A "proper little Canadian lefty"

Wonderful words from Christie Blatchford in the Globe and Mail:

The most wonderful thing about the Lesley Hughes story is not that Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion finally asked her to step down yesterday [Sept. 26], or her odd beliefs that the 9/11 attacks were an inside job and that the war in Afghanistan is the result of "lengthy failed negotiations between American business and the Taliban over access to drugs and oil [oil!?!}," or even her bewildered, injured insistence yesterday that her firing "is so incredibly unjust."

No, what is wonderful is that Ms. Hughes has had such a good go of being such a proper little Canadian lefty (I rarely use words like this, but there ain't no other way to describe her) that I have no doubt she's genuinely bewildered.

She's played by all the rules as she knew them, embraced all (well, okay, almost all, the Sept. 11 conspiracy theory, being a shade out there) the right causes, and what, now this kick in the teeth?

Not even a Raging Granny, one of those women who with hideous regularity show up at protests and the like to sing hideous ditties, could have summoned up greater righteous indignation.

As a perfect illustration of the peculiar sort of Canadianness Ms. Hughes seems to embody was what she said yesterday when a TV reporter broke the news to her that Mr. Dion was giving her the boot, and then, it being television, asked her how she felt.

"I guess this is how soldiers die in trenches, eh?" she said. "This is how it must feel."

Only a particular kind of Canadian woman of a certain age who has spent her life in the safe and cozy confines of Winnipeg, making a decent living and reputation as a caring social activist and never coming within a hair of a battlefield could compare her suffering as a cruelly aborted Liberal candidate to that of a dying soldier...

Kate McMillan a nicely acid post on the role bloggers played--compared to the major media--in Ms Hughes' downfall. Meanwhile, the NDP has its own troofer troubles (surprised?), and the Greens have their own problems in comprehending terrorism--a post by Robert Jago (via Terry Glavin):

Green Party candidates on the record: “Is Hezbollah a terrorist organization”?

And take a look at Norman Spector's THE COLUMN I’M GLAD I DIDN’T WRITE.

Mark C.

Dion's message deficit

As if the Liberals didn't have enough problems already, one of their most effective talking points has been neutered:

After skirting a deficit early in this fiscal year, the Canada's Finance Department reported Friday that Ottawa posted a healthy surplus for the month of July. As a result, the federal government has now surpassed its own surplus target for the current fiscal year, with eight months remaining in the 12-month period.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement that the numbers prove the Conservatives are best equipped to handle the economic turmoil that is rocking global markets.

[...]

However, the Finance Department data indicate that government spending has increased, whereas income from corporate taxes and the GST has dropped.

According to the latest instalment of the department's Fiscal Monitor, Ottawa posted a surplus of $1.69 billion for July, compared to $1.14 billion in year-ago period.

For the April to July period, Ottawa recorded a surplus of $2.9 billion. In the last budget, the Conservative government had projected a surplus for the 2008-09 year of $2.3 billion. Moreover, the government raised $4.25 billion from the sale of wireless spectrum to incumbent and would-be cellphone providers that was not accounted for in the budget.

For the first two months of the fiscal year, Ottawa had a $517-million deficit. In June, it recorded a $1.74-billion surplus.

Dion can still argue that the surplus would be higher, if not for the Conservatives' tax cuts. But with Canadians already uneasy about the Green Shift - a "carbon tax," as the Tories have branded it - is that the message he should be sending right now?

Damian P.

The strange death of Liberal Canada?

One is beginning to wonder; two opinions and the gaffe-response of the day (plus some sods and odds):

Lorne Gunter:

Left wing hits a prism and scatters

Imploding Liberals could actually end up in third place

Don Martin:

Liberal fortress under siege

Gaffe-reponse:

Dion ditches candidate over remarks about 9-11

Gaffer's response:

[...]

"It is completely stunning and unjust," Hughes said, reading a copy of the Liberal statement given to her by reporters. She said she had been campaigning all morning and had not been contacted by the party...

Poor Jason. Here's a book he might consider reading.

More from Terry Glavin:

The Single Most Bizarre Sentence Uttered In The Federal Election Campaign So Far

...this is, easily, far and away the most disgraceful example of tortured grammar and bent logic occurring within a single non-statement that has been uttered by a politician in the current election campaign to date: “I find any interpretation of my journalism as anti-Semitic personally offensive and I heartily apologize for that perception.”..

Terry goes on to deal with Jack Layton:

On at least three public occasions, rather than treat the Truthers as the deluded menace they are, Layton has slobbered on their slippers. He has grovelled before them and nurtured their delusions by assuring them the NDP is taking their literature seriously, and Layton has further professed to them his abiding friendship with Canada's high priest of 911-Truth Conspiracy, Barrie Zwicker...

Meanwhile, one of my bêtes noires is doing his bit for Alberta independence:

A star NDP candidate in Vancouver, saying climate change means his two sons may never see polar bears in the wild, called Thursday for the shutdown of Alberta's oilsands.

"We have to do something to address the climate change crisis, we need to do so now," said Michael Byers, the NDP candidate in the key battleground riding of Vancouver Centre.

"We need to go after the big polluters, we need to shut the tarsands down."..

John Robson deals with the gaffe explosion in the Ottawa Citizen, and makes this interesting observation about the US presidential campaign:

[...]

The most interesting case thus far this fall is the amazing howler by Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden in a September 22 CBS puffball "Exclusive" full of hard-hitting journalistic observations from Katie Couric like "Relating to the fears of the average American is one of Biden's strong suits" and "You say what's on your mind and I think people appreciate that." After claiming the Republicans will take things he says out of context (but "If I have to go parse through every single thing that I'm gonna say then I'm not me"), Mr. Biden illustrated his concept of true leadership with, "When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, 'look, here's what happened.'"

Well, yes. Except Roosevelt wasn't president at the time and there was no commercial television. If Sarah Palin had said it, she'd have been pilloried for cluelessness, and rightly so. But isn't it at least as bad for Biden, put on the Democratic ticket expressly for his knowledge and experience, having been first elected to the Senate in 1972, roughly half-way between the actual inauguration of Roosevelt in 1933 and that interview? It's peculiar, in fact, that the high-priced talent at CBS didn't notice this oopsie while filming, editing and airing the segment. After all, the fact that Republicans were in power when the Depression hit had a huge impact on American politics for the next 50 years and you'd think they'd know that and so should Biden...

Finally, the quote of the day, from Dr Dawg: "...Things are getting downright surrealistic around here."

Mark C.

Sodden footware

A letter in the Ottawa Citizen, Sept. 26:

Areas of dispute

Re: Boots on tundra, Sept. 23.

Letter-writer Bob Lidstone writes that "Simply put, a failure on Canada's part to put our boots on our Arctic tundra will inevitably result in someone else's being there." Hardly.

Mr. Lidstone has fallen victim to the efforts of the Conservative government to stoke jingoistic fervour [for example] over the north. In fact no one except the Danes (Hans Island) has any claim on any Canadian land in the north. Foreign countries are about as likely to invade the north as they are to invade Newfoundland.

The areas of dispute are the status in maritime law of the Northwest Passage; the maritime boundary in the Beaufort Sea between the U.S. and Canada; and the economic rights to the Arctic seabed in offshore areas beyond various countries' coastal 320-kilometre exclusive economic zones.

Boots on the tundra will be of little help in asserting Canadian claims in any of these cases.

Mark Collins,
Ottawa

Mark C.

"Israelites"

The "witchcraft" stuff is getting all the attention, but I think this is the part that will cause real problems for Sarah Palin:

...It is high time that we have top Christian businessmen, businesswomen, bankers, you know, who are men and women of integrity, running the economics of our nations. That’s what we are waiting for. That’s part and parcel of transformation. If you look at the Israelites, you know, that’s how they won. And that’s how they are, even today. When we will see that, you know, the talk transport us in the lands. We see, you know, the bankers. We see the people holding the paths. They are believers. We will not have the kind of corruption that we are hearing in our societies [emphasis added]

It sounds like a milder version of what Ahmadinejad said to the United Nations (which makes you wonder when Juan Cole will start making excuses for it, but that's another post). Add this to what, from all indications, was a disastrous interview with Katie Couric, and I think we can definitely say the Palin bubble has burst. Only Andrew Sullivan and Daily Kos can save her now.

Damian P.

The law takes its course

A case made:

Evidence of terror group 'overwhelming,' judge rules in finding youth guilty

Mark C.

Update: "Reporting" by Colin Freeze in the Globe and Mail, Sept. 26:

The Canadian Crown has, for the first time, successfully prosecuted a crime designated as an act of terrorism, thanks to the wide net cast by new laws.

[...]

Despite the marginal nature of the case...

Opinion from Christie Blatchford in the same paper:

...as Mr. Justice John Sproat of the Ontario Superior Court said yesterday in a lengthy judgment drenched in common sense, "The evidence that a terrorist group headed by [two men whose names can't be used] is overwhelming."

[...]

The unpalatable, unwanted, much-resisted verdict is in and it will shock only those who could never bring themselves to face the truth: There really were Canadian boys and men actively plotting to do damage on Canadian soil and to the "near enemy," as they charmingly called the rest of us...

Difference?

Two senators are running to be US president...

...yet, as far as I can see, neither is central to the Congressional considerations of the financial bailout. If Barack Obama and John McCain aren't relevant enough to be included at the core of the Capitol discussions (note also Sen. Obama's and Sen. McCain's committee memberships), why in heaven's name should either be taken seriously for the presidency? Other than the inconvenient reality that they are the candidates...

Mark C.

Vacation

We're spending a few days in New England, so posting will be light until October 1.

A travel tip: if you're driving across New Brunswick, where the Trans-Canada Highway conveniently bypasses everything worth seeing, take the River Valley Scenic Drive (the old TCH) from Jemseg to Kings Landing. There might be a more beautiful drive in Canada, but I'm stumped to think of one at the moment.

Damian P.

Another Troofer candidate

Bad news, Mr. Cherniak...

