The Prince Albert Daily Herald goes out on a foreign policy limb;
In MacKay’s defence, there is an accepted link between Islamic extremists and the Taliban.
Their Iranian readers debate in the comments.
The Prince Albert Daily Herald goes out on a foreign policy limb;
In MacKay’s defence, there is an accepted link between Islamic extremists and the Taliban.
Their Iranian readers debate in the comments.
“tainted by U.S. input”
Whoever wrote this article is tainted by anti-US sentiment.
How about the war in Afghanistan tainted by Iranian input that is killing our soldiers — shouldn’t that be a bigger concern?
Wonder why McKay made the statement at this time? He’ll no doubt be given ample opportunity to explain, the MSM Vultures will be after him in full defense of Iran no doubt. How dare he suggest such a thing will be their rant. The name George W Bush will come up.
There are so many “experts” on the Islamic Hellholes in the ME, a fine-toothed comb couldn’t produce the answers we’d need to know exactly what’s going on. They’ve been at war with each other for centuries, now they’ve branched out.
The modern world has given them technologies and weaponry, including nuclear capability as in Pakistan. They simply cannot evolve into the 21st century and live under a religion firmly stuck in the 14th century.
Islam,the various factions of it,the radicals it spawns is the number one problem the world faces today. We can never have peace with the threat of Islamic terrorism. No one can defend any part of it at this point, it’s far too widespread to be considered isolated to a few groups. Those groups have supporters world wide, they live among us.
I wonder if this same editorial writer is concerned about Canada’s views of global warming being tainted by the American Al Gore’s input?
That gives whole new meaning to ‘loony left’
Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran!
Luckily for the West, all major battles have happened in the past and we did not have to get our hands dirty for quite a while. Did the left think that will go on forever?
There are some problems in this world, that can only be resolved with combination of precision and carpet bombing and socialism and islamism are two of exactly such problems.
On the other hand, has McKay finally grown balls? Woa!
Whoever ‘deb from PA’ is … she is certifiable! In her simplistic tupperware brain, ‘EVIL’ is what we are up against. Gawd I am sick of right wingers! It is truly unfortunate that SO many of you were dropped on your heads as infants ….. politically, it’s the only thing that makes sense as to why the right wing mind set is so completely out to lunch!
Yo, leftdog – instead of your “drive-by” how about telling us just where “deb from PA” is wrong. I happen to agree with just about everything she says. The problem is with the left crowd that wants to blame the US for every problem in the world and cozy up to the Taliban and other Islamo facists, hold hands and sing cum-by-ya.
Leftdog: You haven’t got a reasonable counterpoint so you use derogatory comments and name calling.That is not a debate. Please get back in your hole and go back to sleep.
Oh you mean the intellectual remark she makes …. “you reporters have no idea who we (the free world) are up against ….. ‘evil’ ….
Evil?!… does she mean the ‘biblical’ type of evil? … gawd grow up … stop believing in Santa Claus and other biblical fairy tales … get some psychological help for you utter fear based way of living … get real … read something other then right wing crap …. get some education on world affairs and world history ….
Deb from PA is dummer than a cindercrete block!
I suppose that is a “concrete cinder block” you are referring to.
If I may, I would like to capsulize the alleged “controversial” editorial so we can see that it is not “controversy” just more anti-intellecual Canadian hack editorializing…lazy as hell in finding facts and prone to regurgitate partisan mantras and cleverly disguise them as “news” or “informed opinion”.
What they actually said:
The US is an evil imperialist military gun culture that is ruining the world for the hero-worker class of the glorious global socialist revolution.
Harper, McKay and all conservatives are poo-poo heads and dupes of the military industrial complex…end of editorial.
… and after Deb from PA is done with the psychologist, the next in line should be WL Mackenzie because his/her irrational fear of boogey men (who he/she calls ‘socialists’) is critical for their own emotional well being.
Grow up WL!
Good job, Deb!
Some won’t read, since they have their minds made up.
This lady, (Maryam Rajavi), from Iran has huge support from many democratic countries, especially the Council of Europe, yet what do we know of her and her group?
