Thanks to the many readers who mentioned this – dead at 80.
Mark Steyn;
George Jonas was a refugee – a genuine one, from Communist Hungary. He was standing outside the US Embassy in Vienna, where the line stretched around the block. A friend came strolling by, spotted George and said he’d just been at the Canadian Embassy, where there was no queue and you could get a visa in ten minutes.
George was resistant. “But I don’t know anything about Canada.”
“What’s to know?” said his chum. “It’s next door to America and run by the Queen of England.”
He became a better Canadian than the new Trudeaupia deserved.
“He became a better Canadian than the new Trudeaupia deserved.”
Ain’t that the truth. Like a lot of guys and gals from the communist shit-holes, he never took his freedoms for granted – and he was perplexed that our home-grown slorks do.
R.I.P. George, I really appreciated his columns over the many decades and could identify with him and his background. He will be missed.
Trudeaupia long term will create the refugee that George was. Not many places left to go to.
One of many fine columns by Jonas:
http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/george-jonas-the-nonsense-kids-learn-in-school
Please CBC, don’t let your readers read this story from the UK.
Baroness Cox used an example of a man who wanted a doctor to perform an illegal operation on his wife so he could sell her to a Pakistani man who would marry her and receive a British passport.
She said there are approximately 100,000 Islamic marriages in the UK which are not registered with the civil authorities.
She revealed: ‘A consultant gynaecologist described to me a request from a 63 year- old man for a repair of the hymen of his 23 year-old wife.
‘The gynaecologist refused as this is an illegal operation, whereupon the man became intensely angry, claiming that doctors in his town, not far from London, frequently undertake this operation under another name.
‘He wanted this surgical procedure for his wife in order to take her back to their country of origin to marry another man. Her next husband could then obtain a visa to enter the UK. He would probably abuse and then divorce his wife and marry another or more wives here.
‘The man who asked for this operation said that he earned about £10,000 for effecting this arrangement, which was very helpful as he was unemployed. Such shocking cases surely cannot be allowed to continue.
‘The rights of Muslim women and the rule of the law of our land must be upheld.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3391501/Crown-judge-rule-sharia-cases-court-set-hardline-cleric-led-demonstration-against-Charlie-Hebdo.html#ixzz3wzAeuxW7
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G Jonas was a Canadian, D Bowie was British. Canada was the lucky country, we had the better of the 2. RIP George
We’re also fortunate that Hungary didn’t send us George Soros. If he’d just mind his own business.
Him, I’m going to miss.
(David Bowie excelled amongst pop stars but if he hadn’t been doing his stuff people would have been just as happy idolizing another pop star only half as good.)
Many years ago I was engaged in a discussion with a friend who asked, “Have you ever met a stupid Hungarian?” “No” I replied. “Neither have I” he said.
I thought of that conversation many times over the years while reading Jonas. He could reduce a problem to absolute simple terms with clear solutions. His distain for communism and totalitarianism was never out of sight. He knew the cost of embracing nonsense.
When next Hungarian refugees are in need of a new homeland I’m going to sponsor as many as possible.
David Warren offers an affectionate remembrance of George Jonas here:
http://www.davidwarrenonline.com/2016/01/11/george-jonas/
Amen to that!
Captcha: 911 Weird?
As long as it is not another George Soros, as he has caused enough sorrows.
One of my joys of the day was reading Mark and George in the new NP.
When I was on vacation in Hungary last year there were communist unions putting up photo displays in public places showing the ‘good old days’ under communism when there was no unemployment and free family summer camps. And there seemed to be people feeling nostalgic about those days. So maybe there are stupid Hungarians. They do seem to remember their many battles with Muslims, however.
Rest in peace. I almost always read George Jonas’s columns and I usually agreed with everything he said.
Will miss him
nv53 — I didn’t always agree with George, but I learned that if I disagreed with him, I was probably going to find out I was wrong sooner or later.
I will miss that mind.
This man was a refugee who defended liberty for all, a man of letters.
His book Vengence, is a classic on which the movie Munich was based.
His National Post columns should be re-issued as a book!
He was a true and honourable Canadian. R.I.P.
After Steyn left the NP, Jonas was the only reason I kept my now long gone subscription.
“Canada’s greatest public intellectual”, indeed.
Read anything he’s written and then try to get through a John Ralston Saul, Maggie Attwood, Andrew Coyne regurgitation.
With George now gone, it just dawned on me to question why I even receive the N.P. any more. It has, of late, moved so far to the left that it can hardly be differentiated from the Van Sun or the other holdings of Post Media. I always preferred turning the pages of my newspaper to opening the laptop, but now, it seems there may be no alternative; so SDA and a few other sympathetic sites seem the only alternative!