Damian P.

Our horribly biased media

They're not supporting the Liberals enough, including the "bad journalists" at the Globe and Mail.

Mark C.

The Millen era ends

Yes, Lions fans, he's really gone. But as long as the Ford family owns the team, I suggest you not get your hopes up too high.

Damian P.

D'oh!

Talk about a "culture killer." How to destroy what audience Canadian TV networks have:

Jack Layton reverted to type yesterday in Quebec City, picking up his guitar, strumming the sovereigntist anthem Gens du Pays and promising to protect the arts by mandating that an NDP government will ensure all prime-time television carried by Canadian networks is made in Canada. No more trash like Mad Men, 30 Rock or John Adams -- we will instead be force-fed quality programming like Canada's Next Top Model and reruns of The Littlest Hobo.

This was classic "loony left" stuff from the party that discussed introducing a trans-gender day of remembrance, nationalizing Canada's primary industries and withdrawing from NORAD, NAFTA and the WTO at its last policy convention.

The attack on Stephen Harper as a "culture killer" was a calculated tilt toward urban left voters -- the Dippers are seeking to steal support from the foundering Bloc Quebecois in Quebec and the listing Liberals in English Canada...

Mark C.

Hummering a new tune

The General is kissing hyper-macho goodbye.

Also, would you want these shares if you saw long-term prospects for Chrysler?

Mark C.

Economists against the bailout

The most important line in this petition, in my opinion: "we ask Congress not to rush, to hold appropriate hearings, and to carefully consider the right course of action, and to wisely determine the future of the financial industry and the U.S. economy for years to come." (emphasis added)

I might be convinced that this bailout is necessary to avoid an even worse outcome down the road, but the mad scramble to get it passed - even bearing in mind the severity of the financial crisis - is unseemly and unnerving.

Damian P.

Liberals running on Conservative policies

You read that correctly. It's true in some cases, as Lorne Gunter demonstrates in the National Post (via Norman's Spectator):

[...]

For instance, the Liberals have made a great deal since this campaign began about their $70-billion plan to rebuild Canada's infrastructure.

You and I probably think they mean $70-billion for better roads, bridges, rail links, border crossings and airports to get people and commerce moving. They are probably thinking new community centres and ethnic halls in every Liberal-friendly suburb at which their MPs can turn up for ribbon-cuttings and photo-ops.

But whatever they have in mind, the Liberals admitted Monday they would spend no more money on infrastructure during their first term in office than the Conservative government has already earmarked.

In a conference call with Liberal candidates and community activists on Monday morning, finance critic John McCallum admitted: "Over the first four years, we will spend $22-billion in infrastructure; same as the Conservatives will spend. This has zero budgetary implication over four years. We escalate it at 10% per year from years four to 10.

"We will make infrastructure a very high priority." But not, apparently, until they have been re-elected in 2012.

Canadians would have to elect the Libs twice to get any additional infrastructure spending.

Ditto on defence. If Canadians elect the Liberals, in their first term the Grits will merely parrot what the Conservatives have already committed to. Their policy manual itself admits "A Liberal government will remain committed to the money allocated in the fiscal framework to the Canadian Forces over the coming four years." Only after the Natural Governing Party has been back in office for a full majority term will it do what it wants to the military, which, if its last 12 years in office were any indication, would be bleeding our army, navy and air force dry...

Mark C.

As long as we're facetiously accusing people of being fascist...

Naomi Wolf is famous for encouraging Al Gore to wear earth tones. You know who else wore earth tones?

Damian P.

Electric Chryslers

An all-electric Dodge sports car, and hybrid Jeeps and minivans, will reportedly be ready in 2010. I really hope Chrysler can pull this off, but I can't shake this nagging feeling the electric Dodge, at least, is designed primarily to show off to Congressmen and Senators considering a bailout...

Damian P.

Dippers and troofers

Jason Cherniak (gasp!) may be on to something--the Liberal/NDP bunfight is getting serious:

Is Jack Layton supporting 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists?

Mark C.

"Pierre Elliott Trudeau: Swinger..."

That's what it says at the CBC, so it must be true. Colby Cosh chides a respected commentator along similar lines:

Corrections I'd like to see dep't

Michael Bliss's September 23 Financial Post column about the American credit crisis contained a reference to "the personally ascetic prime minister, Pierre Trudeau". The phrase should have read "the personally ascetic prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, who was a jet-setting nightclub and discotheque fixture throughout his career, favoured expensively tailored clothing, married a 22-year-old woman (one he had met in Tahiti) at the age of 51, dated Barbra Streisand and Liona Boyd on the cusp of turning 60, and fathered a child out of wedlock at 71". The Post regrets the error.

Which just goes to show you, historians can't get it right all the time.

Mark C.

Just in case you missed this...

...since our media do not appear to have reported it:

SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCE IN AFGHANISTAN FOR ONE YEAR, SEEKS REINFORCEMENTS TO BOOST SECURITY

The resolution passed unanimously; note from the preamble:

[...]

“Reiterating its support for the continuing endeavours by the Afghan Government, with the assistance of the international community, including ISAF and the Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) coalition, to improve the security situation and to continue to address the threat posed by the Taliban, Al-Qaida and other extremist groups, and stressing in this context the need for sustained international efforts, including those of ISAF and the OEF coalition...

“Welcoming the continued coordination between ISAF and the OEF coalition, and the cooperation established between ISAF and the European Union presence in Afghanistan, in particular its police mission (EUPOL Afghanistan)...

I wonder what Jack Layton and Elizabeth May, who both want our troops out quickly, might have to say in response to the Security Council's resolution. Meanwhile, the US is really focusing on Afghanistan now:

Bush Administration Reviews Its Afghanistan Policy, Exposing Points of Contention

But it will take some time do more:

U.S. has no more troops for Afghan war until spring

And here's a creative idea, though I doubt politically saleable in Pakistan at this time:

U.S., Afghans and Pakistanis Consider Joint Military Force

Mark C.

Obama over McCain?

It would seem George Will is leaning that way--the conclusion of a rather forensic column:

It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?

Mark C.

Good question

The Atlantic's Steven Landsburg on the bailout:

What's clear is that a bunch of financial institutions have made mistakes and lost money. What's unclear is why anyone (other than the owners and managers) should care. People make mistakes and lose money all the time. Restaurants fail, grocery stores fail, gas stations fail. People pick the wrong stocks, they buy the wrong cars, and they marry the wrong spouses without turning to the Treasury for bailouts.

So what's special about banks? According to what I keep reading, it's that without banks, nobody can borrow, and the economy grinds to a halt.

Well, let's think about that. Banks don't lend their own money; they lend other people's (their depositors' and their stockholders'). Just because the banks disappear doesn't mean the lenders will. Borrowers will still want to borrow and lenders will still want to lend. The only question is whether they'll be able to find each other.

That's one reason I feel squeamish about the official pronouncements we've been getting. They tell us bank failures will make it hard to borrow but never that bank failures will make it hard to lend. But every borrower is paired with a lender, so it's odd to state the problem so asymmetrically. This makes me suspect that the official pronouncers have not entirely thought this thing through.

[...]

In other words, I'm not sure these big Wall Street banks are really necessary, and I'm not sure we'd miss them much if they were gone. Maybe there's something I'm missing, but if so, I think it should be incumbent on Messrs. Bernanke, Paulson and above all Bush to explain what it is.

Ilya Somin, at The Volokh Conspiracy, chimes in:

Ultimately the key question is this: why shouldn't these banks be treated like any other business whose management has displayed bad judgment and lost a great deal of money as a result? Capitalism works because we insist that businesses bear the cost of their own losses, a process that gives them strong incentives to make good decisions and transfers their wealth to others with better judgment if they persist in screwing up anyway (as the big banks have done in this case). Perhaps really big banks are somehow special and deserve bailouts that we would deny to other businesses. But there is a heavy burden of proof on those who claim that this alleged specialness really exists and that it justifies hundreds of billions of dollars in public expenditures, unchecked executive power, and unprecedented control of the economy by the federal government. Like Landsburg, I am skeptical that the burden has been met.

Damian P.

Palin and "rape kits"

PolitiFact looks into the controversy:

...We found the truth is murky. Although Wasilla had such a “rape kit” policy while Palin was mayor, there is no evidence that she explicitly endorsed the policy. But nor have we found any evidence that she opposed it.

The policy sought to have rape victims’ health insurance companies reimburse the city for the $500 to $1,200 cost of a forensic exam that is conducted after a sexual assault. Presumably, some of the cost might have been passed along to the victim through requirements for deductibles or co-payments, although victim advocates say they don’t know of anyone in the small town who had to pay such a fee.

The policy generated little if any controversy during the first four years after Palin became mayor in 1996. Anne Kilkenny, a civic activist in Wasilla who has written a widely circulated e-mail criticizing Palin, told PolitiFact she does not recall that the issue ever came up.

The policy came to light briefly in 2000 when the Alaska Legislature passed a law that required state and local law enforcement agencies pay the full cost of the exams.

[...]

But a search of the committee minutes for the bill found no mention of Wasilla or Palin. Nor could we find any indication that city officials spoke up about the bill until after it was passed, when Police Chief Charlie Fannon was quoted in the local newspaper The Frontiersman saying he opposed it.

“In the past we’ve charged the cost of exams to the victims’ insurance company when possible,” he told the newspaper. “I just don’t want to see any more burden put on the taxpayer.” He estimated the new law would cost his department $5,000 to $14,000 per year.

His comments suggest the city sought the money more from insurance companies than the victims themselves. The paper quoted him as saying that "ultimately, it is the criminal who should bear the burden of the added costs.”

[...]

Wasilla clearly had the policy. Bloggers have portrayed it as a heartless rule seeking money from rape victims, but they have neglected to mention that the policy seems to have been aimed more at getting money from insurance companies than from victims.

We can’t find that Palin ever commented on the policy, pro or con. But as mayor, she indirectly endorsed it by approving city budgets that relied on the revenue. So we find the bloggers' charge to be Half True.

