Mr Harris has a touching belief that terrorism should be fought almost exclusively in the courts and that no extraordinary legal (or intelligence) steps need or should be taken.

Mark
Ottawa

OK. I originally put this comment in another thread. But, since it is more appropriate here, I will put it in this one as well...

Actually, I am a little more "sympathetic" to the Mike Harris article. No, I don't believe that it's all smoke and mirrors and that there is no terrorist threat. And no, I don't think that Bush and company are deliberately setting out on a witch-hunt. But, I am concerned that, just as it was with McCarthy, in 50 years, it may look that way.

When people put down and make fun of McCarthy, my usual response is to admit that, from today's point of view, it does seem to have been something that would fall into the range between silly paranoia and draconian fear-mongering. However, at the time and in the proper context, I kind of understand how McCarthy and his supporters must have felt. In 1945, only the Soviet Union was communist. By 1954, two-thirds of the world was under communist control (with more coming). And, in all cases, it was the result of an armed takeover by a minority with Russian-supplied weapons. Who could blame people in America for suspecting such an attempt might occur in their country. After all, the Depression had whipped up a good deal of mis-led "communist sympathizers."

Today, we have terrorist attacks and leftist hug-a-terrorist people within our midst. So, who could blame the U.S. administration for reacting with what may indeed (someday in the future - from a historical perspective) look like a witch-hunt? Already the US has become a "May I haff yer papers pleeez" country. That kind of makes me feel like the Islamic nut-jobs are scoring little victories.

Where I differ from Mike Harris-types and even the Bush Administration is on the solution. The actions of McCarthy and his ilk came about because rather than take an aggressive posture with external communists and deal with them decisively before they had nuclear capabilities, the US government took a defensive posture and thus, had nowhere else to go but to become fearful and paranoid about what may be going on in their own country.

If history does look back on this time and claim that the US administration conducted poorly targeted "witch-hunts" it will be for the same reason. We are not dealing with the Islamic states that sponsor terrorism aggressively and immediately. Instead we are taking too defensive a posture.

In other words, "Let's do whatever it takes to crush the capacity of these states that promote and harbour terrorist ideals and pave them over (if necessary) and the repercussions (however undesirable) will be dealt with more quickly and painlessly than if we take a defensive stance."

The author is obviously perturbed, hence potentially dangerous. Maybe 3-5 years at Gitmo Spa & Resort would make him understand a thing or two...

Some witch-hunters have witches & communists, some have McCarthy, President Bush, Christians, Prime Minister Harper, etc.

You know, nothing you could say or do will change the (closed) mind of that woman, except maybe the smile on the face of that young lad with the beard and bulky coat sitting next to her on the train as he plays with the switch in his hand...

And dear Mr Harris, as so often, cannot get basic facts right. "Tailgunner Joe" was a Senator:

"Feb. 22 [1950] at the suggestion of Senate Majority Leader Scott Lucas, the Tyding Committee was created of 5 members, a subcommittee of the Foreign Relations Committee, to investigate McCarthy's accusations..."
history.acusd.edu/gen/20th/1950s/mccarthy.html

The Committee on Un-American Activities was a House of Representatives committee with which Sen. McCarthy was not involved.
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhuac.htm

And the Rosenbergs were convicted in 1951, not 1950.
experts.about.com/e/e/et/Ethel_and_Julius_Rosenberg.htm

Mark
Ottawa

Mark C, we’ve had a go at this before. I don’t know for sure but I still think Harris is like Andrew Sullivan – a one issue guy – same sex marriage, that causes him to short circuit.

Sullivan was in favour of Iraq until Bush took a position on SSM that Sullivan didn’t like. Now it’s either his AIDS medication or blind hatred that have caused Sullivan to go off the rails.

Similarly I’ve heard Harris on CFRA and he can be sensibly conservative until the subject of SSM comes up and then he goes into his anti-Harper witch-hunt screed.

Also, I agree with bryceman, we’re way too soft. We essentially adopt a harbouring state instead of crushing them.

when you can't handle reality, you create stories about invented conspiracies ?

"Next to Christmas and corporate fraud, fear is the biggest business in America."

Yeah and who peddles it?

Shoot the messenger. I don't think witch hunts are the problem, it's the messenger. They fall all over themselves for breaking news and headlines. S.T.F.U. and wait for a press release.

I find it an absolute brand new level of hypocracy Harris has acheived by writing a fear-mongering editorial about the evils of fear-mongering in the West....Astoundingly hypocritical!

Page one of the Frank Luntz playbook: in any discussion of "terrorism" ALWAYS reference 9/11. Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame.

P.S. anyone else notice how Harper has consistently performed suboptimally since Luntz came to Ottawa to advise him how to win a majority? Yes, yes it all makes sense now...

"OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper came under attack from opposition critics Monday who charged he listens to Republican pollsters instead of Canadians.

"I think if Mr. Harper was listening to Canadians instead of American right-wing pollsters, he would be taking very different positions on issues," said New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton."

www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=c4a55c5d-1686-4e7b-b6e5-405bffce4748&k=14446&p=1

I listen to Mike Harris on CFRA a lot and he's quite OK - except that he is still in a September 10th mindset.