Living in Iran is no picnic, as can be seen from the many links:
http://www.maryam-rajavi.org/
http://www.iran.mojahedin.org/pagesEn/index.aspx
http://www.iran.mojahedin.org/pagesEn/Newsdetails.aspx?newsid=1237
http://www.maryam-rajavi.com/content/blogcategory/103/75/
LD, what I referred to as evil were things such as the murder of Theo Can Gough, 9-11, the assissination of Ms Bhutto, the bombings in Bali, NY, London, and the lesser-reported ones that occur almost daily; I could add the execution of homosexuals in Iran; this things cited are all evil, why can;t you acknowledge that?
He can’t acknowledge that, and he can’t move beyond meaningless ad hominem, because he lacks the ability to form an argument based on fact and reason.
Deb … you are extremely SELECTIVE in what you label as ‘evil’ …. maybe take a look a bit closer to home and you will be surprised at what kinds of domestic home grown North American ‘evil’ you find!
In Leftdogs world of relative moralism there is no such thing as evil Deb. Well I guess we will all get to see if our thoughts and ideas hold water when we croak. Please until then leftdog can you not just form at least one coherrant thought without the name calling and arrogant”I know better” attitude.Calling names is oh so childish. Please try to inform the debate.
Deb, he can’t acknowledge it because he simply can’t see it. It is all just propaganda by the evil USA you see.
You won’t convince them no matter what proof you produce. (not the literal you of course)
I think it was Mark Twain who said, “If you don’t read the newspapers you are uninformed, if you do read the newspapers you are misinformed.” Today we have the cult of celebrities to tell us what to think after all they were in a movie about it so they must know what’s best.
I support our service men and women without question. I support our current Federal Government. The powers in Canada may defeat Steven Harper, but he is a singular example of a “fine” leader.
The need to support folks around the world is a fundamental pillar of a mature society. What I have not been able to come to terms with is; Given the tribal culture of the people over there, how do we get them to progress (by hundreds of years) in such a short period of time? Can people who live in tribal cultures set in the middle ages be allowed to have “the bomb”? We risk our civilization and our future if we get these answers wrong.
I sure don’t have the answers to these questions and partisan rhetoric doesn’t cover it.
The disgusting and simplistic
noise from layton/dion and their media buddies will undermine our Nation.
[deleted – read the rules about using the comments for chat/flamewars. That goes for everyone. ED]
melwide wrote:
“Can people who live in tribal cultures set in the middle ages be allowed to have “the bomb”? We risk our civilization and our future if we get these answers wrong”
Good point mel. However you know what the answer will be from our deep thinking leftist. “Why shouldn’t they have the bomb, after all who is the only country to actually use the bomb on another country, not once, but twice.”
“Deb, he can’t acknowledge it because he simply can’t see it.”
He can’t even debate without resorting to name calling or saying “grow up”
Objectively, being “left wing” does not of itself make “leftdog’s” political perspective any more cogent than that of “deb from PA.”
bush and his minions sucked everyone into their weapons of mass destruction sideshow and now, even as his own intelligence informs him that iran poses no threat, bush chomps at the bit waiting to sacrifice more innocent lives.
mackay and the rest of his pro-bush govt have given up on formulating actual foreign policy and simply spit out the line from washington.
it’s truly shameful that those in ottawa have given up on critical thinking in favour of parroting american foreign policy.
the most consistent hypocrisy found among kate mcmillan and her devotees is their willingness to reject the MSM the second the message differs from right-wing ideology. yet,they cling to the very same messengers when the message suits.
“mackay and the rest of his pro-bush govt have given up on formulating actual foreign policy and simply spit out the line from washington.”
and you couldn’t have possibly been duped into “swallowing the line” from say, Tehran, Moscow, Caracas, et al now, would you?
dumbass
Only the devil uses quote marks when using the word evil.
Oh, and also leftists.
connect the dots.