Damian P.

Ron Paul, Christianist

I look forward to Andrew Sullivan's response to his favorite candidate's Presidential endorsement.

Damian P.

Update: Sully isn't impressed:

...It's deeply depressing and dumb. Ron Paul's message turned out to be far superior to Ron Paul's candidacy.

Otherwise, it's business as usual over at The Daily Dish.

A lie in the Liberal defence platform

The start of a Torch post:

This is it. Three pathetically thin paragraphs. Note the lie in the third paragraph...

Mark C.

A former Governor General's consort...

...seems finally to have lost it: "We are a Métis civilization..." Haroon the Magnificent of the Toronto Star provides the evidence (though Mr Siddiqui is quite deluded himself in writing favourably of Mr Saul's, er, ideas). Mr Saul has gererally over-reached in his efforts at historical philosophizing but the latest effort appears truly ludicrous.

I tried reading his earlier Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West but couldn't finish it. Here's a review, plus an exchange between Mr Saul and another reviewer.

And Mr Saul showed such promise early in his career as the author of intelligent thrillers. The Birds of Prey is brilliant, worthy of comparison with Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal.

Mark C.

Update: I'm not sure if Mr Saul has read Roughing it in the Bush; Or, Life in Canada, by Susanna Moodie.

A translation error, I'm sure

AFP:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned on Sunday that the nation's military will "break the hands" of invaders if attacked, as the war of words over its nuclear ambitions intensified.

"If anyone allows themselves to invade Iranian territory and its legal interests... our armed forces will break their hands before they pull the trigger," Ahmadinejad told a military parade.

[...]

...during Sunday's parade, Iran's armed forces, including the elite Revolutionary Guards, showcased their weaponry.

On display were the long-range Shahab-3 missile and Qadr-1, both of which a military commentator said have a range of 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles). That would put the borders of Israel, 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) away, within their reach.

Banners displayed on trucks bore slogans including "Israel must be eliminated from the universe" and "Down with the USA." [emphasis added]

Damian P.

Barackstroturfing

The Jawa Report digs into the origin of an "amateur" anti-Palin video.

Damian P.

Red on the outside, brown on the inside

Excerpts from Christopher Hitchens writing on Bernard-Henri Lévy's Left in Dark Times: A Stand Against the New Barbarism in the NY Times Book Review, Sept. 21:

[...]

“I’m [Lévy] convinced that the collapse of the Communist house almost everywhere has even, in certain cases, had the unexpected side effect of wiping out the traces of its crimes, the visible signs of its failure, allowing certain people to start dreaming once again of an unsullied Communism, uncompromised and happy.”

If this is not precisely true, even of those nostalgic for “Fidel,” apologetic about Hugo Chávez, credulous about how “secular” the Baath Party was, or prone to sympathize with Vladimir Putin concerning the “encircling” of his country by aggressive titans like Estonia and Kosovo and Georgia, still it does contain a truth. One could actually have gone further and argued that the totalitarian temptation now extends to an endorsement of Islam­ism as the last, best hope of humanity against the American empire. I could without difficulty name some prominent leftists, from George Galloway to Michael Moore, who have used the same glowing terms to describe “resistance” in, say, Iraq as they would once have employed for the Red Army or the Vietcong. Trawling the intellectual history of Europe, as he is able to do with some skill, Lévy comes across an ancestor of this sinister convergence in a yearning remark confided to his journal by the fascist writer Paul Claudel on May 21, 1935: “Hitler’s speech; a kind of Islamism is being created at the center of Europe.”

...Here, too, he takes a stand against the mindless anti-Americanism that is so prevalent among the lumpen intellectuals of Europe. In his view, the phenomenon has two highly unpleasant subtexts to it. The first is envy and resentment, deriving from the fact that the United States has several times intervened to save Europe from itself and from the consequences of its ideological dementias. The second, perhaps not unrelated, is a no-less-envious perception of America as a handmaiden and vassal of the Jews.

This blending of a relatively modern prejudice with the oldest prejudice of them all is what sickens Lévy enough to give it the appellation “Red-Brown.” It is the “new barbarism” of his subtitle. Against it, he counterposes the values of the Enlightenment, the France of the Dreyfusards, of Camus rather than Sartre, of Jean Moulin and Pierre Mendès-France rather than Maurice Thorez or — BHL’s true bête noire — that debased Jacobin of today’s French Socialism, Jean-Pierre Chevènement. The left, he insists, must renounce any version of ultimate or apocalyptic history, along with any mad schemes to create heaven on earth. A secular, pragmatic humanism will be quite demanding enough, thank you...

If only the Canadian left had more Glavinites (here's the origin of the term). Then there are the Eustonards, wherever they are.

Mark C.

Putting the "party" in "New Democratic Party"

Another one for this list:

An NDP candidate in British Columbia apologized Sunday for removing his clothes in front of minors at an environmental retreat 12 years ago.

Julian West said in a statement that he made a "serious error in judgement" by shedding his clothes a number of times, but stressed that nothing else inappropriate occurred.

West, who is running against Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn in Saanich-Gulf Islands, said he apologized at the time, but he felt he had to do so again.

A 1996 newspaper article that surfaced on the Internet reports that the RCMP investigated allegations that West removed his clothes in front of teens at the retreat and went skinny-dipping.

An RCMP officer says police received complaints from the camp that West dropped his shorts in front of a group of teens and asked them to paint his body.

West apparently did not face charges and police noted at the time that none of the kids or parents registered a complaint.

Probably not-work-safe video after the jump...

Damian P.

On second thought, maybe the honeymoon isn't over

Palin draws somewhere between 25,000 and 60,000 fans in Florida. I'm no expert on this stuff, but I think that state is kind of important come election time.

Damian P.

Blog posts bring down Tory candidate

That is, his own blog posts, and those of Big City Lib:

The Conservative candidate for a downtown Toronto riding has stepped down amid controversy over comments he posted on his blog.

Chris Reid, who was challenging Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae in Toronto Centre, resigned after blog postings emerged in which he criticized passengers on a Prairie bus this summer who "stood by and watched" as a man beheaded a fellow passenger, "and couldn't muster up any courage or self-sacrifice to intervene."

"This is where socialism as (sic) gotten us folks, a castrated effeminate population," he wrote on Aug. 10, more than a week after the killing of Tim McLean, 22.

Reid also called for debate on the right to carry a concealed weapon, an end to abortion and official multiculturalism, an elected Senate, and closing the CBC because of its "far left-wing bias." He said gay advocates in the Toronto Centre riding, which includes the city's gay village, tolerate the promotion of "promiscuity, drug usage and prostitution."

Interesting, that "an elected Senate" gets lumped in with all the other positions to which decent Canadians don't subscribe.

Is it just me, or has this been the most gaffe-filled election campaign - on nearly all sides - in Canadian history? "Cold cuts," Dion appearing to back away from the Green Shift, Ryan Sparrow, Garth Turner's staged door-to-door campaigning for the CPAC cameras, 9/11 troofers running for the Green Party, Liberal candidates' (and a Tory staffer's) opinions about First Nations people, troubled campaign jets...I'm surprised no one has yet shown up on a Jet Ski, or made an ad poking fun at the Prime Minister's physical appearance.

Damian P.

It's all the Americans' (and our) fault, anyway...

...so let's negotiate with the bloody murderers behind this:

Dozens killed in Pakistan attack

Meanwhile, Celestial Junk on what would appear to be good news:

Muslim Protest Terrorism Worldwide

Mark C.

Damian adds: on Egyptian television, an offical with CAIR said, "we should not blame the United States alone for the 11 September 2001 attacks, but we should also blame the perpetrators." How very broad-minded of him.

Update: From Belmont Club (via Kate McMillan):

When a truck bomb goes off a hotel, the first question the press asks is “why do they hate it [the Marriott] so?”..

Red-faced me. In my dhimmitude I missed that the Celestial Junk post mentioned above was, er, satire (thanks to TimR in "Comments"); it ends:

When asked why the sudden outrage against terror, one Muslim women protesting in Paris exclaimed ... "We need to show the world that Muhammad is the prophet of peace ... not pieces!"

Discuss

1. Among the Chiefs, Lions and Rams, which team is worst? (Probably the Rams; Kansas City gave New England a scare in week 1, and the kitty cats can at least score, though you wouldn't have known it today.)

2. Could either of them beat USC? (Frankly, I think Fresno State would at least give them a game.)

Damian P.

War in Iraq and in Afghanistan/Pakistan

Dexter Filkins (no, I'm not making it up) is an honest reporter who wrote this article in the NY Times, Sept. 21:

Back in Iraq, Jarred by the Calm

SAFE FOR SHOPPING In a mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad that was a center of sectarian bloodshed, families now venture out confidently...

Two weeks ago he wrote this in the NY Times magazine about Pakistan and Afghanistan:

Right at the Edge

DÉJÀ VU: The Vice and Virtue brigade has taken control of a large swath of Khyber agency near the Afghanistan border. At the commander’s compound in Takya, the author and photographer encountered a group of armed men and boys sitting in a Toyota pickup truck, reminding them of Kabul in the 1990s...

One hopes that in two or so years things will also be turned right around in the latter area. But saying one's country is out of there, regardless, won't help.

Mark C.

Damian adds: yesterday's Washington Post had this disturbing piece about the Taliban renaissance - and I use that word ironically - in Afghanistan.

World War II reality and resonance, Part Two

Further to this post dealing with Max Hastings' Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945, an earlier and excellent detailed review of the book by David Frum.

Mark C.

Heather's hate mail

When you write a provocative column, it turns out people get provoked. Who knew?

Canadian journalist Heather Mallick is facing an ugly onslaught from the U.S. right-wing media and its fans for an online column she wrote maligning Sarah Palin as "white trash."

The Sept. 5 column on CBC.ca, entitled "A Mighty Wind Blows Through the Republican Convention," had already been on the receiving end of vitriol from some Canadian news organizations.