Why do some people, and, as Mike demonstrates, it's not just the loony left, just not get it? It's like they cannot believe barbarians really do want to kill them in spite of the fact that they are so nice and reasonable. In fact it's precisely because of that.

Let's review, shall we:

Number of Chinese and Russian citizens murdered by their own Communist governments (est. from the book Death by Government): approximately 95,000,000 (not counting those killed in Cuba or Vietnam, to name two other Communist countries)

Number of Communists executed by Joe McCarthy:
0

The columnist makes the familiar charge that McCarthy "ruined lives". Being a member of the Communist Party was illegal under the Smith Act. We may or may not find that draconian, but it was a well known fact. So repsonsibility for ruining one's life has to be one's own.

As for the Hollywood 10, which McCarthy had nothing to do with, every last one of the accused really was a communist (see "illegal" above) and lied about it (so much for having the courage of their convictions). Each parleyed his subsequent noteriety into a successful writing career (albeit under fake names; they still got paid), even though most of them were actually hacks.

That Communists had infiltrated the highest levels of government, were spying on military installations, etc is a fact now collaborated by the Venona intercepts and other declassified Soviet documents.

That some Leftists insist on getting their "news" from old Arthur Miller plays and poorly documented, singular events from the 17th century, rather than widely publicized discoveries from the 1990s, says a great deal about them, none of it very surprising.

If the Jihadists win and take over the west, the left will simply want to make a movie about starring idiots like Geoge Clooney or Sean Penn ... that is if the mullas will agree to the funding.

The rest of us will be in the woods lobbing missiles into Torontostan.

Harris can be okay but he loses all rationality when it comes to anything dealing with George Bush.

FYI: McCarthy was right.

If the Jihadists win and take over the west, the left will simply want to make a movie about starring idiots like Geoge Clooney or Sean Penn ... that is if the mullas will agree to the funding.

The rest of us will be in the woods lobbing missiles into Torontostan.

"Some men you just cain't reach."
-- Cool Hand Luke

Well, since he got everything wrong about McCarthy, his so-called opinion doesn't really hang together very well. Just because you make stuff up and get it printed, doesn't mean it's true.

"McCarthy was right" . It's just that his methods were wrong. Too bad, because it gave a bad name to conservativism.

Me bad, I read M Harris' rant and with a quick look at the picture thought he was a she. Same observation though, won't believe in terrorists until he is in valhala waiting for the guy in fromt of him to finish picking out his goats... err virgins.

If Canada had gone through our own communist witch hunts, we would not be saddled with the likes of Layton, Hargrove, Trudeau, Chretien etc.
enough

I would like whatever Harris is high on!

Next time full scale war breaks out (and it will), it must become obligatory to put wusses like little Mikey in the trenches.

Mikey has a cooking show, also. One caller-in complained that the crust on Mikey's chicken-pot pie recipe was flaky and too brown. Mikey said it was George's fault.

Epitaph for Mikey:

Here lies Aunty-American. ...-

Sermon for today:

List of Islamic Terror Attacks from

9/11/01 to 12/31/03

LINE
This is a partial list of the attacks that have taken place in the name of Islam since September 11th. The entries on this list are from that day through the end of 2003 (not including the 9/11attacks on America).

To view the religiously-motivated Islamic terrorist attacks for subsequent years, go to the main page and follow the links. ...-
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/attacks-2001-2003.htm

Wow. Just when I thought the logic of the left could not further regress...

Just over two hundred years ago (when Canada was ruled by the British) the British Army committed numerous atrocities in the Napoleanic War in the Carribean. The end result was that Canada (because after all, Canada and Britain were the same. And don't claim otherwise, Canadians are so quick to point out that "Canada" won the War of 1812, even though it was in reality the British Army, No double standards now!) cornered the market on SLAVERY.

THUS (using little Mikey's logic) Canadians are still guilty of SLAVERY. They are no different today than they were in 1806.

Has anyone thought for a moment that going overboard on security for air flight helps to keep the industry afloat?? My wife fly's all over North America and Europe from Ottawa...she said to me that it makes her feel better about flying knowing that there is a zero tollerance standard, and, although some trips she probably could get away with con-calls, she still feels safe flying and meeting clients face to face. I like Mr Harris, but, maybe he should ask the tens of thousands who keep the industry going who fly from New York to Dublin to Italy to India to Heathrow to Costa Rica etc how they feel about "overboard security"???

Anybody out there have a photo of McCarthy dressed in drag? (The feds left him alone because he had the 'goods' on all of them.) Bwahahahaha!

I have listened to Michael Harris on the net and he does have a hate on for George Bush and Americans. He also doesn't like Stephen Harper much either, because he invited SH to call in several times, and SH didn't. Also, when people call in with a differing opinion, he's curt, patronizing, and arrogant. But, when someone calls in who agrees with him, they stay on the line for a long time (it's been upto 10 min) and he relishes in their adoration.

el al has been doing their security like that for a long time and it is very effective. quite frankly, it should be done with profiling. if you have a problem with that take a freakin bus.

Davie boy it was Hoover not MaCarty that is said to have dressed in drag.

