|
Rookie Conservative MP Steven Fletcher has apologized for an incident last weekend where he referred to Japanese soldiers from the Second World War as “Japs” and “bastards.” Fletcher made the remarks last weekend at a veteran’s convention in Winnipeg. His specific statement was: “The Japs were bastards.” In his statement of apology on Saturday, Fletcher referred to his family’s personal experiences during the war, saying they had given him “a very emotional perspective” on that historical period. His grandfather was a prisoner of war held by the Japanese, captured during the fall of Singapore. “I allowed those emotions to colour my remarks,” he said. “I should have chosen more appropriate language, and will do so in the future. I apologize for any offence I may have caused, and retract my choice of words without reservation.” But he also said this: “I stand by the fact that the Japanese were ruthless. If people want to challenge me on that, I look forward to it.” Fletcher told The Canadian Press: “They used my grandfather’s friend for bayonet practice. They put my grandfather on a raft when he was ill to die. They shot people indiscriminately. “In the context of the time, in World War II, they treated people in ways that were barbaric and disgusting, and it should never be forgotten, and it should never be allowed to happen again.” During the 1940s, “Japs” was commonly used to describe Japanese people, but it is now considered to be an ethnic slur. Fletcher’s role at the conference was to bring greetings from the federal government. Hayden Kent, president of the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans Unit 283, said the MP’s remarks caught the veterans off guard. “I understand his feelings about what his grandfather went through, but that wasn’t the time or the place,” he said. “If we’d had a person of Japanese descent on the convention floor, how would that person have felt? We have to forgive.” Bev Oda, a Conservative MP and the first Japanese-Canadian elected to Parliament, was mildly critical of her colleague. “We have a job certainly as members of Parliament to work against racism but we can do that without using the terminology of the day,” he said. The Liberals said Fletcher’s outburst is yet more evidence that the Conservatives are an angry party led by people with narrow views. But the NDP said Fletcher’s apology should end the matter.
|
“Reluctantly, the American prisoners did as they were told, all 150 of them, crawling single file into the dark, poorly ventilated pits. Everyone but Stidham, whose stretcher was conveniently placed beside one of the trench entrances. If the planes came, his buddies would gather his limp form and tuck him into the shelter with everyone else. They waited and waited but heard not a single American plane, let alone a hundred. They huddled in the stifling dankness of their collective body heat, sweat coursing down their bare chests. The air-raid bell continued to peal. A Navy signalman named C.C. Smith refused to go into his pit. Suddenly the Buzzard set upon him. He raised his saber high so that it gleamed in the midday sun, and with all his strength he brought it blade side down. Smith’s head was cleaved in two, the sword finally stopping midway down the neck. Then, peeking out the ends of the trenches, the men saw several soldiers bursting into the compound. They were carrying five-gallon buckets filled with a liquid. The buckets sloshed messily as the soldiers walked. With a quick jerk of the hands, they flung the contents into the openings of the trenches. By the smell of it on their skin, the Americans instantly recognized what it was — high-octane aviation fuel from the airstrip. Before they could apprehend the full significance of it, other soldiers tossed in lighted bamboo torches. Within seconds the trenches exploded in flames, The men squirmed over each other and clawed at the dirt as they tried desperately to shirnk from the intense heat. They choked back the smoke and the fumes, their nostrils assailed by the smell of singed hair and roasting flesh. They were trapped like termites in their own sealed nest. Only a few managed to free themselves. Dr.Carl Mango, from Pennsylvania, sprang from his hole, his clothes smoldering. His arms were outstretched as he peaded — “Show some reason, please God show reason” — but a machine gunner mowed him down. Another prisoner crawled from his trench, wrested a rifle from the hands of a soldier, and shot him before receiving a mortal stab in the back. A number of men dashed toward the fence and tried to press through it but were quickly riddled with lead, leaving a row of corpses hung from the barbed stands like dried cuttlefish. A few men managed to slip through the razor ribbon and leap from the high cliff, but more soldiers were waiting on the beach to finish them off. Recognizing the futility of escape but wanting to wreak a parting vengeance, one burning prisoner emerged from his trench, wrapped his arms tightly around the first soldier he saw, and didn’t let go — a death embrace that succeeded in setting the surprised executioner on fire. All the while, Lieutenant Sato scurried from trench to trench with saber drawn, loudly exhorting his men and occasionally punctuating his commands with a high, nervous laugh. At his order, another wave of troops approached the air-raid shelters, throwing grenades into the flaming entrances and raking them with gunfire. Some of the troops poked their rifle barrels through the entrances of the trenches and fired point-blank at the huddled forms within. James Stidham, the paralytic who had been watching all of this from his stretcher, quietly moaned in terror. A soldier stepped over to him and with a perfunctory glance fired two slugs into his face.” From Ghost Soldiers– an account of the atrocity at Palawan, Dec.14, 1944. |
History! (deal with that later). What is happening right now and right here, stick to that.