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/iraq/956-tni.htm
I love the headline: “Iran Is Not Our Nation’s Problem;” and this little gem from the text: “…one must wonder if MacKay’s sources are our own, or are tainted by U.S. input….”
Ideological axe grinding, much? Sanctimonious, head-in-the-sand, isolationist pap of the sort I used to get in my old college newspaper. The Herald might have had the sense to publish WLMR’s Reader’s Digest version; it at least the merits of pith and readability.
I have just deleted nine comments from this thread, after issuing a warning that the comments section is not to be used for chat or flamewars. I’ll close them off completely if this rule is not respected – by everyone.
The comments are most interesting, starting with Deb – an informed, rational woman. Followed by Ken – an emasculated, lobotomized male (?) from Ontario. Then a couple of Muslim taqiyya experts (comissioned and practiced liars) weigh in. One with this inane piece of evidence:
Ismael from Ontario writes: “Deb, I was in Iran this summer and I was in a city called Orumiyeh were there was a christian village over looking the city. Muslims are only allowed to travel through the village on saturdays leaving the christians to do and worship as they please without having to wear the traditional muslim dress. And I saw at least two churches and one synagogue in the city, this is in a city of about 600,000. In Tehran there were many more. And this is a country that oppresses christians and jews? Once again you are an ignorant fool.”
Followed by the classicly Liberal smear:
Ken from Ontario writes: “Deb, I, and probably most people who read your comments realize you sound so angry.”
Then a Muslim, or dhimmi, posing as a Scotsman writes:
Andrew from Scotland writes: “The only true martyrs are the palestinians, the weakest state, fighting against the strongest entity. I give them all the due respect but I will never be able to understand their sorrow.”
Finally, either a moderate Muslim, or an apostate writes:
Ali from Stockholm, Stockholm writes: “Then you have Iran. Leaders that deny women the very basic rights they should have. Leaders who without any exaguration values them half compared to men. Leaders who masskilled political opponents only for their views (over 300 000) and still does.
Leaders who believe a muslim savior (Mahdi) will come to clean the world from infidels once and for all. The list can go on for a while and their Sharia law as well.
There might be churches and synagoges in Iran. However, all of them are strictly under supervision and if they would be enjoying exactly the same rights as Iranians there would still be around one million jews left in the country as of just 25 000 today. Can you guess what would happen if a muslim would convert to Christianity? Please keep defending Islam my muslim friends…”
To cap it all off, leftdog weighs in on this thread proving that in the league of moonbats, feelings trump facts and ad hominem attacks trump all.
Is this the war of ideas? If it is, it seems pretty lopsided to me. The one side has logic and reason supported by historical facts. The other side has feelings and ignorance supported by invective.
Who is stronger: Mahdi or Moshiah?
Leftdog, who ever said that the US was lily-white? You’re arguing a point that isn’t in question and providing facts to something that isn’t in dispute.
I don’t see anyone on the right claiming that the US is, was or will be perfectly honourable…they may not be “lily-white”, but they certainly not “black”, more like beige or a pale grey. However, a country that has openly declared for genocide can objectively be referred to as “black-hearted” (using the colour analogy). If you can’t see that, it is because you lack basic intelligence.
The point was…Iran is supplying weaponry to the Taliban NOW while the Taliban is in armed conflict against NATO. Therefore, they have taken up sides against NATO and, by extension, Canada…in essence, they have declared war against us.
As for the Americans supplying the Taliban with weapons when they were in conflict with the USSR, the fact was the US and USSR were already, in effect, at war (remember the term “the Cold War”?) and the US was supporting an enemy of their enemy (the AFGHANI’s, not necessarily the Taliban). Ditto with Iraq.
Were mistakes made by the US in the past? Yes and they’ll make more in the future! But they stand on the side of freedom and democracy against those who wish to deny freedom and democracy…I’ll side with freedom and democracy over enslavement and theocracy, while you will continue to support enslavement and theocracy.
You and your ilk disgust me.
I’m very sorry, Kate…I pressed “Post” before seeing your latest directive. I’ll cease and desist.