Not sure what happened in Michael Harris' mind but he sure has hate on for George Bush because of the Iraq war and Stephen Harper for siding with our traditional allies, who all thought it was the right thing to do with information available on WMD's. This type of obsession against something of any sort is unusual and not helpful to the obsessor or the obsessed.It's just plain unfortunate that Mr.Harris can't get over what's past and control his obsession with the Iraq war, it can't be changed, it has happened. He is now working to put a very good Prime Minister down here in Canada with his continued rants. If he can't control his obsession, we will have to shut him out.Many of us have, he is a friend of the left at this point , which he often decries. Guess it's a case for a psychoanalyist to figure this one out. Haven't seen the likes in memory.

Snakey on a plane or snake on a plane?

One would think Harris would have at the very least found out that the "59 year old lady" has a name.

It is Catherine Mayo and here is some info.

Mayo went to Pakistan to meet her fiance (whom she "met" online around 9/11/01) in 2003.

He could not get a visa to come to the US.

She lived off and on in Pakistan , seeking in her own words the "full muslim experience".

She published numerous anti-American articles in the Pakistani press during that time, including a published "letter" to the prisoners at Gitmo.

This is from the Boston Globe,

"It was March 2003, the eve of the US invasion of Iraq, and into the office of dumbfounded Pakistani newspaper editor Najam Sethi walked an articulate, fresh-faced Vermont woman, saying she wanted to vent her anger at America in his pages.

Violence-plagued Lahore teemed with anti-American sentiment, yet Catherine C. Mayo seemed to move about with ease, Sethi recalled. And writing for the Daily Times of Pakistan, Mayo told about her 1960s activism. About her love of Cat Stevens and Howard Dean. About the mountains and lakes of her native Vermont. And about her shame and anger at America."

after the end of the cold war and the russians opened their vaults, it came out that they had no code name for Ethel Rosenberg.

because she wasnt a spy.

nor was she a kowtowist to the circular jail-house-snitch logic of the mccarthy hearings for instance in which they would 'go easy' on you if you just 'give us the names'.

she refused to finger her husband julius but was in turn fingered by greenglass. the rest is history.

F* mccarthy.

Actually, I'm rather glad the Michigan judge pinned back the NSA's ears regarding warrantless wiretaps. It's easy enough for them to get a warrant if they want one; they'd just prefer not to bother. I'm paranoid enough that I'm not going to sign off on Big Brother because of the terrorists; we might eventually get rid of them, but once we let him in, he's here to stay.

RobertJ

You're at the wrong blog.

You made a right turn at Kos and went backwards at DU.

Please refrain from any conspiracy theories on your way out.

Now hit the road.

Another point , Michael Harris' show on CFRA is always flooded with Muslims when the subject of Iraq war comes up, which is as often as anyone happens to mention the name Bush and he gives them plenty of time. His own preambles to his shows must leave a lot of people fed up with being on hold as well. Don't know how the show stands in ratings.

I had heard, I don't know if it is true, but I had heard that John F. Kennedy was the co-council sponsor of the McCarthy hearings/trials. Anyone know about that?

I was also in Salem Mass. in 1994 and had a chance to tour the town. I don't remember anything about the girls been taken around from town to town to hunt witches, could be wrong, but I am pretty sure that part never happened. I think the author is confussed with the European witch hunts, inwhich entire towns were sometimes wiped out after the hunts.

Interestingly, 19 people were hung - none were burned in Salem - and one man was crushed to death by being placed between two large slabs of oak and having rocks piled on top of him. The reason this man was crushed was that the town wanted to extract a confession from him. You see, the law was that if a person confessed to witchcraft the local town could seize his property, it would not be passed to his family after his death. The man was very successful and the town wanted his land and money. He never confessed.

I will not bend over for Islamofascist scum.
Nor will I quietly stand by while my own government turns a blind eye to them. Harris is twisted in his assertion that increased efforts at surveilance equals a so called "Big Brother State".

A hard fact is the nature of the people who pose these threats...they will gladly hold their own "Witch Hunts" against anyone who they deem to be unfit according to their own perverted moral sense.
How many innocents have been tortured, mutilated, murdered by the edicts of mullahs and immams??

I will not stand by and listen to the likes of him call for the endangerment of our people and nations.

OMMAG

I suspect history would have recorded the Salem witch trials somewhat differently if one of the witches, rather than being a defenseless scapegoat to the town's inner turmoil, actually pulled out a wand, and with one swipe, caused the townhall to crumble killing all inside.

Curious why you might post the September 11, 2001 victims alongside this post. What motive? Why have you not also posted a list of the 10's of thousands of Iraqis killed since March 2003? Or a list of Israelis killed in the past month? Or ...

Not sure what happened to Michael Harris. He used to have a regular column in the TorSun and then he and Puffy Duffy did a weekend thing on CTV for a while. He always seemed a very rightwing, hard on crime, tough on Lib politicians kind of guy. Musta got bitten by a camel... (I'm currently watching Spiderman)

Well Kate, I haven't posted here for a while but I just wanted to thank you for your writing. This posting is a case in point. You didn't write any of it, but simply put the writing beside the list of names. Well done!
Despite the guy above me (Richard) who just doesn't seem to get it, you've written a great op-ed without writing anything!
Good for you!