omg. If I lived through that I’d be slightly prejudicial myself.
Candace, while I dont condone racism I think this particular incident is a matter of context. I expect during the war it was common to refer to Germans as Nazis and Japanese as Japs, simply because of the atrocities those races perpetrated against people. I suspect Mr. Fletcher wouldnt call Japanese people Japs today but in referring to them in the context of war, I think I can see where he is coming from.
The issue is not whether the Japanese armed forces were brutal during WWII. They were, and they, in the form of many senior officers, answered for their actions during post-war trials. They may not have answered enough for the satisfaction of men who were on the receiving end, and the opinions of such men must be respected. But Fletcher’s outburst was idiotic for two reasons: first, speaking of “Jap bastards” may have negative consequences for people of Japanese ancestry who had nothing whatsoever to do with the war-time brutality. And second, Fletcher should have known that his words would immediately cause trouble for the Conservatives and contribute to the picture the media is creating of the Tories as angry at everyone and everything. It was not intended to and could not contribute anything else – no problem was being solved. It was just an emotional outburst at the worst possible time. Shame on Fletcher, on all these grounds.
He apologized…the mistake…use of the word Japs…if he had said “The Japanese soldiers were bastards” he would have been fine.
Of course thank goodness he didnt work as the PM’s director of communication and call the Presidnet of the United States a moron…he might have had to put up with a couple of days of complaining and still keep his job….
Or better yet, calling Stephen harper an “angry WHITE MAN” I mean that might actually be considered sexist and racist.
Or making a comment regarding what level of gene pool a non white MP is from…of course that was an HONEST mistake that is immeadiately forgiven
Or being a CTV reporter and saying that Gurwal’s allegations reflect badly on the Indo Canadian community….when his race was never an issue in the story.
Or being calling the most racially diverse caucus in parliament “the klan”….of course Volpe didnt mean THAT Klan….he meant another klan…I am sure he meant Clan and that the CPC was just a collection of scotsmen you know Angus McJaffir and andrew seamus O’gurwal and heather McOda
Ahh the power of language the those who wield its definition……tis a thing to behold….
Lets hope its a one day story.
Well, that’s _really_ helpful, Kate. Never forgive, never forget, eh?
Ah well, guess you wingnuts have been cut off from polluting Andrew Coyne’s site.
OT,
Warren on the weekend has Sinclair Stevens on right now saying Harper has a secret agenda to break the country into 4 or 5 Canada’s…. The guy is 80, were did they dig him up?
Meredith,
There was supposed to be 1 point to Stephen Fletchers statement and it turned into 2, and the original point got lost.
Fletcher used an old fashioned epthet best left in the 40’s. Forgive…of course you forgive, more importantly realize it was part of history.
Fletchers original point about the brutality of Japanese soldiers in WWII is well documented.
That is something we should never forget. Remember Imperial Japan, not unlike Nazi Germany was fuelled in part by racial superiority. The Japanese leaders and military culture at the time conveyed a superior culture and that others were “sub human”. When you forget your opponent is just like you engage in the activity Kate describes, the behaviour inflicted upon the prisoners of war from the fall of Hong Kong and Singapore (but we dont teach that about our veterans anymore do we), the rape of Nanking and Joy Division in Nazi Germany and forced prostitution of Korena women by the Japanese.
Forgive, of course we should, Germany and Japan have rejoined the community of nations and the virus that plagued their societies is gone. Forget, never never forget what humans are capable of when civilized developed societies degenerate into these psychotic societies.
We cant and shouldnt live in the past, but remembering the past is something we should do, for the lessons.
But we dont do that very well do we? Someone might be offended…..