Kate – you certainly wouldn’t want any of your readers to read what I wrote about [deleted. I’m a fascist. It’s one of the perks. ED]
Trolls;
IMO, if one must respond, (and sometimes we must) do not use the trolls name. That is what the trolls want most. To see their name stirring the sh** — only useful[sic] purpose they have.
Just use logical arguments to discuss Kate’s post. The point of sda in the first place. 99% of the time the trolls will be put back under the bridge.
A response to the troll is NOT important. What IS important —- the thousands of daily visitors here seeing the media and trolls having their folly exposed.
Many of you are very capable of easily disecting their rants. More so than most MSM journalists are. But, please, for Kate’s sake, do not belabour it.
What I find interesting is that the ‘ultimate of trolls’, the Travers, the Galloways, the Kinsellas, the Yaffes, the Simpsons, the Fifes, the Olivers, the Van Dusens and the Boags of the world do not even try to defend their columns. We know that they are lurking here. The only ones I remember responding here are Kinsella and Wells. (smoking hole) Many of us have had correspondence from the ‘biggies’ —- in my experience they defended themselves even less well than the trolls here.
Hopefully,people are burning newspapers on the lawns of Prince Albert as we speak.
How good of “Ken from Ontario” to enlighten all of us cowboys and rednecks out here in the west.
He needn’t have bothered putting in the “from Ontario”. We probably would have guessed that on our own. Toronto, perhaps?
Nice post Ron. Bang on. Love to rip more than a few of these “progressive” goofs a new one..but for what. However, there is aways a chance that an epiphany will take place and core beliefs are shattered and re built. Chris Hitchens would be an excellent example. It can happen.
Nobody has yet mentioned how HIzb’allah in Lebanon can be directly traced to Iran, so I’ll mention it now.
To quote ???: Peace cannot be defined as the absence of war, rather it is the absence of threat.
For a daily list of atrocities performed by Islamic nutbars, just go to http://www.thereligionofpeace.com
This, my friends, is the real threat to world peace.
The US may be naive and misguided in its foreign policy, but it has a history of standing up to oppressors and oppresive ideas, especially in the 20th century.
Islamic nutbars are the biggest threat to world peace today, despite what our moral equivalence friends would like to hide their eyes from.
I am a blog reader. Without me, blogs are obscure diaries. I have what bloggers want: eyeballs.
Three years ago Canadian newspapers didn’t have comment sections for their online editions. They do now.
Commenting at blogs isn’t worth the hassle anymore, not when a superior product exists in the form of talkback section of MSM sites. The troll factor is much lower at MSM sites as compared to blogs. The readership is orders of magnitude greater than the blogsphere and the level of discussion is higher, albeit marginally.
Canadian blog commenters – left and right – appear capable of making two and only two arguments, ever. Nothing else is possible. One argument is “that’s stupid” and the other is “you’re crazy”. You don’t get that at the Globe and Mail comment section.
Why bother with the middleman anyway? 95% of all blog posts consist of a blogger referencing an article in the MSM to begin with, so why not just comment at the National Post website which has a much higher readership to begin with? Bloggers don’t add any value – indeed, they subtract value by dumbing down the narrative.
I predict zero growth for the obsolete Canadian blogsphere in 2008.
“you certainly wouldn’t want any of your readers to read what I wrote about how the USA gave guns to what is now the Taliban to fight the Russians after 1976!”
Charlie Wilson’s War. Have you ever read it? Or, are we to assume that your scholarly writings are more historically accurate?
Leftards bring feelings and invective to a debate the same way Indians used to bring bows and arrows to a gunfight. The difference is the Indians learned.
Which truth, Lefty? Did you seriously believe that we did not know how Americans armed Taliban? LOL buddy!
Gank:
Off you go then.
[deleted. Just because I enjoy making an example out of you. ED]
Gank – you make an assumption that’s common to big media. You assume “we” (whatever that means) are attempting to take their place.
I will direct you to the following:
http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2007/08/dead-animals-large-and-small.html
Blogging isn’t about catching eyeballs. It’s about driving them.