Michael Harris,
Your time is up. Either the Islamomurderers will force the issue or the response to them will.

Anti-Americanism today is the equivalent to the KKK of yesterday.

Bye bye.

Also surprised there wasn't more comment about the "gotcha" juxtaposition. You're much too clever for saskaplain.

you're wrong bacardi the most poignant point of the post was Kate's own words, beware the witch hunters.

Today's Islamic threat cannot be compared with Salem witches or McCarthy's communist fixation.

Neither massacred thousands of Americans. Neither went on to take over, or work to take over, dozens of Countries on this planet. Neither sacrificed their children for their fanatical cause.

This article is worthless crap.

But what were the "root causes" of Salem and McCarthy?

Theology & collectivism.

trent: it was Robert Kennedy the co-council, in his early days of practicing law as an employee of the government.

he redeemed himself when he again became a govt employee this time as attorney general in jfk's administration, by tripling the number of indictments against organized crime.

the numbers dropped down to 'normal' after he left that post and stayed that way when he stopped a bullet in L.A.

yo, dougie doug: kos? DU? and the biggie: conspiracy theories?

the only conspiracy was the one to frame Ethel Rosenberg. she did NOT have a code name with the kgb because she was NOT a spy for the russians. period.

nor was she a kowtowist to the circular jail-house-snitch logic of the mccarthy hearings for instance in which they would 'go easy' on you if you just 'give us the names'.

nor was she a kowtowist to the circular jail-house-snitch logic of the mccarthy hearings for instance in which they would 'go easy' on you if you just 'give us the names'.

nor was she a kowtowist to the circular jail-house-snitch logic of the mccarthy hearings for instance in which they would 'go easy' on you if you just 'give us the names'.

nor was she a kowtowist to the circular jail-house-snitch logic of the mccarthy hearings for instance in which they would 'go easy' on you if you just 'give us the names'.

nor was she a kowtowist to the circular jail-house-snitch logic of the mccarthy hearings for instance in which they would 'go easy' on you if you just 'give us the names'.

nor was she a kowtowist to the circular jail-house-snitch logic of the mccarthy hearings for instance in which they would 'go easy' on you if you just 'give us the names'.

I win !!!

Kelly if you're referring to the last paragraph, you may want to look a little closer at the source.

the moment maccarthy labelled Harry S Truman as communist the whole flood of desperation, farce and absurdity was only a matter of time.

and then came the confusion about the cleaning lady's political leanings.....

who in their 'right' (pun intended) mind can bring themselves to defend the likes of that slimy poop regardless of anything he did in the ass end of a bomber or the presence of such and such number of communists?

if the friggin american system is so weak it crumbles in the face of a CLEANING LADY'S suspect 'leftistism', and if there are THAT MANY 'communists' infiltrated already, what does THAT tell you about the illegitimacy of the maccarthy witch hunt?

I see the Communists are still a little resentful that their ideology was so thoroughly rejected in the US. Some people really know how to hold a grudge.

Mr. Harris: Wait a minute while I go get the World's Smallest Violin . . .

Meg Q, cranky American living in Edmonton

Richard...were you interested in the names or numbers of Iragi's killed before March 2003? by Iraqui's?..the info is available...
Kate...thanks for the gentle tribute(memorial) in the form of your list.I realize there isn't space to record other names of victims of terrorism.

"They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
--Benjamin Franklin

Never truer than today.

Some witches need constant hunting .....like apathy towards unwarranted surviellence, excessive administrative demands, loss of personal privacy and legal rights (like probable cause and due process).

A better question to those who can justify this excessive overreaction from so-called security forces is where, or when, does it end? How MUCH martial law are you prepared to live with and which is the greater evil?

For me personally, not much....I reject all the infringements on my rights and civil liberty...not because I'm stubborn or "hate government" but because I know once taken you can never get them back (without a fight). So for now I DO have a choice as the police state seems to only be in the transport industry...I can still vote with my dollars and I will not patronize public transportation....once border crossings require US and Canadian citizens to file bio ID and get a passport (I'm already dual citizen)...US border towns will no longer see my patronage.

Regardless of gas prices I'd rather drive these days than subject myself to the degrading servility of police state paranoia at airports....obviously there are a lot of people with the low self respect and degenerated civil dignity to allow the police state to paw them over, rifle through their personal possessions, scan them, scrutinize them, take their personal bio ID on file and otherwise process them like so many pitiful cattle in the name of some elusive securty....the reality is you stand a better chance of being hit twice in your life by lightning than involved in a terrorist disaster.

Now who has who scared?

Robertj,

Thanks, I always wondered about that. NOw what did you win?

Peace is just around the corner!
The Beeb reports that 50 French troops have arrived in the Lebanese port of Naqoura.
All is well.