Appeasing the media and thus the electorate by being politically correct.
Now theres sound logic.
The media is con hater libs (Appeasement)good luck, I wont be holding my breath.
Rather Im hoping canadians will see the lib media for what they are (spinmeisters).
What the Japanese did went light years beyond brutal or “ruthless”.
One can be ruthless, and still be humane.
I have the perspective of having read the entire book quoted, and not just hat exerpt – which, is just a taste of the atrocities the committed.
Speaking with an exchange student from china a couple of years ago, he was 18 at the time and I asked him what he thought of Japanese, lets just say he had nothing good to say about them.
What they are being taught in there education system is anybodys guess ,I suspect his knowledge of japanese came from his parents and extended family.
From listening to him forgiveness had not taken place.
Remembering history, of course
Forgiveness, absolutely.
Atrocities of 60 years ago should not be borne by current day Japanese. “Japs” is inappropriate jsut like krauts or niggers. Just beacuse someone has an ancient quarrel with these groups does not justify the racism.
When I was younger, and learning about life in Seattle, I became friends with a fellow named Joe Wetzel. Joe was a US Army veteran who had been captured by the Japanese in the Phillipines. Somehow, he had managed to survive the Bataan Death March, the horrors of the Hell Ships, slave labor, starvation, disease and the relentless cruelties of his captors. When he once wondered why the Japanese had behaved so abominably, he finally decided it was due to a beastly reaction to their own psychic weakness, born from an obsession with inferiority and envy. Joe didn’t hate the Japanese as much as pity them, but he could never forget nor forgive them. Such crimes cannot be, and should not be, easily filed away in History’s Dustbin.
To some, the atrocities of the Japanese are “ancient history”. These are the same people who condemn others for the Crusades.
My family is Japanese Canadian and I have lived much of my life in Japan. I listened to Stephen Fletcher’s apology and believe it should settle the matter. Let’s move on.
As for the comments about the war. It was over 60 years ago. Anyone who has spent time in today’s Japan knows that following the war the vast majority of Japanese pledged to dedicate themselves to living in peace and harmony with the rest of the world. Indeed, since that time, Japan, like Canada, has been one of the world’s beacons in promoting the ideals of peace and democracy.
What the Japanese army did in China and SE Asia during WWII was wrong. The Japanese have acknowledged this and learned from the past.
Let’s see if the rest of the world can do the same.
Read the book “Fly Boys” . . . then ask yourself if the Japanese Imperial Armay troops were bastards.
They were worse than bastards . . the cruelty they inflicted made Stalin & Hitler look like rank amateurs.
Oh really, Stephen – the Japanese have fogotten -then why have they rewritten their history books to downplay how they treated the Chinese people?? You might think it is all Chinese propaganda – I assure you it is not. I know a Chinese lady who lost her whole family in a family slaughter. She was four years old and was hidden by her Grandmother in a barrel. Her’s was not the only family in China that were brutalized. Stehen Fletcher’s remarks are reflected in remarks by every WWII soldier who had to fight in the Pacific theater. The cowards that attack people who have earned their freedom of speech make me sick! What do ANY of you know about fighting for your lives? I think Stephen Fletcher knows a lot about that fight and armchair ‘cheerios’ are the very Lib/ND types that will tar and feather anyone who they feel they can exploit. I’ve hear comments and slurs against Americans from the Socialists that have NO foundation at all, it’s time to start bringing them up! Catch them EVERY time.
As a Post Script I would ask “Did you know all Japanese people did NOT support Japan’s aspirations and conduct in WWII? Some of them might be offended by people who protest the “slander” of Japanese soldiers that brutilized them! Kind of like the way I feel when people cheer for Trudeau, the man that gave us ‘the finger’ in Salmon Arm.
The Japanese slaughtered 12,000,000 Chinese civilians between 1930 and 1945, using mostly swords, bayonets, live burial, planted pathogens, beheading, etc. They apologized for the first time 2 weeks ago. Their war criminals are national heros and get thousands of visitors to their graves. These “heroes” receive accolades from millions of Japanese. In Nanjing alone, they beheaded the entire garrison and then tossed the corpses into the river. They went on a rape and killing binge that lasted months. They have never apologized until now, and only because the Chinese were rioting and threatening Japanese embassies and consolates in China.
