over the place.
3) When we run out of things to bomb, we go in and shoot people.
4) Anybody who shoots back is a terrorist.

But who in Canada can be trust to explain the realities of combat to the bleeding-heart Canadians, clamoring for Khadr's release?

CanWest Global's flagship rag, the National Post, rises to the challenge.

And who do we find "reporting" for that rag? None other than Stewart Bell, author of such scholarly works as Cold Terror: How Canada Nutures and Exports Terrorism Around the World and Martyr's Oath: Apprenticeship of a Homegrown Terrorist. Forget "The Mozlems are Coming!" Apparently, Canada's REAL problem is "The Mozlems are Going!"

I have met Mr. Bell. To be charitable, he has spent too much time investigating one issue, and his approach has become rather blinkered. I won't say what I think of him when I'm not being charitable, but for him the word "terrorism" includes only violence committed by dark-skinned evil-doers, acting without the blessing of the US government.

From Bell's interviews with Sgt. Moris, who was blinded by that grenade:

"I haven't had a chance to look at it," Sgt. Morris, who lives in Utah, said of the video, "but I guess my thoughts are that if I'm ever in trouble, that's a bunch of defence attorneys that I'd like.

"They don't seem to be doing a whole lot of lawyering work. It's mostly PR work. And so it's kind of troublesome that the other side of the story has to be continually told in the media just to counter what the lawyers are trying to do in public."

Fortunately, courageous reporters like Stewart Bell are telling that story, giving hope and comfort to all those with paranoid delusions.