Wow! 50 French troups, what a contribution. Peace and security at last. Mon dieu.

statistical probabilities:

heart disease kills the highest number of people followed by cancer.
or is it the other way around?
traffic accidents kill 10s of thousands in n america

where is the 'deaths by terrorist acts' figure on the list of causes? hmmm????

and why all the hysteria and attention and billions on law enforcement salaries and equipment and WOT???? where the bejeezuz are the priorities here???

questions questions questions....

the answer of course is its an age old proven trick to garner support from the public by creating a crisis and then stepping in to solve the crisis you created.

the americans have meddled in the affairs of foreign nations for a century. you know the well cited list of occurrences. and now finally the cows have come home to roost.

yo, uncle sam: the rest of the world doesnt have to fit your model sirrah, and stop doing things like supporting the somoaza dictatorship in nicaragua in the interests of the plantation owners. get it?

jimmy carter gave pahlavi billions in arms and technical support because he was an 'ally'. pahlavi and his savak TERRORIZED (ie state terrorism) iranians for decades until finally he did some really whacko stuff and alienated too much support. you couldnt get a dog licence without paying a bribe to a pahlavi family member.

and now look at iran. cause and effect sirrah!!! cause and effect !!!

"the americans have meddled in the affairs of foreign nations for a century. you know the well cited list of occurrences. and now finally the cows have come home to roost."

Robert, I don't have time to debunk all your idiotic tosh. I will just ask you this: whose cows are coming home to roost in Casablanca, Madrid, London, Kuta, Karachi, Nairobi, Dar es Saalam, Riyadh, Taba, Luxor, Bombay, Moscow, Beslan, Amman, Istanbul and elsewhere?

It seems there are a lot of cows from many countries with many different religions, many with no real connection to American cows. So, your bizarre as hell "roosting American cows" theory really doesn't hold up under scrutiny. BTW, roosting cows? Are you retarded?

McCarthy was, more or less, probably a charlatan. But it is undeniable that he was right regarding the level of communist infiltration into the American government.

mr penn: these are the cows Im talking about!!! the yanks in their obsession to meddle meddle meddle in things they dont understand have successfully pissed of a huge sector of the world's population.

can you cite just ONE case where a top level white house type EVER publicly went to a foreign country and ADMITTED 'gee, we screwed up, sorry, what can we do to rectify this before it gets out of hand'.

cite me ONE instance in the last 80 years where americans have EVER admitted fu*ing up. they cant do it. they are not capable. they are grotesquely arrogant and a tad nuts to the point they believe their own lies now.

so the islamist terrorism in the cities you mention ARE the long term consequences of american involvement in those parts of the world where these terrorist originate. I saw the video of TALIBAN welcomed to the USA by the bushists BEFORE 911. the americans GAVE the taliban all those stinger missiles during the russian invasion of afghanistan and it worked. all too well. they learned how good they worked and when the russians scooted they simply counted the remaining stock and turned it agaisnt the yanks when they tried to fill the power vacuum.

BTW 'roosting cows'. you are too retarded to spot a mixed metaphor when you see it. it was a JOKE sirrah, a play on words drawing on parts of 2 common sayings oh retarded one!!!

I used to be a regular listener of Harris's show on CFRA, but now when I tune in, if he's on one of his SSM, Middle East or George Bush rants, I change the station. I don't know what he's going to do for two hours when Bush is no longer President. Expand his Sunday cooking show?

And you should have heard him on the subject of Caledonia! I couldn't believe my ears when he had as a guest a "Chief Toulouse" who claimed that all natives lived in universal peace and brotherhood until Whitey showed up to spoil the love-in. Harris never offered a dissenting view. Guess he never studied the Jesuit Martyrs and Ste. Marie among the Hurons in school.

RobertJ: "The cows are coming home to roost."

Early candidate for "Worst mixed metaphor of the year".

Am I the only one who finds it noteworthy that much of Harris's screed is devoted to comparing the actions of the government of the United States of America to witchcraft trials that occurred eighty-four years before the USA declared its independence (and more than eighty-four years before it won its independence)? He makes reference to the king's cancellation of the Puritans' charter, but seems unable to connect this with the fact that these were British subjects, not American citizens, hunting witches.

WL redux welcome to the new world, it's alot like the old one

I find it rather scary that only WL Mackenzie Redux has also seen the dangers posed by statist tyranny expanding its reach under the guise of "fighting terrorism". I too reject infringements on my civil liberties and am very suspicious of the states motives in whipping up mass hysteria. I will not give up essential liberty for the illusion of safety. The "war on terror" is the most inane term I have ever heard; terror is a tactic and one fights an enemy, not a tactic. Vin Suprynowicz says it much better than I can in his piece: "What next, a war on the drag bunt?" http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Nov-20-Sun-2005/opinion/4199419.html

Regardless of Michael Harris's views, he has made a very valid point regarding witch hunts. Mass hysteria is very dangerous and one sees demonstrations of it constantly when one person in a stressfull crowded office will smell something strange and faint or get sick and this is followed by an epidemic of illness which is entirely psychosomatic. Invariably investigations into the causes of this mysterious noxious substance turn up nothing and people refuse to accept that they were part of a shared delusional state.