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstatx.htm
The Japanese who committed these atrocities are bastards and I will not be apologetic for saying the truth!
This is what is wrong with Canadians and Canada. We are little sheeples who can’t call a spade a spade. And when the Libranos and Liberal controlled media complains, Canadians duck and hide. Too bad if someone gets offended when comments are not politically correct. This is the same semantic crap that the media played when people likened B.S. to a whore.
Eventually, Canadians will lose all right to free speech unless we wake up. The Liberals do not want you to think or show any independence. (but of course, it is okay if they do so!)
Why did our veterans fight for our country and the freedom we enjoy only to have Canadians simply bow in complete supplication to the corrupt Liberals, the media, and the Liberal elite in Canada?
I read some of these posts and it appalls me just how ill-informed and stuperous Canadians are. Get some backbone, find your voice and stand up for what is right.
Jema54,
Please reread my post…I said forgive but DONT forget, in response to Meredith’s post.
I used the words IMPERIAL Japan and NAZI germany to delineate between past and present.
As for the atrocities committed by Imperial Japanese soldiers and leadership in WWII and WWI…I made reference to them but you are correct it goes quite deep and is extensive.
Once again, the lesson is what happens when a society becomes infected with ideology of superiority and sees its enemies as non or sub human, you begin to treat them as such. Hence the need to fight those ideologies.
Perhaps you were referencing present day Japan’s apparent diregard for its own history…unlike the German self flagellation that continues to today. While the present day Japanese have nothing to apologize for they should be aware of their own history, just as I have no connection smallpox in the blankets of Aboriginal’s but I need to be aware that European Settlers did this. By no means does it put in a position to pay reperations but helps me understand the historical perspectives others may bring to political and or personal discussions. The same goes with the treatment of Japanese Canadians in WWII, I am not responsible, my aunts and Uncles have more to answer for on that front, but denying the historical fact does no one any good, nor does denying the historical context in which it took place.
I think we can all agree that the IMPERIAL Japan is not present day Japan and Nazi Germany is not present day Nazi gemany and present day China is not the China of the cultural revolution.
The common element of Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany is Facism and it is a disease that must be fought from the left and the right.
I would urge anyone to read Love Poverty and War by Christopher Hitchens or go to http://www.hitchensweb.com to see one of the best anti fascist writers….particularly in his literary fight against modern fascism…
Shocking language!
Would this be a bad time to point out that Carolyn Parrish wasn’t talking about the merciless Japanese warriors of WWII? She was talking about me. Today.
Americans and Jews, who performed rather different rolls in WWII, get called worse by higher level politicians, and treated worse by everyday Canadians, than the Japanese could ever dream of. I can only hope that all those who are morally offended by this MP’s statement are consistent.
As for the offended Japanese warriors who laid waste to innocent people all over the Pacific, they need to stand in line behind others on Canada’s very short list of people they can publicly talk this way about. And, you haven’t even worked, sacrificed and paid for their privilege to speak their opinion of you so very freely. From an “AmeriKKKan” perspective, the Japenese should consider any contempt they can experience a bargain and a privilege.
Several of the comments above are absolute trash!
If you want to spew racist comments about others, that’s fine, but do it in private please.
Before you talk about what is in Japanese text books or not, perhaps you should ask someone who has read them. I was born and raised in BC but went to university in Japan. I have read Japanese history textbooks.
I also urge you not to automatically believe the propaganda currently being spread by the Chinese regime that brought us Tienanmen Square. This propaganda is useful for whatever purposes the Chinese want to use it for, but it is not necessarily always completely true.
The Japanese public today do know what happened 70-60 years ago in Nanking and later in WWII. It is absolute rubbish to say that the vast majority of Japanese would in any way say that they support what happened. They do not and are rightly ashamed of what happened. They do not want it to happen again – in Abu Grahib, or anywhere.
As for the textbooks, if you look at the leading school textbooks on the history of the early twentieth century you will see that there has been no “rewriting of history”. Yes, one right-wing group did attempt to publish a textbook that downplayed Japan’s acts in the war. It was immediately attacked by the vast majority of Japanese. Moreoever, all of the other textbooks are more objective.
Perhaps you are complaining that freedom of speech and a healthy debate over historical events are things that don’t matter in other countries?
One other factual point.