But Fox News picked up on it this week, and unleashed its full fury on Mallick for stating that Palin, the Republicans' vice-presidential nominee, appeals to "the white trash vote" with her "toned-down version of the porn actress look."

Mallick says those comments pale in comparison to the abuse that's come her way in the wake of the column. She's been called a "pig" by Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren, has been branded an insane Pakistani Muslim by commentators on Fox message boards and has received violent and threatening email, some of which include anti-Semitic slurs - despite the fact that she's neither Jewish nor Muslim.

"I'd love to punch you right in your chops and knock every tooth out of your head. Come see me bitch, I have something for you!" someone named Dave Jones wrote in an email to Mallick.

[...]

The Toronto-based Mallick admits she's been shaken by the violence suggested in hundreds of emails similar in tone to Jones', but adds the messages have simply served to underscore her point about the bigotry and small-mindedness of some Republican supporters.

"The responses to my column proved me correct about the extreme right in the United States: they have a great misogynist rage in them," Mallick said in an interview from Toronto on Saturday.

"The violent and obscene threats against me were one thing - it's easy to filter those - but the anti-Semitic hate mail was very troubling. I am not Jewish but I am honoured to be taken for one. I consider it a great compliment."

Death threats are never acceptable, and Mallick would be well within her right to forward same to the proper authorities. And the racist and anti-Semitic nature of some of these comments is even more troubling.

If any of you are thinking about adding to the pile-on, knock it off. Just because you were offended is no excuse to send the author ignorant, hateful and threatening messages.

And besides: after all is said and done, Heather Mallick has to be Heather Mallick. That's punishment enough.

Damian P.

The honeymoon's over

After briefly falling behind, Obama is pulling away from McCain. Not coincidentially, The Moderate Voice says the bloom is off the Sarah Palin rose:

...Palin has cancelled fundraisers in California and Washington state and canceled two rallies in Florida and one in Virginia.

Meanwhile, Palin’s favorable/unfavorable ratings have suffered an astounding 21 point drop in just one week, methinks in part because many voters are finally getting an up-close-and-personal look at her, even as she hides in her Cone of Silence, while the drip-drip-drip of revelations from Alaska continues unabated.

Palin is a huge liability: Grossly inexperienced and particularly unsuited for this moment in American history.

I think Palin would have been an excellent candidate in 2012, and even if McCain-Palin loses, I doubt we'll have seen the last of her. But she's going to have a hard time overcoming the unreadiness she's shown this time around.

Damian P.

"Misspelling Found in Palin's Personal Journal"

Jim Treacher has the scoop. I wonder who that "anonymous source" could possibly have been...

Damian P.

Gallows humour

My local paper joins the chorus calling for the head of Gerry Ritz. But one of its columnists, Jim Meek, admits what we all know: that comments like Ritz's are a fixture in the nation's newsrooms:

In a crisis, Ritz did what people do – resort to gallows humour to cope or make it through.

That’s why funerals often yield funnier moments than weddings.

At my uncle’s funeral, his widow – well into her dotage – chirped out during the middle of the service: "I don’t know what’s the matter with (her late husband) David. He’s been lying around like that for three days."

If you’re looking for humour, you’re more likely to find it in trauma than in joy.

I was on the eve of a heart operation this summer when a loved one suggested I put off buying a pair of jeans "until after the surgery."

You probably had to be there to find it funny, but the whole place cracked up.

Yes, there is a distinction between private moments and public duties, and Ritz was dumb to succumb to his impulses during the tainted meat mess.

That said, I would also agree with Prime Minister Stephen Harper that Ritz had the right to expect that his conversation with bureaucrats was not for publication.

This story came out because someone ratted on the minister, by leaking the story to The Canadian Press during an election campaign.

[...]

...if every ministerial conversation is fair game for public disclosure, then so is every newsroom gabfest. (What we do is vital in a democracy, too, whether we like it or not.)

If you think Ritz sounded insensitive about the listeriosis outbreak, you should tune in to the average midday planning meeting in a newsroom.

On a slow news day, we often offer a non-silent prayer for violent crime or other carnage.

We don’t mean it, really. But sometimes we say it, really.

And hell hath no fury like a journalist whose dim witticism is leaked to the gossip sheets.

Do journalists have a justified right to privacy when they talk business with their colleagues? Darned right they do.

Same goes for cabinet ministers.

Damian P.

You don't have to be on drugs to be a New Democrat...

...but it certainly helps:

Kirk Tousaw, the NDP's candidate in Vancouver Quadra, has stepped down after a video surfaced of him smoking marijuana -- making him the second B.C. NDP candidate to step down over drug use this week.

The video, recorded in 2005 and still available on Google Video, shows Tousaw taking part in a competition judging various strains of marijuana with marijuana activist Marc Emery.

"Every vote counts," Tousaw said at one point in the video.

On Friday afternoon, the NDP released a statement from Tousaw resigning his candidacy.

In a phone interview, Tousaw said he decided to step down because he thinks the video "would be distracting from what are the real issues in this campaign."

Earlier this week, Dana Larsen, the NDP's candidate in West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, resigned after video surfaced of him driving after using marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs.

Damian P.

Ant behavin'

From a charming piece in the New Yorker:

...His [Marko Pecarevic, a Croatian graduate student studying conservation biology at Columbia University] thesis (“Ant Diversity and Abundance Increase with Increasing Plant Complexity and Amount of Garbage Bins in New York City Street Medians”) was done, and he was bequeathing to New York some interesting conclusions about its ants.

For example, ants seem to have an astute sense of neighborhood stereotypes. The Upper West Side, as it happens, is more diverse, ant-wise, than the Upper East Side. Diversity is a function of habitat, and habitat, on the medians, is reflective of the people who live around them. As you might expect, Park Avenue medians contain fewer garbage cans (the greatest determinants of ant variety and abundance) and less complex flora; they are more manicured, less riotous. “On some parts of Broadway, it doesn’t look like anyone’s been there for years,” Pecarevic said. Ants like that.

Pecarevic surmised that ants got from one median to another mostly via intercourse...

Mark C.

"Bob Rae, Jeremy Hinzman and the Pathetic Rituals of Fashionable Sanctimony"

Terry Glavin takes on Bobbity Rae and others who advocate that US deserters be allowed to stay in Canada. Here's a letter of mine in the Toronto Star on the subject showing the Iraq war has been legal for almost five years, plus a similar letter in the Ottawa Citizen. More details on the UN Security Council's authorizing the war's continuance are at this post:

Deserters, Iraq, and the UN--and our ignorant politicians

Damian Brooks also got his pooper-scooper out:

The Rae dogpile continues

Mark C.

Oops

A neo-Nazi gets his work published in...Tikkun. (More here, and some background about "Israel Shamir" here.)

Damian P.

Afghanistan update

A Torch post:

The US and Afstan--and the Brits

Mark C.

What is this so-called "Green Shift" of which you speak?

Stephane Dion, September 7: "Stephen Harper has spent millions of dollars in attack ads to distort a key policy for our country's future, the Liberal green shift plan."

The Toronto Star, September 19: "Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said today that his Green Shift plan featuring a controversial carbon tax is not a major part of his election platform.

'You have said it was but never me,' Dion told reporters."

Damian P.

Apology of the day

Jeremy Lott, on a Canberra Times apology to Daniel Pipes:

So sorry about accusing you of wanting a second Holocaust, Mr. Pipes. It was an innocent mistake. We hope you understand.

Damian P.

Now who's socialist?

In the latest Economic Freedom of the World report, the United States is tied for eighth. Canada is seventh.

Damian P.

Another Same day, another apology

There's still plenty of time for the Conservatives to lose this election, and it seems like some Tories are deliberately tempting fate:

The Conservatives have issued another apology, this time for comments caught on video Wednesday by an assistant to Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon.

Mr. Cannon was campaigning in Maniwaki, Que., Wednesday when a group of protesters from the divided native community of Barriere Lake showed up to outline their demands.

Mr. Cannon listened to their speech and then left, but his constituency assistant continued an exchange with the lead protester, Norman Matchewan.

The exchange was caught on video and broadcast as the lead item Wednesday by the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

“If you behave and you're sober and there's no problems and if you don't do a sit down and whatever, I don't care,” said Mr. Cannon's assistant Darlene Lannigan to Mr. Matchewan. She then added: “One of them showed up the other day and was drinking.”

“Are you calling me an alcoholic?” replied Mr. Matchewan.

“I'm not calling you an alcoholic. No. It was just to say that you're in a federal office. If you're coming in to negotiate, I expect, there's [decorum] that has to be respected,” said Ms. Lannigan.

APTN then read on-air a statement from Mr. Cannon's director of communications, Catherine Loubier.

“The comments from Mr. Cannon's riding office official do not reflect the views of the Government of Canada. We would like to take this opportunity to apologize for any offence given,” Ms. Loubier stated, according to APTN. “We also understand these comments were made in a difficult context. That is regrettable. The good news is the parties have agreed to meet later this week in a spirit of collaboration.”

The apology provided to APTN came the same evening Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz issued a public apology for remarks he made in relation to the outbreak of listeria during a conference call.

The poll numbers are starting to look a little better for the Liberals, too. Coincidence?

Damian P.

Rock bottom

Rick Moran on the hacking of Sarah Palin's e-mail (which wasn't really a "hacking," per se, but never mind) and the lefty reaction to same.

If, God forbid, someone broke into Palin's home and kidnapped her entire family, some bloggers would say she's not fit to be Vice-President because she didn't have an adequate security system on her house, while others would probably hail the kidnapping as "an important part of the vetting process neglected by John McCain."

Damian P.

Flash! Clear the lines! A message from Mickey I. to his campaign workers

In the interests of the historical record, here's a Sept. 18 e-mail from Mr Ignatieff that I somehow received:

Subject: Campaign Update

Marc [Gendron], to forward to the team, ASAP.

Over a week into the campaign -- time to pause and take stock of how we are doing. The response on the ground has been strongly positive.

