[T]he bloodbaths of the last century were made far easier by the labelling of opposition to them as incitement, propaganda and promotion. This enabled evil regimes to jail or execute those who might have stood up to their actions.
Hitler was able to get away with his Holocaust, and Mao, Stalin, Amin and others with theirs, because they had first silenced their opponents by declaring their thoughts too dangerous to be spoken in public.
Any arbitrary power given to governments or courts today to shield good people from bad thoughts will one day be used by governments and courts to protect bad thoughts from good people.
I’ll go a step further than Lorne Gunter – the insidious crawl of what is euphamistically termed “political correctness” is taking on troubling aspects of history repeating itself, this time cloaked in a seductive charade of post-modern “tolerance”. It is anything but.
Suppression of criticism has intrenched itself in our legal systems, most notably through the back door of the extra-legal and left-loaded Human Rights Commissions. Appointed courts are replacing parliamentary debate with judicial decree while engaging in an orgy of publication bans.
A government, with the complicity of an enabling media, has seeded the astonishingly dangerous belief that elections are such an expensive and troublesome ordeal that it is preferable to allow a party under investigation for corruption, that has lost the confidence of parliament, to remain in control of the treasury, the legal system, and the military.
The “elections are unpleasant” message is becoming so pervasive that one left-wing MP recently argued that poll results should stand in lieu of calling a by-election to fill a vacant seat.
A sitting minority government has successfully established precedent by refusing to recognize its own fall from loss of confidence. The office of the Prime MInister is now so powerful as to be legitimately compared to a dictatorship. The machinery is in place. The only ingredient missing to complete the cycle of history is a charismatic leader from the hard “politically correct” left, with the power of a majority.
John C: Careful in believing what you hear. Rob is more than a bit out of date. The Pegasus Dock (nose dock) at Namao was turned over to the gov’t of Canada along with all the other USAF infrastructure when USAF/SAC left Namao many years ago. And the runway which Rob says is an alternate for the shuttle on 30 minutes notice? Maybe 30 weeks notice. It hasn’t been a runway since the airforce moved out about 10 years ago and the army took over and there hasn’t been a fixed wing aircraft land at Namao since that time. And, Rob, the y’all stuff? Born, bred and still in love with Alberta.
John,
Namao’s runway is 10 ft thick and very solid. It was used for refueling B52’s during the cold war, and the gov of the period declared portions of it US owned, which is still in place today. Edmonton municipal used to be a training center for American pilots in WW ll. I hadn’t been hatched then, obviously, but was around for the cold war part. .. this is terrible… I feel so dated. .. where’s that flask of white lightning … ahhhh.. that’s better.. OK… all young again… 😉
BC Con .. ya ok. We used it not to long ago, and were told it was still under USAF ownership. So until I see different, it belongs to them, and they’ve already announced locally that they could have the runway operational in that period, so provide documentation to the contrary please.
Rob: Check your email.
Thanks rob.
Rob, I’m already working my ass off Monday thru Friday. Hell, sometimes I do weekends too.
Hey y’all, ah’m gettin’ meself ahll ready fer bringin’ home the bacon…
Und that’s just me doing muh impression of Ahnuld Shvarsenekker pretending to be ein Ulbertun. Ah am not ze Guwernatur fer nothing… Und ah vill zomeday be der prezuhduhnt und kick ze ass der ze terrorists, und terminate zem!
Just kidding, Arnold. You’re still the king!
Two things that can be done:
1. The Conservatives get their shit together and rather than the usual negative approach, they create a positive vision for Canada.
Liberalism is a dividing force. They’ve politically alienated the West and Quebec. They’ve morally divided the country on their SSM law. They’ve divided their own party through SSM, corruption and lack of democracy. This country has never been more divided – there are two Canada’s, and then there’s Quebec.
If the Conservatives take this as a backdrop along with global threats we as a country are not prepared for – and in the face of that present and sell a strong, unified vision for Canada, they could win a majority. I think they should even support any Liberals wanting to restore the classic and traditional Liberal party (pre-Trudeau).
How about the Conservatives creating a youth wing based on environmental policy? – Call them ‘The Green Tories’. Then concentrate on taking away the youth base of the NDP and Greens.
2. Civil War.