Japan did NOT apologize for the first time two weeks ago. There have been multiple apologies over the years, including from the Emperor and any number of Prime Ministers, including Moriyama.
Prime Minister Koizumi’s remarks to an ASEAN Meeting two weeks ago was an attempt to defuse recent tensions between Japan and China. It was not a first time for anything.
We all need to remember and learn from historical events. But we need to be accurate in what we remember.
Just get your facts right before you attack someone.
Ref smallpox in the blankets, that’s another myth. Back when it supposedly happened, people didn;t even know how smallpox was transmitted, they certainly couldn’t infect anything with the disease.
That’s down here tho – if you guys did that last week or something, it could be true.
Remember, yes, but with awareness of a purpose. Let that awareness inform decisions about the time, the place, and the way to remember.
Several comments referred to treatment of another group as sub- or non-human. Doubtless the Japanese soldiers would not have been able to commit these atrocities unless they first began to think of their victims as sub-human. Doubtless, one of the early steps towards thinking that way was to group their victims under a demeaning name.
Remember, and choose a different path.
But what would that path be? Would it mean that anyone victimized should meekly forgive and forget, just “turn the other cheek” and hope their gentleness inspires gentleness?
It has been suggested that to turn the other cheek was an act of resistance, anything but meek.
Jesus specifically mentioned the right cheek being struck first. This is significant: it means the striker was using the back of the right hand (because a right-fisted blow would land on the left cheek, and a left-fisted blow would not be used – that hand being kept for unclean tasks). A backhand blow was used only for inferiors such as slaves and wives. If a victim responded by turning the left cheek also, how could the striker hit it? A backhand blow would now be impossible, but to strike with the right fist would acknowledge the victim as an equal.
(See article by Walter Wink at: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1216-30.htm )
If remembering means insisting that both the victims and the victimizers were humans, and that both were dehumanized by this horrific violence, then by all means, let us remember.
Brian, everything I’ve read about this incident refers to the fellow talking about the actions of Japanese WWII soldiers, not current Japanese society. Where did anyone slam post-war Japenese society except to say their history books are not very precisee. What does the world have to lose? The truth be out.
According to the CTV.ca news article-Conservative MP apologizes for racial epithet- MP “Fletcher’s role at the conference was to bring greetings from the federal government.” In this sense, he was wrong to target a specific nationality. He realized his error, apologized, and it should be left at that. Outside of his official capacity, “Japs were bastards” in reference to Canadian Singapore vets treatment would not be problematic.
Did Carrolyn Parrish apologize as quickly? Was the MSM in as much of an uproar? Many Americans in Canada have noted remarks that if directed at other peoples would have been described as racist. The behaviour of the Japanese and Germans in WW2 was abhorrent. However, Canadians are kidding themselves if they believe it could never happen here. We are fighting to maintain democracy so as to prevent an oligarchy from taking over in our country. As people like Scott Reid lower the bar in elections, as Paul Martin lowers the bar in parliament, someday the bar may be lowered for our treatment of others.
Jay,
Sorry smallpox VACCINATION was available in the 1796.
I think people “back then” knew darn how to cause it and where it came from. We arent talking about thw 1500’s or the dark ages. The march of science had proceeded quite far along.
Sorry the “myth” is true. Yet another example of needing to know your own history. It has nothing to do with you or I…we didnt do it…but it does colour aboriginal responses, especially to posts that deny something inflicted on them. Whether that implies some kind of entitlement today is a whole other question that probably isnt appropriate on this thread.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox
The comment about Carolyn Parrish is well taken.
We Canadians too often are quick to condemn others. Perhaps we would be better served first to look more closely in the mirror before rushing to judgment about others.
I’ve lived in China for a while, and trust me, the current Chinese hate of Japan is largely ingrained in school. I can think of no other nation on earth right now that has this hate being taught by state sponsered schools.
Imagine being taught from when your very young to absolutly hate another race. That’s whats happening in China right now.
Japan has apologized to China many times, more than they have to Korea in fact.
This is not to disregard what the Japanese did in China. They did many horrible things, but unfortunetly Chinese propaganda is making it even worse. Both sides are at fault with the current issues between the two countries.
Bob said, “I can think of no other nation on earth right now that has this hate being taught by state sponsered schools.”