I mentioned in my blog that I have been out canvassing. Last election, I felt like I jogged for six weeks straight. Since then, a lot has happened. I went to Ottawa, advocated on behalf of the people in my riding, and helped develop some promising new policy. Some things however have not changed -- the jogging for example -- but I did buy more comfortable shoes. Lessons learned.

This week, we held the first of many coffee parties. They are hosted by community centres, churches, and anyone else we can convince to lend us their space. Green Party and NDP supporters were present and were eager to discuss the Green Shift. Many later told me in conspiratorial whispers that they would be voting Liberal. Most people around here are like that, at first sceptical but willing to listen and talk, but eventually coming around and offering to help.

A few days ago I paid a visit to Griggs Manor, a Toronto Community Housing project, where the tough circumstances most residents find themselves in did not prevent them from receiving me warmly. Today's infrastructure announcement is good news for residents at Griggs. Funding public transportation and helping cities and communities to strengthen sustainable infrastructure will create well-paying jobs. It will also go a long way towards fixing the mess Harper has made of the economy. A strong environmental policy is the key to future economic prosperity.

Canadians know this, and their personal stories that I encounter each day are proof. Our economy and the environment are forever linked, and we must be stewards of both.

Michael

Now, did Mickey I. take time off from his busy day to write that himself?

Dion commits $70B to fix crumbling infrastructure

[...]

Dion, who took the GO Train from Burlington to the news conference, had his GTA candidates forming a backdrop. Deputy Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff introducing him...

Mark C.

I guess Sarah Baracuda is beneath him

Protocol is protocol, don't you know?

Ahmadinejad ready to debate US presidential hopefuls

Mark C.

What's US $25 billion anyway these days?

Somehow I don't think Congress will let the auto industry shrink drastically, given other recent events:

After a series of government interventions in the private markets, one seemingly more astonishing than the next, lawmakers found themselves confronted on Wednesday with the question of when and where to draw the line on future aid.

But with billions of dollars in financial backing already authorized for Wall Street, and with Election Day fast approaching, Congressional leaders seemed uninterested in denying help to large employers of blue-collar Americans...

Even as lawmakers in both parties unleashed a barrage of questions about the wisdom of a government rescue for the American International Group, support seemed to be growing quickly on Capitol Hill for $25 billion in loan guarantees to assist the ailing auto industry.

Both presidential candidates, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, have voiced support for the loan guarantees — an unsurprising stance given the critical importance of the main auto-producing states, Michigan and Ohio, to the electoral map this fall.

The chief executives of the three big American automakers — General Motors, Ford and Chrysler — met on Wednesday afternoon with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

When they emerged, they expressed optimism that the loan guarantees would be included as part of a budget resolution that is needed to finance government operations through the end of the year...

After all, America needs the Volt (even if the batteries are made abroad). But will many be bought without further subsidies?

They [Bob Lutz, GM's vice-chairman and global product development chief, and Ray Young, chief financial officer] made their comments one day after the auto maker celebrated its 100th anniversary by rolling out at its headquarters in Detroit the production of the Chevrolet Volt, the electric-hybrid vehicle that GM vows will travel 60 kilometres on a single charge and make its mass-market debut late in 2010. A small gasoline engine backs up the vehicle's electric power plant, which is the reverse of current hybrids where the gasoline engine is supplemented by an electrical charge.

GM's plan is for 10,000 of the compact cars to be on the road in 2010, with full production being reached in 2011.

U.S. taxpayers will need to play a role in this area as well, Mr. Lutz said, with discussions with the government focusing on a subsidy of about $7,5000 for customers. "If that were to come about, that would make the vehicle affordable for most people," he said.

Reports have suggested that the Volt will start at about $40,000 when it goes on sale in 2010, a price that analysts and others regard as exorbitant for a compact car.

"Here's the fundamental issue that GM faces on this," one former GM executive said. "Hybrids and electric vehicles only make sense if the economics of a vehicle make sense and if that thing comes out at $40,000 it ain't saving anything."

Mark C.

Winning strategy discovered

I love it when people hassle me about their political beliefs, and I suspect America's millions of swing voters do, too:

In Elko, Obama tried to anticipate his critics and called on the crowd of about 1,500 to sharpen their elbows, too.

"I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face," he said.

Damian P.

Ritz's crackers

I think Wayne Easter is right to be upset - wishing for the death of your political opponents, even as a joke, is deeply offensive. But his "cold cuts" comment sounds like the kind of gallows humour heard in almost every crisis situation. (If you've never heard anything like that in your workplace, you've led a very sheltered life, my friend.)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper won't cut loose his embattled agriculture minister despite Gerry Ritz's "tasteless" jokes last month about a listeriosis outbreak linked to processed meats that has now killed 17 people.

Harper said Thursday he is standing by Ritz, who apologized after The Canadian Press reported he was cracking wise about the crisis during an Aug. 30 conference call with scientists, bureaucrats and political staff.

[...]

During the call, Ritz called the crisis "a death by a thousand cuts - or should I say cold cuts."

And when told about a new death in Prince Edward Island: "Please tell me it's (Liberal agriculture critic) Wayne Easter."

Both Liberal Leader Stephane Dion and NDP Leader Jack Layton have urged Harper to fire Ritz, which the prime minister said Thursday he would not do.

Damian P.

Afghanistan: Terry Glavin continues to report for duty

A hat trick:

Poor Denise Savoie (Apparently It's All Donald Rumsfeld's Fault)

Audio here at CBC's "As It Happens". Ms Savoie says "You can't fight for human rights with guns." We didn't fight WW II for human rights as such, but boy were they improved in many places by our enemies' defeat. There's lots more hooey from Ms Savoie. Or, as Mr Glavin nicely puts it, "delusion".

In The Guardian: Lauryn Oates Patiently Explains The Folly Of Taliban-Appeasing

In Today's National Post: Why Canada's Politicians Are Ignoring Afghanistan

Mark C.

Sullivanology

Jonathan Last is reading him so you don't have to.

Alas, morbid curiosity has kept me going back. Yes, he's still obsessed with the Trig pregnancy, and it turns out he's pretty cool with Palin's personal e-mail account being hacked, too. (You'd think Sullivan, of all people, would be sensitive about that kind of thing...)

Damian P.

Not yet Booty Time

The Minnesota Vikings have benched Tavaris Jackson in favor of veteran Gus Frerotte, whom I believe went to high school with John McCain. They didn't give the starting job to John David Booty, but I'm posting this anyway:

Damian P.

Quotes about Palin

John Hawkins lists the 20 most obnoxious (though he unfairly gives "lipstick on a pig," which was blown way out of proportion by the McCain camp, an "Honourable Mention"). I remain unconvinced of Palin's ability to take over the Presidency on a moment's notice, but some of these lines ("Her greatest hypocrisy is in her pretense that she is a woman") say more about the author than the subject.

Damian P.

Update: none of 'em are as tasteless as this, however. Wow.

Banking explained

Mark Steyn on the AIG bailout: "The old line on imprudent debt went something like: If you owe the bank a thousand dollars, you have a problem; if you owe the bank a million dollars, the bank has a problem. We seem to have casually accepted the extension of the paradigm: If the bank loans you a million dollars, the bank has a problem. If the bank loans you a billion dollars, the US government has a problem."

Ed Morrissey, meanwhile, says "bailouts must be like Lay’s Potato Chips...apparently, we can’t just eat one." At The Volokh Conspiracy and Megan McArdle's site, they're arguing whether the bailout is even legal.

This is free-market capitalism? Of course not. Free-market capitalism would allow companies that make bad decisions, like AIG (and Lehmann Brothers) to suffer the consequences. This is more like a nationalization.

Damian P.

Update: Forbes: "The economy isn’t the problem, it’s stupid banks making stupider loans."

So it's come to this

The savior of the Liberal Party of Canada is...former Ontario NDP Premier Bob Rae:

Liberals turn to Rae to rescue campaign

STEPHANE DION really needed a good day in Halifax on Tuesday.

Thanks to veteran charmer Bob Rae, Mr. Dion had a good day, but the contrast between the two men on the hustings did nothing to change the impression that Mr. Dion is not quite ready for prime time.

Mr. Rae, whom Mr. Dion vanquished at the 2006 Liberal leadership convention, was a surprise guest speaker at the day’s big Dion event — the announcement of a $900-million catastrophic-drug plan — at the Dalhousie medical school.

Like the U.S. cavalry in an old western, Mr. Rae arrived just in the nick of time. The Liberal campaign was in danger of falling into a toxic media narrative, with Mr. Dion struggling day after day while a calm, measured Prime Minister Stephen Harper portrayed Mr. Dion’s Green Shift plan as a deranged tax grab.

[...]

You can bet the Conservatives watching it all unfold on TVs in the Tory war room in Ottawa were glad they’re facing Mr. Dion and not Mr. Rae.

It might be kinder not to speculate on what they were thinking in the Liberal war room.

Think back to the early 1990s. Now, did you think you'd ever find yourself reading a story like this?

Damian P.

"The Afghan War Will Be Won And Lost On Media Propaganda"

Further to this post at The Torch, a good one by Raphael Alexander. I would add that the Canadian Forces are treated--with some reason--as sources of information to be taken sceptically by our media. The Taliban, on the other hand are simply treated as inside sources to be regurgitated almost uncritically.

Holy double standard. Can you imagine our media giving Mafia sources equal, if not greater, credibility than government ones? But then I guess most people--even "journalists"--actually recognize that the Mafia are bad people, not to be trusted.

An odd separation of perceptions regarding events foreign and domestic. For more, er, context remember the number of deaths (including Canadian "civilians") in Quebec's "biker wars" ("Around 160 people were killed, including nine people with no connection to the gangs, among them an 11 year-old-boy."). Where was the century count-down then? Stinkin' agendas.

More here.

Mark C.

Someone beat Danny to it

Turns out an environmental group already had an "Anything But Conservative" website set up before the Newfoundland Tories did - and cbc.ca gets 'em mixed up. (When I clicked on the CBC link, I thought, well, at least Williams finally found a half-decent web designer...)