It is impossible to prevent a determined terrorist from smuggling a bomb onto an airliner especially when the first line of defence is low IQ minimum wage baggage screeners. A plane _will_ be blown up as it is so much easier to carry a bomb onto a plane if one isn't planning on surviving. The reason I suspect this hasn't happened is that people with sufficiently high IQ's to be able to easily circumvent the laughable security have better things to do than blowing themselves up to prove an obscure religious point. Eventually I suspect that flying will involve stripping naked, undergoing a cavity search, going through an CT scanner and then being anesthetized paralyzed and artificially ventilated before being placed on a plane in a self-contained life support module and reawakened at ones destination. On the bright side, this will save the airline millions in stewardess salaries and many more people could be crammed into an aircraft as they will be in no shape to complain about overcrowding.

We're fighting islamofascists and they should be the targets, not the 99.999% of the population who would like nothing better than to see them all swinging from lamposts so life could get back to normal. That the government can't see this implies that either (a) politicians are far stupider than anyone could have imagined, or (b) they have a hidden totalitarian agenda and are exploiting the islamofascist threat for all it is worth.

Robert, I'm sure you would be thrilled if the Soviet Union had succeeded in their efforts to obtain a warm water sea port by aggressive war against the SOVEREIGN STATE and native population of Afghanistan. (But American't shouldn't touch Iraq ruled by the leftist humanitarian hero Hussein). Yippeeeeee Communists!!! Boo Americans!! I get it.

"the americans GAVE the taliban all those stinger missiles during the russian invasion of afghanistan and it worked."

IF ONLY the US would have let the Soviets run through Afghanistan, the world would be a lovely Utopia. Communism is man's best friend. All that bullshit about 90 MILLION DEAD is just propaganda. The real figure is surely closer to, let's say, 60 MILLION.

DAMN THOSE AMERICANS FOR LEAVING A FEW STINGER MISSLES LYING AROUND A COUNTRY THAT THEY BLED AND DIED TO FREE from that most precious of all gifts to humanity, Communism. Because of that, TADA: TERRORISM.

"cite me ONE instance in the last 80 years where americans have EVER admitted fu*ing up. they cant do it. they are not capable. they are grotesquely arrogant and a tad nuts to the point they believe their own lies now."

I'll admist to fu*ing up right here and now, on behalf of my nation. Americans have fu*ed up by spending our blood and treasure protecting Freedom and Democracy for idiots like you and many in Europe to the point where you have no idea what those words mean or the price to be paid for them. Mixed metaphors are bad form, by the way, fool.

loki, "statis tyranny"? WHERE? Please do educate the free people with our stupid Democratic governments how to REALLY identify the "0.001%" that wants to kill your infidel ass by bombing you into a thousands shreds. I promise to share your brilliant strategy with Jordan, Saudi, Spain, India, Kenya, Indonesia, Egypt, Sudan, Britain, Morracco, Turkey and all other governments with an interest in implementing your solution.

loki, back to your argument of "stasis tyranny", I must point out there is NOTHING either "stasis" or "tyrannical" about American Democracy. My nation limits Presidential power to 4 years per term, for two terms. I go to the ballot box more often than YOU can be bothered by it. The US is, right now, 6 years post Bill Clinton and potentially 2 years pre Hillary Clinton. I must ask you what exactly do you mean?

Tom, as examples of very dangerous US statist organizations, and only the first ones that come to mind, are the BATF, DEA and more recently FEMA (disarming people in New Orleans in violation of the 2nd Amendment). The US war on (some) drugs has put almost 1,000,000 people in jail despite the majorities of populations of a number of western states voting to _not_ enforce laws against cannabis posession. The people who have lost everything and are languishing in jail now simply as a result of enjoying a toke from time to time would disagree with you that there was nothing "statis" (sic) or "tyrannical" about American democracy.

On the plus side, the US has a simple and very straightforward constitution that can be used to fight out of control government agencies. The first amendment was successfully used against the FDA when it attempted to legislate what information could be put on dietary supplements (here in Canada one wouldn't have a hope against a government agency as the Canadian constitution is essentially worthless as every right can be violated by the government if it wants to). The current US administration has at least been treating the 2nd Amendment as an individual right to keep and bear arms. Hopefully pro-2nd Amendment legislators will prevail at the midterm elections and if I lived in the US I'd be taking this opportunity to buy up all the guns and ammo I could get my hands on as I suspect things are going to get much worse in the future. Fortunately, there are strong counterbalancing organizations such as the NRA in the US that are a check on expansion of statist powers.

I can't imagine people being stupid enough to vote for Hillary Clinton, but then I've learned one should never overestimate the intelligence of sheeple. Bush seems to be determined to subvert the US constitution where it suits him and fortunately there are judges that are standing up to his administration.

loki, yes we have a very healthy Democracy. How thoughtful of you to notice. What are you bitching about again?

Oh yeah, "BATF, DEA and more recently FEMA (disarming people in New Orleans in violation of the 2nd Amendment)."

Pure bullshit, but I guess accuracy is not a priority when the object is to castigate the US. It was the CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, not any federal agency, that was seizing guns.

"The people who have lost everything and are languishing in jail now simply as a result of enjoying a toke from time to time would disagree with you that there was nothing "statis" (sic) or "tyrannical" about American democracyour drug laws."