Think Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Norht Korea and Cuba and possibly some of the madrassa’s in canada, who receive public funding…….oh and (tongue partially in cheek)canadian schools where anti americanism is more than accepted.
Once again, never forget what state sponsored propoganda that teaches subsuming the individual to the purposes of a collective entity can do. At its best it takes humans to some of our best for sacrifice for a noble goal…at its worst war, pogroms, ethnic cleansing, crusades, jihad etc etc..unfortunately the latter is a more likely outcome than the former.
“men go crazy in crongregations but get better one by one”
Carolyn Parrish was expelled from the Liberal caucus. Fletcher, sadly, will keep his critic’s post.
Carolyn Parrish was expelled because she made repeated slurs against the U.S. and never apologized. Steven Fletcher apologized immediately for his mistake. There is no comparison.
What is disgraceful is that the Liberals are reportedly planning to invite Parrish back into caucus as a gesture of thanks for her vote on May 19. Let’s see if the Liberals make her retract her ant-American rhetoric as the price of readmission to the caucus.
Methinks not.
Carolyn Parrish was not kicked out of the Liberal caucus because of her anti-American views — she was kicked out because she made the mistake of saying she had “absolutely no loyalty to this team. None.” The doll-stomping incident was just a useful excuse, nothing more.
For the backgrounder, go here.
The Japs were indeed Merciless Bastards and they deserve every insult hurled at them. I’m sick & tired of everybody trying to make nice just ’cause it’s been so many years now.
Forgive? Hell No! Too many decent people went to their deaths in an abjectly horrible fashion to forgive what was done to them.
The Canadian people are now getting themselves in a dither ’cause we incarcerated some of them during the war. Well, tough shit!
History is history. Don’t try to change it.
I just read the comments and, in typical Canadian fashion, all are dancing around the issue with PC
comments and statements. The truth is, they committed atrocities and should be held accountable for them.
Quit being a bunch of pussies and recognize the reality of the situation.
Anybody know if the CBC.ca covered this story? If so, could you provide the URL?
If a Liberal had said what Stephen Fletcher said nothing of any note would be made of it.
For proof: Liberals remarking about being ‘low on the gene pool’ in reference to Inky Mark’s revelation that he had been approached.
The liberals say what they like when they like to whom they like ! They expect and get a ‘pass’ from the media. Carolyn Parrish’s statements about hating those ‘damned Americans’ was quite alright for any liberal. Particularly for a Chretien liberal. Carolyn’s only sin was in not supporting the Paul Martin team. Now that she is back in their good graces they will find some of our money to buy her off AND offer some cushy portfolio to boot.
If Stephen Harper , Peter MacKay or ANY Conservative MP or supporter utters a WORD that can be in some way taken in the negative, that is what they do.
Stephen Fletcher said what he thought perhaps in a ‘slightly’ inappropriate setting. However, the truth of his words cannot be denied.
Our cultures and democracies joined in a massive struggle 60 years ago. The passage of time does not dim the conflagration WWII was and the impact it had reaching to today. The outpouring of gratitude for Canadian soldiers in the Netherlands. The reminders at times of remembrance and now, in our own time of war, the scenes brutally played out in Russian school houses taking the lives of innocent children.
We had better wake up and realize that what we must fight is much more than semantics.
We seriously do not want to have to fight another world war but it will come if we do not learn the lessons of the past.
Those lessons were learned in the harshest of classrooms: A war that truly engulfed the world entire.
We are spoiled and coddled children who had better wake up and take up the gauntlet to stake our claim on democracy. It starts at home: Calling a spade a spade: Stephen Fletcher may have spoken imprudently but he spoke the truth.
He should not be excoriated for that. We waste time on such when we have such richer targets: Tim Murphy. Scott Reid. Paul Martin. Belinda Stronach. And that screech witch, Ann McClellan. None of them even come close to telling the truth on any given day. Let’s start putting THEIR feet to the fire. It is a good place to start: They represent : Ill manners. Illegitimacy in government. Shrill hipocracy and not an ounce of substance among them.
Stop talking about the liberals. Their day is waning. START talking about Stephen Harper and the Conservatives. THEIR day is on the rise.
The more the grassroots gets angry the more power to the Conservatives.
We have no time and even less patience for the continuation of an illegitimate and criminal government. The sooner the politburo realizes it the better.