Damian P.

Update: they've fixed the link.

Liberals in third?

Not yet, but dangerously close, according to a new poll. And depending on how and where NDP support is concentrated, 19% might be enough to make Jumpin' Jack leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition:

Canada's once-mighty Liberals risk finishing in third place in a hotly ideological election, behind the ruling Conservatives and the leftist New Democrats, according to the latest poll Tuesday.

The Liberals ruled Canada for most of the past century but were relegated to the role of official opposition in 2006.

In the first weeks of this campaign, support for the Liberal Party dropped to 23 percent while the lesser New Democrats saw a revival at 19 percent, said polling firm Ekos.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives meanwhile are now daring to dream of their first majority in Parliament, leading far ahead in public opinion with 38 percent. (via Warren Kinsella)

My Liberal friends had a good laugh at my expense in 1993, so if the Natural Governing Party(TM) is relegated to third place, the schadenfreude will be overwhelming.

That said, whatever you think of the Liberals, wouldn't you rather have them as the main alternative instead of the democratic-socialist/social-democratic party?

Damian P.

This fatwa has been brought to you by Warner Brothers

"Mickey Mouse should be killed in all cases."

Damian P.

The heartbeat of America

What kind of hack uses this old cliche? Oh, right...

Damian P.

How not to start your NFL career

Damian P.

Who's next?

Things are looking very grim for AIG:

Scarcely a day after the stunning news of the bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers and takeover of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, arguably an even greater threat to global financial stability is being posed by American International Group (ticker: AIG).

The nation's largest insurer by assets was seeking a financial lifeline after its credit rating was lowered by Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors, an event that could force AIG to, in effect, meet a $14 billion margin call on credit-default swaps it has written.

The Federal Reserve was working with JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs to arrange a massive loan package of up to $75 billion to stave off a severe liquidity crisis at AIG, according to published reports. But reflecting the parlous situation, its shares plunged 61% Monday while the cost of insuring AIG debt soared to astronomical levels.

"The move highlights the circular dilemma facing financials with capital concerns," writes Bank of America credit analyst Jeffrey Rosenberg. "The lack of capital-raising prompts a downgrade, further worsening the credit risk of the company, further constraining the capital-raising potential."

[...]

...While its credit ratings remain well within investment-grade range, the downgrades could result in AIG's counterparties demanding an additional $14.5 billion in collateral -- in effect, a margin call, according to an SEC filing made last month, according to published reports.

What would happen in that event could be catastrophic. A bankruptcy filing by AIG would have more far reaching consequences than Lehman's. Yet the Fed and the Treasury have drawn a line in the sand against further bailouts after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Bear Stearns last March.

That leaves the fate of AIG in the private sector's hands, at least nominally.

Damian P.

Balderdash from the Wall St. Journal

Always read with 500 gm. of salt--just as with The Economist; never underestimate the lack of real familiarity about Canada in the major international media (guess why):

Canada's Change Agent

One candidate believes in low taxes, gun rights [really? handguns? MC] and a strong national defense. The other has a dog named Kyoto and promises to levy a new carbon tax on industry. Any guess who is favored to win the Canadian federal election set for October 14?

The answer is Prime Minister Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party, who was elected in January 2006 on a platform to strengthen the military and cut taxes [what about, er, Liberal corruption? MC]. He has done both. And though he once pledged not to call an early election, he did so on Sunday, explaining that the current parliament has become so "dysfunctional" he can't govern without a new one.

Mr. Harper's main opponent is the Liberal Party's Stéphane Dion, a former environment minister who chaired the U.N. climate change summit in Montreal in 2005. The Conservative minority government would have to add 28 seats to its present 127 to seize a majority, and Mr. Harper is on record saying he doesn't expect that. But he clearly believes that, despite a slowing economy and the loss of the 97th Canadian soldier in Afghanistan last Sunday, he can beat Mr. Dion. The reasons are instructive.

Mr. Harper has restored the country's international prestige by demonstrating political courage [huhh? MC] on Afghanistan. The Liberals had sent Canadian troops there in 2001 but began agitating for withdrawal when things got difficult. Mr. Harper has refused to cut and run [see previous link - MC], and he has chastised those NATO partners in Europe who have shrunk from the fight. He has also boosted defense spending so Canadian troops are properly armed.

By contrast, Mr. Dion had sought to withdraw Canada's Afghan contingent "with honor" before 2009. His effort failed, even within his own party, and earlier this year Mr. Harper won an agreement with the Liberals to stick it out in Afghanistan until 2011.

Like Americans, Canadians are also worried about the economy and aren't eager for a tax increase. Mr. Harper has cut the corporate tax rate to 19.5% and has a plan to reduce it to 15% by 2012. (The U.S. rate is still 35%.) He has also reduced the national sales tax by one percentage point to 5% [two points in fact - MC]. That boost to consumer purchasing power may have helped Canada avoid recession in the first half of this year. GDP shrank in the first quarter by 0.8%, grew a meager 0.3% in the second and may not do better than 1.1% for the year, according to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. Mr. Harper argues that now is not the time to raise taxes.

Mr. Dion has a different view, proposing what he calls "the Green Shift." It would impose C$15.4 billion (US$14.4 billion) of new taxes on Canadian industry for their carbon emissions while cutting income taxes. Mr. Harper calls Mr. Dion's plan "the Green Shaft" and likens it to Pierre Trudeau's 1980 "national energy policy" which, the Prime Minister said last week, "was designed to screw the West and really damage the energy sector." Though he added that there is a difference: "This will actually screw everybody across the country." The fellow can be blunt.

The larger question is what Mr. Harper would do with a real majority. In 2005 his Liberal opponents portrayed him as a far-right extremist. Yet like his countrymen, he has shown little appetite for extreme positions, and if anything he has proven to be a steady leader who until recently has worked effectively across party lines [Huh? - MC]. Even the separatist movement in Quebec seems to have lost its mojo during his tenure. That may be why Canadians are likely to ask him to stay on.

Ho hum. Pandering.

Mark C.

The "infantilizing effect" of European "smug self-satisfaction"

Ian Buruma calls on the Euros to put up militarily or, in effect, shut up:

[...]

Out of the ashes of war a new kind of Europe arose, as did a new kind of Japan (which even had a pacifist constitution, written by idealistic Americans but gratefully accepted by most Japanese). Nationalism (except in soccer stadiums) made way for smug self-satisfaction, for having found a more civilized, more diplomatic, more pacific solution to human conflict.

Of course, the peace was only kept because it was guaranteed by a nation -- the United States -- that still stuck to pre-World War II notions of national and international security. But Europeans, or many of them in any case, conveniently ignored that...

These different perspectives have caused peculiar tensions between the U.S. and its democratic allies. Europeans and Japanese often complain about the way the U.S. elects to use its power, but at the same time, they depend on U.S. military power for their security.

Too much dependence has also had an infantilizing effect. Like permanent adolescents, Europeans and Japanese crave the security of the great American father, and deeply resent him at the same time.

...It is time for European democracies to make up their minds. They can remain dependent on the protection of the U.S. and stop complaining, or they can develop the capacity to defend Europe, however they wish to define it, themselves. The first option may not be feasible for very much longer in the twilight days of Pax Americana. And the second will be expensive and risky. Given the many divisions inside the EU, Europeans will probably just muddle on until a serious crisis forces them to act, by which time it could well be too late.

Far too may Canadians share the Euro attitude--nicely illustrated by, natch, the Toronto Star.

Mark C.

How Lehmann collapsed

Succinctly explained here:

Lehman's fall from grace was brutally fast. Until June, it had never even reported a quarterly loss as a public company.

As recently as March, [CEO Richard] Fuld was awarded a $22 million bonus for 2007 -- a generous pay package to be sure, but one that also reflected a year in which the bank's net profit had risen 5 percent to a record $4.2 billion.

But Lehman soon emerged as Wall Street's next domino as real estate loans and other toxic assets increasingly weighed on its balance sheet, especially after the collapse of Bear Stearns Cos Inc in March.

[...]

Lehman, until recently Wall Street's fourth-largest investment bank, for years did a big business in originating mortgages, re-packaging them and selling them onto other investors.

Lehman was the top U.S. underwriter of mortgage bonds in 2007 and 2006, grabbing about 10 percent of the market.

But as the U.S. housing market went from boom to bust, it ended up being unable to unload many of the most toxic loans.

"Dick went wrong three to four years ago when Lehman bought these assets, now he's paying the price," said Ralph Cole, portfolio manager at Ferguson Wellman Capital Management in Portland, Oregon.

"I don't think he knew when he was investing in mortgages where this could lead, and how important confidence is."

At key junctures Fuld seems to have played a game of brinksmanship, refusing to accept offers that could have rescued the firm because they didn't reflect the value he saw in the bank.

Damian P.

Update: good interview on the subject here.

A question I've sort of been asking myself...

...is made explicit by David Frum:

Sarah Palin? Why not Michael Palin?..

Ah, nostalgie pour le parti Rhinocéros.

Mark C.

The sign count

I was in the Annapolis Valley yesterday with my family, and work took me to Truro and New Glasgow today. Hence, the light posting.

There might be a less scientific way to determine public opinion than to see which candidate has the most signs up, but until I can think it up, here's what I saw:

Central Nova: I saw more signs for Peter MacKay than for Elizabeth May, but not by much, considering that MacKay is a prominent cabinet minister who's represented the riding for 11 years - and whose main opponent doesn't even live in the area. The NDP candidate (representing a party that did pretty well here in 2006) had a couple of lonely signs scattered around, but the Liberals (inexplicably) aren't even running a candidate in this riding.

Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley: I saw one sign for Tory parachute candidate Joel Bernard, nothing at all for the Liberal candidate - and Bill Casey signs everywhere in Truro. (The Greens aren't running here, and the NDP has no candidate in the riding.)