In the meanwhile, enjoy those dead tree comments sections while you can; if current circulation/ad revenue trajectories continue, most are headed to the dustbin of media history.
Which makes your choice of the word “obsolete” rather ironic, to say the least.
There are two questions Leftdog and other leftards will not honestly answer.
In all of recorded history, with one exception, every militarily strong country has kicked the snot out of any neighbour who did not have a strong military. Once they kicked the snot out their neighbours they took their natural resources, art and any other items of value that could be transported.
Q1) Which powerful country did not kick the snot out of their militarily weak neighbour and take their stuff?
A1)United States of American (Canada 1867 Ltd.)
Q2) Name one socialist utopia that did not immediately halt freedom of the press once they had attainted power?
A2) None
With respect to Question 1) the leftards will under no circumstances acknowledge the unprecedented pacifistic nature of the US with respect to Canada and will invariable say something infantile such as “why should the US take Canadian resources when they give them to us for free”. The price of free Canadian oil is now around $100 a barrel which pays the wlfare payments for Leftdog and his army of non-working whiners.
With respect to Question 2) the leftards will not even throw up an infantile argument because even their beloved Amnesty International says this is true in every instance.
It must be hard to be an American-hating leftard when your premises are just wrong. But Leftdog and his ilk either fail to see the truth or refuse to see the truth. If ignorance is bliss we will not have to wish Leftdog and his crew a happy New Year.
The worst commenters BY FAR are found (let through) at the MSM sites.
By design ?
So Kate, I take it that you’re not a spoil-the-dog type…
So the editorial from the PA Daily Herald is a bit of a rant from someone who has a definite left slant but it is in the “Editorial” section and as such should be taken with a grain of salt (preferably not kosher). What I found disturbing is the ferosity that the leftoids (for lack of a better term) come out of the woodwork to blame Bush, global warming and anything else rather than have a discussion. Ad homen attacks abound.
Fact is that the Commander of all NATO in Afganistan has said that there are weapons coming from Iran and on such a scale that Iranian authorities not knowing is pretty unlikely. The fact that Minister MacKay reports these facts to the Canadian MSM all of a sudden makes him a Bush puppet? I hope that President Bush states that the law of gravity is a fact just so we can see all the leftoids flying out into space rather than agree with Bush.
The fact that most major media organizations are bad bad bad is not in question. Daily, they are proven fraudulent —- they do not even try to openly defend themselves.
But why ? Why do they go down this road ?
Is it because major media organizations, in Canada and around the world, are under the thumb of Reuters and AP (Associated Press) ?
Tow the media culture line or loose the “free” feed ?
It is as if all news stories have the same slant — within minutes of an event happening. Anywhere in the world.
A case of ‘if-all-the-reporting-is-identical-it-will-appear-to-be-the-truth-even-if-it-is-not’ ?
A small, independent news organization simply cannot survive without a Reuters, AP feed. Think Western Standard. Am I wrong ?
“if current circulation/ad revenue trajectories continue, most are headed to the dustbin of media history.”
I direct your attention to the following:
“CanWest Global Communi-cations Corp. posted an 18% increase in earnings in the fourth quarter, with full-year operating profit at the company’s Canadian television operations nearly doubling.
Operating profits were $77-million in the fourth quarter, up from $65-million in the corresponding quarter a year earlier. Net earnings rose to $197-million ($1.11 per share) from $155-million.
…
“All our operations showed marked improvement over the previous year, with Canadian television maintaining its momentum vis-a-vis its audience share versus its competitors in Canada,” said Leonard Asper, chief executive of CanWest.
“Last year was an improvement over the year before, and this year is an improvement over last year,” Mr. Asper told analysts on a conference call.
On the call with analysts, Mr. Asper said the National Post trimmed its EBITDA loss by 20% in the most recent fiscal year. Executives said advertising revenue had increased by 5% to 6%, which helped results at the publishing division. Publishing across the chain recorded an annual operating profit of $269-million, up 8% from $248-million in fiscal 2006.
http://www.financialpost.com/Story.html?id=75353