I have ordered the book The Ghost Soldiers. I intend to read it through and through. The excerpts at the link Kate has provided was intriguing and heart pounding enough.
I have to know more. Especially about the rescue.
Oh, how easily we forget and how easily we fail to learn what was past , what went before us.
And how important it all was to what we are today and what we face today.
And I want to further add: We also fly the American flag on our home. We used to fly both the American and the Canadian side by side.
Not real flag wavers before 9/11, my husband bought both and hung them from our upstairs deck. We overlook a park from that second floor so they are visible for a ways. They flew side by side from 9/11 until the jawdropping announcement by Chretien that Canada would not go to Iraq with America. On that day my husband took down the Canadian flag from our home. It has not gone back up. He is ashamed of the decisions made in Ottawa that reflect badly on us as a people.
Our integrity has taken a sharp blow and if we don’t do something about restoring what is right and good about Canada on the national scene we will regret far more.
I like what Kate has posted on her site about “What Canadians think” and ” What Canadians want”… I , too, feel this way: NOBODY asked!
But they could find out if they asked Stephen Harper and Peter MacKay!: We have been so outraged by what we have heard at Gomery we spent a lot of time telling the Conservatives what we wanted THEM to do. And that was to bring down this government.
The fix is in now and I am not sure it wasn’t in for a long time.
I suspected for awhile that Stronach was a plant in the Conservative party. For various reasons, certainly. If it looked like there might be implosion she could jump to save the day and if not, she could spy in the camp of the Conservatives until it was necessary for her to seek the leadership or make a move.
We all see what she is and where she is.
That should be enough for all of us to determine what we think of her and her new colleagues.
Yes the Japanese had two way radios on some of their commercial fish boats here in BC and were transmitting messages to off shore subs. I was on a armed Government Freighter as a seaman when working off the West Coast of Vancouver Island when Estevan Point was shelled by the “Japs”,,,, (as we called them, our ship had just left the area a day before,)…but then we never had the political correct Nazi’s around to take us to a Human Rights Tribunal for saying it either, and no necessity for one, it was the accepted language of the day used by everbody, with no slur intended, though I think if we thought we could manufactor the name INTO a slur we would have done so, it was just a short cut for Japanese that is a three cylible word, and Japs in one, simple as that, but the Language police of today will prosecute their made up “story-law”, thats how they make their money think up something that will be called “pollitical correctness” that is bullshit that will put their out of work, or under worked lawyers back on a steadier pay roll, nothing more than Creating money machines a long way from the “Mint”. As a matter of fact there was not a Canadian alive that wanted no less than to see every single one of the “Japs” dead, when we found out what they did and how they did it, to our young boys defending Hong Kong. But for any Japanese to get upset regarding the use of “Japs” as insult, is unbelievable, which I believe would be in the minority, though I just thought, they have had their share of political correctness too, maybe there “are” more than I think. They have only just apologized of sorts for the Rape of thousands of Chinese women. The same mind set when a muslum is raped intentionally to disgrace her in the community for life, so the rape is one thing the ostrocizing in their community is life long, yet the guilty “Japs” were not condemned for life and reluctant to even admit it happened, and they have re written their History books look far and wide for the nukeing of Hiroshima, or Nagasaki, they don’t want their people in future generations to know the “Dishonour” that entails, that their leaders would let it come to that. Howerver that is the Beaurocrats of Japan, we can’t blame the Joe and Jane six pack Japanese, they have the same problem we do, they are watching for the day that the Chineese will take them over, as they will someday take us over.