Kings-Hants: Liberal incumbent Scott Brison has a clear lead, but NDP challenger Carol Harris has a few supporters (admittedly in Wolfville, a university town). I didn't see anything for the Green candidate, nor controversial Conservative Rosemary Segado.

West Nova: Conservatives have high hopes for Greg Kerr to take this riding from Liberal loose cannon Robert Thibault. But in Berwick, at least, the only signs I saw were for the incumbent.

What are you seeing in your riding? Leave it in the comment section.

Damian P.

Netless in the J. Edgar Hoover Building

Good grief:

...Post-9/11 legal reforms now permit FBI agents to search Google and other commercial sites. Yet less than one-third of the FBI's national security branch agents and analysts have Internet access at their desks. A $500 million technology project to update the software to access the terrorist watch list of some one million names doesn't reliably track Arabic names when translated into English. It also doesn't allow basic search terms such as "and" and "or."..

Access sure might make it easier to track that world-wide web of jihadis (example here).

Mark C.

Damian adds: is anyone else reminded of the 30 Rock season finale?

"Taliban cheer Harper's pledge to withdraw troops by 2011"

Well they would, wouldn't they? More here, here, and here.

Mark C.

Some things never change (including Newfoundland politics)

Robert Fife reports that federal Conservatives in Newfoundland are being intimidated by supporters of Danny Williams.

Is it true? Anyone familiar with my home province's political history, or William's ferocious anger at the Harper government, can't dismiss the allegations out of hand. That said, the people making the allegations aren't exactly disinterested observers, either. I'm inclined to believe Loyola Hearn, but Jim Morgan - best known for getting caught illegally fishing, while serving as provincial fisheries minister under Brian Peckford - doesn't pass the "would you buy a used car from this man?" test...

Damian P.

World War II reality and resonance

An excerpt from Max Hastings' superb Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945 (pp. 28-29 of the paperback):

...Many times Churchill was driven to despair by the difficulty of identifying British commanders capable of matching those of the Wehrmacht. "Have you not got a single general...who can win battles" the prime minister cried out to Brooke early in 1942. The U.S. Army produced at least five outstanding corps commanders, whereas the British and Canadians boasted only two officers at corps level--Horrocks and Simonds--who could be considered competent. Lieutenant-General Sir Richard O'Connor, commanding VIII corps, did nothing for his staff's confidence in him when he observed cheerfully in Holland one day: "Whatever balls-up I make, chaps, I know you'll see me through." At divisional level too, the Americans were better served than the British, but it is hard to argue that either ally's general officers matched those of Germany. Exceptional professional skills, coupled with absolute ruthlessness rendered many German--and Russian--generals repugnant human beings but formidable warriors. The democracies recruited their generals from societies in which military achievement was deemed a doubtful boon; if not an embarrassment. The American and British armies in the Second World War paid a high price for the privilege of the profoundly anti-militaristic ethos of their nations.

Mark C.

Palin and sex ed

A much more nuanced picture than we'd been led to believe - imagine that! - according to Joanne Jacobs. (Even I wondered what Bristol's pregnancy said about abstinence-only sex education. Probably not much, considering that her school apparently doesn't even have it.)

Damian P.

Global Hawk

"Canada's National Newspaper", that is, in a Sept. 12 editorial:

Pakistan's civilian and military leaders are furious that the U.S. military has begun to conduct raids against militant bases in the northwest of the country without their permission. General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the head of the army, said on Wednesday that no "external force is allowed to conduct operations inside Pakistan." He was backed up yesterday with angry words from the Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani. It is hard to generate any sympathy for these complaints.

After allowing some of the worst elements of the Taliban and al-Qaeda to operate in Pakistan for years, the government in Islamabad is in no position to cite "sovereignty" when U.S. forces pursue them.

Territorial inviolability is a bedrock principle of international relations, but when a state is used as a launching pad for aggression abroad, even by non-state groups, it is forfeit.

The examples in northwest Pakistan are damning. Osama bin Laden and his top associates are almost certainly hiding there. American commanders in the east of Afghanistan have complained repeatedly that their bases have been attacked, and troops killed, by militants who strike and then flee back over the border into Pakistan.

Worse, the Pakistani government has been playing a double game with extremists, ever since its strenuous pledges to support the U.S. campaign against terrorism, after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001...

Some Pakistani leaders have made good-faith efforts to bring militant activity under control, and rein in the ISI. The new President, Asif Ali Zardari, will have to walk a tightrope, assisting Western anti-terrorist efforts, while not excessively provoking Pakistani extremists. And offending the military, which has few reservations about intervening in politics, has generally been an unwise idea in Pakistan.

But until and unless Islamabad can take responsibility for what goes on in territory it nominally rules, American raids should continue, and they do not require the Pakistani government's permission.

Should note that the US is actually using Predator UAVs in Pakistan (more on those Predators here), not Global Hawks. Canada is too squeamish to use armed UAVs itself--see last part of this post. This comment about possible Canadian UAVs and Afstan, at Milnet.ca, should be read.

Mark C.

The bravest candidate in Newfoundland?

Some kind words from Townie Bastard (no conservative, nor a Conservative) and Geoff Meeker for Craig Westcott, the Tory candidate in St. John's East.

Damian P.

Remember the Rhino Party

Great thread here. Where are they, now that we really need them?

Damian P.

Fact-checking McCain-Palin

Politifact says McCain is stretching the truth about Palin and the "Bridge to Nowhere" ("Palin didn't kill it, she just performed the last rites.") and flatly lying about "lipstick on a pig" and Obama's alleged position on sex education.

They do give Palin the benefit of the doubt about whether she said the Iraq war was "God's will." (That she definitively said so is now conventional wisdom in many circles - see this Canadian Press story about Bill Maher's upcoming anti-religion movie, for example.)

For the record, Politifact gave a couple of Joe Biden's statements the dreaded "Pants on Fire!" rating during primary season, but despite noting several false statements by Barack Obama, they have yet to catch him in a blatant lie.

Damian P.

"A merely adequate performance"

I haven't seen more than a few snippets of the Palin interview, but Rich Lowry - of that radical left-wing journal, National Review - was underwhelmed:

Politically, everyone was grading her on a pass/fail, and she passed. No gaffes, not that much to fuel damaging follow-on conversation. She's likable even when she's at her least authoritative. Most people, I believe, are rooting for her, and she was helped in the post-game by the incredible scorn directed at her by Charlie Gibson. But this was a merely adequate performance. The foreign-policy session was a white-knuckle affair. She barely got through it and showed no knowledge more than an inch deep. ...I hope she got up from the foreign policy session and said to her aides, "Dammit. That wasn't good enough and I'm not letting it happen again. I'm not going to allow myself to be so under-prepared for another high-profile interview again." Of course, she has a tremendous amount of material to master in a short period of time. What she has to do is the equivalent of Charlie Gibson or any of the rest of us having to answer questions about pipeline policy in Alaska on a moment's notice. I understand how we all want to be protective of her—I feel the same impulse—but let's not be patronizing. I believe the truly pro-Palin position is to think she can, should, and will do better than this.

Conservatives Ross Douthat and David Frum weren't particularly impressed, either. If the Obama camp can make people wonder whether Palin is ready to take over the Presidency - and, more importantly, get some of his "supporters" to STFU - he can probably turn this thing around.

Damian P.

Magic number

Damian Brooks is, rightly, disgusted with our media:

Any excuse for a party, even the grisliest one

It's almost time for THE BIG EVENT!..

He's also not impressed with our prime minister:

"It's important, right up until the part where I have to win an election..."

...or at least that seems like what Harper's saying...

More from me on Mr Harper and Afghanistan here and here.

Mark C.

Update: Misplaced war-room fervour--if only the Conservatives would devote as much energy to the real war. A pathetic bird-brain.

Upperdate: Terry Glavin weighs in.

What does Mr Layton think about this supporter?

Mohamed Elmasry. Elmasry on Maclean's magazine and Mark Steyn (no decision yet); I wonder what Mr Layton might have to say about the CIC head's opinions about adult Israelis?

Mark C.

Quote of the day

"She is a long-time member of the Assemblies Of God. That's all you need to know."

- Andrew Sullivan, in response to another blogger pointing out that Charles Gibson misquoted Sarah Palin in a question about her religious views.

More here and here. I've stuck with Sullivan for years, even after many other conservative bloggers gave up on him. But, now, I'm done.

Damian P.

Lame

This might have been kind of funny if they'd used "Pac-Man Fever" in the background. (Buckner & Garcia, I'm sure, could use the royalties.)

Damian P.

Good question

Why is it called a "twin" bed, anyway?

Damian P.

Tories leading in Nova Scotia

This poll was taken before the Conservatives' recent candidate troubles, but the numbers are still pretty encouraging for Nova Scotia Tories:

Conservative leader Stephen Harper's popularity in Nova Scotia is on the rise, while the federal Liberals and leader Stephane Dion are bleeding support in the province, according to a new poll released today by Corporate Research Associates that also shows a large number of Nova Scotians still undecided or planning not to vote.

About 34 per cent of decided voters support the Conservatives, up from 27 per cent in May.

Liberal support dropped to 29 per cent from 38 per cent. NDP support remained stable, the poll suggests, at 28 per cent, compared to 27 per cent in May. Green Party support remained unchanged at seven per cent.

CRA interviewed 403 adult Nova Scotians from Aug. 7 to Aug. 20. Results are accurate within 4.9 per cent, 95 per cent of the time.

Good news for sitting Conservative MPs Peter MacKay and Gerald Keddy - and also Greg Kerr, who represents the Tories' best chance at picking up a Nova Scotia seat (West Nova, currently represented by the gaffe-prone Robert Thibault) from the Liberals.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, meanwhile, a recent survey (presumably taken before Danny Williams's fire-breathing speech) shows that Conservative support has dropped precipitously - but almost all of it has gone to the NDP, not the Liberals. The Tories' 31.8% support is better than I expected, considering the Premier's popularity - Fabian Manning, at least, might be able to hang on.