People looking for excuses generally find something they disagree with. Not that US drug laws are really any of your business, but simple possession is a misdemeanor in most areas. Now, drug dealing will get you put away for awhile. My advice: if you don't want to go to jail, DON'T DEAL DRUGS.

If you have to manufacture lies to prove your mythical "US tyranny" argument, maybe you should rethink your position.

Thanks, Tom. I'm grateful every day for the great US of A--not a perfect country, as there's no such thing, but, all taken into account, including its unparallelled generosity to others and other countries, the best country civilization's produced so far. (The lefty pack may howl all it wants. That won't change the truth.) And, if the USA weren't our neighbour, we'd not be selling our goods, we'd be poor, and we wouldn't have any military to speak of to act as a deterrent to those that hate the West. Talk about biting the hand that feeds--and protects!

I'm absolutely fed up with the dog in the manger lefties whose main purpose seems to be to kvetch and complain--ALL THE TIME. Take off the rose coloured glasses and stop being such ungrateful ignoramuses.

Why not move to the ME and help out yourselves? Whoops! That would mean sacrifice and actually putting out--two things most of you seem to abhor. You're actually parasites, "an organism living in or on another and benefiting at the expense of the other", Canadain Oxford Dictionary. I find your magical thinking and lack respect and gratitude truly disgusting. So would my fater and grandfathers who risked their lives in WWs I and II to provide the "true North, strong and free", in which, for the time being, you are living and, from which, you derive so many privileges.

Whoops! I pressed POST instead of PREVIEW. Please excuse typos.

RobertJ: "The cows are coming home to roost."

Early candidate for "Worst mixed metaphor of the year".

on that I would agree. LOL !!!

tom tom tom: marijuana has existed for 100,000 years. grug the cave man toked a couple at the end of the week to celebrate another 7 days of survival.

it was used more than alcohol since wine making requires containers, preparation, time and without bottling processes had to be consumed quickly.

pot was easy to carry, recognizable and gave a good buzz in the interests of early religious mystical connection experiences. probably where the whole religion things started!!!

but the americuns link pot to the man made opiates like heroin, lumping them all together for some reason.

clinton admitted toking, why isnt he in jail?

mick jagger was repeatedly busted for possession, why isnt he banned from entry?

kimmie kim campbell avoided being caught in a lie in her election campaign by admitting toking in college, why isnt she banned from entry?

because the the american practice of 2 tiered justice and fawning over celebrity.

lock up a million schmucks but let the hi profile celebs do whatever they want.

pot has the ability to counteract loss of appetite in chemo patients (munchies time!!). it is a drug, a naturally occurring substance that has a medicinal effect. have you *any* idea how many drugs active ingredients originate in the wild? why why why the stigma about pot?

and as far as heroin is concerned, why can it not be prescribed to terminal cancer patients seeing as it is a very powerful pain killer?

because of the artificially created stigma and nothing else. MILLIONS of pharmeceuticals, some natural ingredients, some entire from the lab, but americkhuns gotta select and obsess about a handful.

*in NUTS.

"If you have to manufacture lies to prove your mythical "US tyranny" argument, maybe you should rethink your position. "

tom tom tom.

its tyranny by proxy.

they prop up the gangsters in power with mil. aid, economic aid and even stuff like free access to classified satellite pics so they can spy on their own people.

this phenomenon really took off with the eisenhower regime when the cold war started seriously revving up. white house types took the quick and dirty route to balance of power instead of taking a single afternoon from their busy schedule to ask the question: 'what can we do to genuinely defuse discontent in the 3rd world regarding access to those nations resources by ALL the people'. no, it was always 'well how much of this years budget will go into arming and training the tinpot's army so he can use it to quash protests for political and economic reform'. (nicaraugua, iran, chile, etc)

stuff like vietnam, the wide overt involvement of american forces was the exception. well that too is changing apparently with george dubya the 'war president'.

p.s. the tonkin incident was STAGED and CHOREOGRAPHED.

need any more history lessons today?

Robertj; Easy. Clinton apologized to the African nations for America's part in slavery. Truman spoke in Mexico and left a wreath at the monumument to the "Boy Heroes" at Chapultepec of the Mexican-American War.

Has Canada ever apologized to the descendents of Thomas Scott or Louis Riel?

mr patterson: tq for that input.

note BOTH the past presidents you mention were DEMOCRATS.

republicanist rightists are never worng you se.......

aaaaand this just in: feel free to track down the editorialist because of course, you rightists will sling mud and claim 'troll' instead of responding to and countering the arguements and points with logic and historical fact.

anyway, here it is "bush the 'fiasco' president":

fiasco 1
5 years after bush ordered afghanistan invaded and proclaimed 'total victory' US and allied including Canadaian forces are fighting a losing war.... afghan heroin exports are up NINETY PERCENT.....

fiasco 2
'mission accomplished' [see what I mean about the bushist believing their own lies] 300,000,000,000 dollars, body bags, verge of civil war etc etc

fiasco 3
white house and cia spent millions bribing somalia warlords [? the same warlords that did the black hawk down t'ing ???] to fight islamist reformers trying to bring order to their nation. ...the islamists WHIPPED the warlords....

fiasco 4
egging on Israel to invade lebanon etc. well, it was supposed to be a cake walk according to white house expectations, but gee, has that bunch ever been right? er, wrong? er right? oooo my head is spinning, Im so confused what the white house is up to. meddle meddle meddle. intrigue intrigue !!!

if ya wanna sling mud could yo do it at the south west corner of my yard? I got a low spot there thank you !!