This controversy regarding the name “Japs” is as a resutle of the politically correct “nazi’s” looking for more fodder to earn their “George Soros ilk pay”!, the same as incorrect to say “AlderMAN”,”ChairMAN” “ROYAl” Canadian Mouted Police, “SO HELP ME GOD”, in swearing in, the nazi police are taking over this country real fast, and hypmotised Canadians are “buying tickets” watching it happen,
During the war, “Japs” being one sylible was the short cut for the whole word,”Japanese” and was not accepted at all as a derrogatory term it was just a way to define and seperate the names of the enemy as “Yanks” was instead of “Americans which are no more Americas than Canadians are, so Yanks was quicker and more to the point, as was Limeys, England, Frogs, French , Canucks, Canadian, Nazi’s or Germans was acceptable then in common language, however the political correct Nazi’s 2005 Canadian version only use “Naxi’s” to describe the Germans in the 2nd war, when the Germans were the majority of the fighters both in the front lines, and building the war machines training slave labour, and prisoners of war to do their work at home base. The Russians were in the main Russians, or Ruskies. France?,The French were never mentioned, they gave up before their “wine cellars” and “restaurants” were dusted by that awful stuff called “war dust” (causes such an inconvenience!!!!and the maid tires cleaning it) if the French got a name at all it was “Quizzlings”, so many of them entertained the German invaders,however to be fair there were single frenchmen and women and some groups in the French underground that were heros in helping the downed flyers and a few prisoners of war, however the bulk of the French just threw in the towell, (I heard somewhere a while ago that France has implemented in their Charter to immediatley “surrender” to any invading force the “minute” they step “one” foot on French soil, is that true?) they were paid handsomely (Charac) not to fight with the “Countries of the Willing,”(The “French” Canadian Gov’t didn’t want to rock Characs pipe line either, so Chretien stuck by his pal Charac,and took a pass on fighting Hussein, couldn’t see any sense in setting free 30 or 40 million people, waist of Chretiens time, he and “his” maid doesn’t like “war dust” either. however I did not see any street demonstrations in France protesting otherwise, but then I don’t watch everything.
By the look at these postings above, the political correct nazi’s have accomplished a side bar to their nonsense in changing words, they have Canadians fighting Canadians over the whole issue which is part of their “other” mandate to DIVIDE AND CONQUOR, The pen is mightier than the sword, they have used a double edged “pen” in this Charad of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS, NOT ONLY DO THEY WANT TO CHANGE WORDS, THAT “THEY” CLAIM ARE MEANINGFUL, WHEN IN REALITY THEY ARE MEANINGLESS, AT THE SAME TIME IT CAUSES UNDUE BITTER CONTROVERSY WHICH ACCOMPLISHES THEIR GOAL ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TWO EDGED “PEN” AS I SAID ABOVE TO “DIVIDE AND COUQUOR”, AND IT IS WORKING. The inmates have definitely taken over the asylum, and again, we are paying tickets to enable, watch and support the new keepers of the KEYS.
Good place Kanada for special interest groups, petophiles, murderors, rapoes, local money laundering ,international money laundering, drug trafficking, free money for huge shipping line CEO’S, car theives,crooked Advertiseing firms, crooked Polititions ,Tamil Tigers, Islamo fascists, illegal aliens, a wonderful place to sell old submarines, NDPers, and a financially healthy paradise for Liberals on the take, which is most of them.
Stephen ww 2 vet. Man what a stentch coming out of “TRUDEAU’S JUST SOCIETY.”? THE NEW “KANADA”!
Stephen ww 2vet:
Your comment above is what these young, inexperienced, pontificating pups need to hear. No wonder they find Mr. Dithers and his corrupt followers so attractive. These pups live in a Liberal-sanitized pretend world and need a dose of reality that only people who have lived through war, like yourself, can provide. Keep on posting. Your experience and forthrightness is valuable on these blogs.
Wow … as much as I think the NDP is full of whack jobs, they must be commended for accepting the appology and dropping the matter.
(Kinda shows that even then NDP has more moral standing that the liberals, eh? )
Some of the commenters above fail to recognize that in some respects the Japanese _have not_ acknowledged in full their accountability for what was done. Ask the Koreans and Chinese and others whether they feel the Japanese have sufficiently atoned.
And, whether we like it or not, “The Japs [the 1930’s-’40s ilk to whom the epithet explicitly refers] were bastards.”
As a few have pointed out, and some blissfully ignored, Steven’s comments were specifically about the Japanese soldiers who committed what could very easily be considered crimes against humanity.
Steven Fletcher did not say anything derogatory towards today’s Japan, nor towards the Japan of today. He was attempting to describe a historical event – and perhaps did not express himself in the most “politically correct” fashion. Nevertheless, he aptly described a moment in history that many have forgotten. Beyond the atomic bombs dropped there, how much do you think the Average person knows about Japan’s involvement in WW2? Maybe this will teach them something.
Small Dead Animals
Broaden your blog reading. Small Dead Animals First of all, ya just gotta love the title. And here is a discription she has written of herself: Until this moment I have been forced to listen while media and politicians alike…