I thought your post asked for any American official who had apologized for past mistakes. I didn't realize that it had to be only Republicans. Reagan took responsibility and apologized for Iran-Contra and the blast at the Marine barracks in Beirut. Clinton also apologized for lying in a sworn deposition and to the American people, earning the sobriquet of Apologizer-In-Chief. Truman it could be argued was merely apologizing for what the Democrat Polk did to Mexico. And yet he never apologized for dropping two atomic bombs on Japan and sending military aid to Greece and aid and troops to South Korea when they were invaded by misunderstood agrarian syndicalists.

Plus I'm still interested in your answer to the fate of Scott and Riel? I think what you're upset about is that American presidents have figuratively had their triumphal processions but like the victorious Roman consuls have not been forced to grovel abjectly and then be strangled for imperfect victories.

Tom, check your facts before you characterize my comments as "Pure bullshit". First of all the BATF; there's minor incidents such as Waco and Ruby Ridge, the jpfo has amassed far more abuses of the BATF and is taking them to court (see http://jpfo.org/bootbatfe.htm). As far as the DEA goes, they've stormed doctors offices at gunpoint in order to arrest doctors that they feel have been prescribing too much oxycontin. Never mind what the local medical association says, the DEA makes the decisions and the will seize the doctors assets as they've been engaged in "drug trafficking". Since the DEA seems to think that Canadian drug laws are their business, Canadians have every right to criticize US drug laws.

With regard to FEMA, they had a policy in place that prohibited any firearms from being brought into trailer parks they established. The NRA and Second Amendment foundation fought this in court and FEMA was forced to back down. You're right that it was primarily the city of New Orleans which was responsible for most of the firearms seizures after Katrina. The city could probably use the excuse of diminished mental capacity as the degree of incompetence shown by the New Orleans administration is astounding and on the level one would expect in third world countries.

Fine, posession of small amounts of cannabis may be a misdemeanor in some states (and it looks like Alaska would be the best place to be busted), but in some states any cultivation is considered to be the same as trafficking. There also seem to be some draconian "drug paraphenalia" laws on the books of some states. Incidentally, in Texas owners of any chemical glassware are supposed to register it with the state; part of a misguided approach to meth labs. A good article on the effects of such laws on amateur chemists is given at:
http://www.roguesci.org/theforum/issues-opinions/5298-chilling-effects-amateur-research-chemistry-wired-article-reprint.html

I have no need to manufacture any lies, unless, of course, there is a vast islamofascist conspiracy to flood the internet with false news on matters concerning the US;-)

Ok, Robert J, I'll bite.
Bush apologized for US slavery on his grand tour of Africa.
Bush apologized for the concessions to the Soviet Union at Yalta, Tehran, and Potsdam.
Bush apologized for having used the words "bring it on" with reference to Iraq.
Bush endorsed the ridiculous apology of Ken Mehlman for the so-called Southern Strategy, although Mehlman didn't actually use that term.
Not just an American; not just a Republican; but Adolph Bushbaby himself.
As for stingers, they were given to various Afghan mujihadeen, but not the Taliban, who were the johnny-come-lately winners in the ensuing civil war. The missiles have a limited shelf-life, and I have yet to hear of any Taliban successes with them.
In the interest of comity, I will admit to one point of agreement: when you say "my head is spinning, Im so confused what the white house is up to."

Wasn't it better when all we had to fear was fear itself!!!!?????

"And yet he never apologized for dropping two atomic bombs on Japan and sending military aid to Greece and aid and troops to South Korea when they were invaded by misunderstood agrarian syndicalists."

well mr patterson, why would Harry apologize for any of that stuff?

youre just being argumentative now.

also who is thomas scott?

furthermore, having owed up to these transgressions, where are the changes in foreign policy or is the 'apology' akin the the catholic 'confession' in which you get the blackboard wiped clean so theres room for a whole bunch more errors of commission???

meanwhile, here we have a bunch of algerians STILL locked up at guantanimo .....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/20/AR2006082000660.html

despite the original charges being dropped !!!!

who the hell is in charge down there????? ferchrissake, at least get THEM out and make room for more but they cant even do that !!!!

bbbhrrrr..... idiocy.

No, the comment about atomic bombs was rhetorical not argumentative. If time can spend looking up all those links just type in Thomas Scott as well. If the US has indeed apologized for slavery and invading Mexico then Im glad to report that we have done neither to the Africans or Mexicans since the apology.

Obviously we disagree but I find myself being underwhelmed that during ongoing hostilities combatants not covered by the Geneva Convention are still incarcerated. Much like the thousands of Italian prisoners that the Allies kept in camps long after Italy had surrendered during WWII.

CCFers and the NDP were red circled by the powers that be in the 60's and 70's and earlier. Were they Terrorists? Not very likely. Were they dangerous? Only to crooked politicians..........