Damian P.

"The CF in Afstan: A modest, middle ground, proposal"

A Torch post.

Mark C.

Does anyone here know how to run a campaign?

I've noted, with more than a little schadenfreude, the staggering incompetence of the Liberal campaign. But this incident suggests that my team isn't doing particularly well, either:

The Tories have suspended their communications director after he sent an email to CTV News saying an outspoken father of a fallen Canadian soldier was a Liberal supporter.

Earlier Thursday, slain soldier Cpl. Paul Davis' father, Jim Davis, said he was shocked by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's comments that Canada's military commitment in Afghanistan will end in 2011 as scheduled.

Davis' son died when his light armoured vehicle rolled over during a patrol in Kandahar in March 2006.

"I would never want to see another soldier go in harm's way so I can justify my son's death," Davis told CTV's Canada AM.

"But at the same time if we pull up stakes and come home when we're not ready to -- when the mission is not complete -- if we did that then my son died in vain."

After the program, Ryan Sparrow, the Tory's director of communications, emailed CTV News saying Davis was a supporter of Liberal MP Michael Ignatieff.

Sparrow did not elaborate why he made the link.

This comes just after the puffin-droppings silliness, of course. And here in Nova Scotia, the Conservatives' attempt to find candidates is starting to look like Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes:

Too bad for Harper, then, that three potential seats in Nova Scotia have been tossed away, in part as a result of his own head office policies and politics.

Internal party polling may well indicate that the Halifax seat, held for years by Alexa McDonough, is still firmly in the grasp of the NDP, that former Tory Scott Brison, who switched to the Grits under the Martin government, is safe in Kings-Hants, and that Bill Casey, the highly popular rebel MP Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley, is untouchable, even as an independent.

[...]

The Conservatives set up a committee 11 months ago to find a candidate to faceoff against Casey, beating the bushes from Truro to Amherst and back again. No go.

They ended up parachuting in a staffer from Ottawa to hoist the Conservative banner. Trouble is, he couldn’t find Pugwash with a GPS. So there’s one potential seat gone.

In the Halifax riding, one of four seats where the supposedly cerebral brain trust in the Conservative head office decided to appoint candidates, the party is scrambling after having to eject Rosamond Luke because it discovered she has a criminal record.

Given that it is the party that called the election, you would think its ducks would have been better lined up.

You'd think. The situation in Kings-Hants, represented by Tory turncoat Scott Brison, has also been a complete fiasco:

In Kings-Hants, the Tories insist Brison is vulnerable. I have my doubts, given Brison’s solid constituency work and general popularity, but the Conservatives say his last victory was driven in part by reluctance on the part of voters in the riding to appear intolerant to the fact that Brison is gay.

So what does the party do there? They refuse to accept Margie Jenkins, the health-care administrator who is a credible candidate in her own right. It doesn’t hurt, either, that she’s married to the popular provincial Tory Mark Parent, who has not only won stellar victories in his Valley seat, but has also been a solid, if late, addition to the provincial cabinet.

[...]

Parent, of course, is known to be a little red at the roots, so that may explain why the Conservative national party brass instead gave the nod to Wolfville town councillor Rosemary Segado.

I hear her roots in the party are — well — extremely fresh.

Speaking of which...

The husband of a Tory appointed candidate in Nova Scotia likened PM Harper to a dictator in written comments to the Globe & Mail just days ago.

The Tories appointed Rosemary Segado, a small businesswoman and Wolfville town councillor in the federal riding of Kings-Hants.

Rosemay Segado's husband Roberto, wrote the Globe & Mail on August 31, 2008 attacking Stephen Harper's decision to ignor his own fixed election date law - as reported by the CBC in Nova Scotia this evening:

The following is taken from their report:

"What Harper wants is not a democracy but an elected dictatorship."

Hey, keep up the great work, guys. There's less pressure being in opposition, anyway.

Damian P.

Iran, Women and Suffering

Michael Ledeen on a new film about women in Iran:

Friday morning, courtesy of Senator Rick Santorum, I attended a private screening of a new Iranian movie produced and directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh entitled “The Stoning of Sorayah M.” It’s a very fine movie–which will premiere in Toronto next week–but a very unpleasant way to start the day.

I'm anxious to see it, and I'd urge my Canadian friends to do so as well.

Joseph Hayyim

Damian adds: Captain Ed gives the film a glowing review.

Seven Years Ago Today

Where were you when you heard the news, asks Orin Kerr. I was in court when the attacks on the World Trade Center towers occurred, and I found out about it on an internet news site - Sky News, I think, or maybe Canoe - when I got back to the office. (Many sites I tried earlier, including CNN and The Globe and Mail, were down or unusually sluggish that morning. To this day, when the web seems suspiciously slow, I wonder if something else horrible has happened.) My first thought was of the B-29 B-25 bomber that struck the Empire State Building in 1945 - I thought this was another awful accident.

I'll never forget, and I trust that you never will, either.

Damian P.

Out of Afghanistan

Prime minister Harper has said the Canadian combat mission in the country will end in 2011--not just the mission at Kandahar. The latter was what the motion passed in the Commons this March said, which left some wiggle room to take on some sort of major role elsewhere in Afghanistan.

Canada will withdraw the bulk of its military forces in Afghanistan as scheduled in 2011, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper pledged on Wednesday, saying the Afghan government "at some point has to be able to be primarily responsible" for the country's security.

Speaking to reporters at a breakfast briefing in Toronto, Harper said the Canadian public has no appetite to keep soldiers in the war-torn country any longer than the pullout date agreed on by Parliament.

"You have to put an end date on these things," Harper said.

He added that while Canada's military leaders have not acknowledged it publicly, a decade of war is enough.

"By 2011, we will have been in Kandahar, which is probably the toughest province in the country, for six years," Harper said.

"Not only have we done our bit at that point, I think our goal has to be after six years to see the government of Afghanistan able to carry the lion's share of responsibility for its own security.

"At that point, the mission, as we've known it, we intend to end."

[...]

While there may be a few Canadian soldiers who stay on after 2011 as advisers, the bulk of the troops will be home by then, Harper said.

"I don't want to say we won't have a single troop there, because obviously we would aid in some technical capacities," he said.

The prime minister's assurances come as the death toll for Canadians in Afghanistan since troops deployed there in 2002 approaches 100. One Canadian diplomat has also died in the mission.

Taliban insurgents have stepped up their attacks in Afghanistan in the last month, in what they claim is an attempt to influence Canada's federal election.

More:

A candid Harper said the Canadian public — and even the Canadian military — would not want to continue on the mission past the currently scheduled exit date.

“I think we have to say to the government of Afghanistan, we have an expectation that you are going to be responsible for your own security,” he said. “We’re not there to permanently manage your security. We’re there to assist you in building up your capacity to manage the security situation. That’s what we’re working towards.”..

Some initial thoughts. A brilliant domestic political move that will make it virtually impossible for M. Dion to call for an earlier withdrawal if there is a sudden spike in fatalities and if the Liberal election situation looks desperate.

Canadians really do not have the stomach for prolonged combat, even with casualties far below those of other wars we have fought. And I do not think Mr Harper's heart has really been in the mission. His reference to the Canadian Forces may well undermine morale.

The Taliban on the other hand will get a big morale boost; this can only encourage them to try to hit us and wobbly ISAF members (most of them) harder.

The Dutch will almost certainly now stick to their 2010 withdrawal date from Uruzgan province north of Kandahar.

While the rapidly improving Afghan National Army should be in pretty good shape by 2011 it will still need a lot combat assistance, though no-one can now say how much. There is simply no way to judge, and even if the ANA still requires a great deal of help that still doesn't mean that the war cannot eventually be settled on terms favourable to the Afghan government. An arbitrary deadline that takes no account of future developments is an easy out.

Dutch and Canadian withdrawal will leave a very big hole in ISAF Regional Command South, a hole that only the US and UK can fill (perhaps with an increased Australian commitment--they're now in Uruzgan with the Dutch, more below--and, much less likely, something from the French). In fact the two withdrawals will clearly demonstrate that the US and the UK are the only sizeable and committed fighting members of pre-expansion NATO. I can't see how NATO ISAF can continue to command large numbers of American and British combat troops in that situation and expect major changes to the structure and command of foreign forces in Afghanistan. The credibility of NATO will be greatly undermined; I wonder how long it will go on in its present form.

Back to the Aussies:

[...]

The work being carried out by Australian troops in Afghanistan was dangerous, but essential, [Australian foreign minister] Mr Smith said.

"Work in Afghanistan is hard and difficult and dangerous, but it is, in our view, essential work in the interest of the regional and the international community.

"So Australia is in Afghanistan for the long haul."..

Their military effort may soon be stepped up--see the Upperdate here.

Australians remember the 2002 Islamist Bali bombings and take terrorism seriously. Canadians do not and the government has not convinced them of the significance of Islamist terrorism (it's barely tried). Our media have generally focused on the "death watch" aspect of the mission and ignored what our allies are doing--along with developments in Afghanistan as a whole. End of story.

Unless the Conservatives get a majority, our allies put on an awful lot of pressure, things seem to be going much better at Kandahar and Afghanistan generally...two years are a very long time in politics.

A final thought: from what the prime minister says it would appear that no vital Canadian national interests are involved since we will pull out regardless of whether our goals are achieved or not. Then why are members of the CF fighting and dying for so long? On the other hand, the very political Mr Harper did promise a "Canada First Defence Strategy".

Mark C.

Update: Hard slog ahead--and the US too is finding it hard to meet the challenge:

The nation's top military officer issued a blunt assessment yesterday of the war in Afghanistan and called for an overhaul in U.S. strategy there, warning that thousands more U.S. troops as well as greater U.S. military involvement across the border in Pakistan's tribal areas are needed to battle an intensifying insurgency.

"I am not convinced that we're winning it in Afghanistan," Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the House Armed Services Committee yesterday. But, he added, "I'm convinced we can."

[...]

"Frankly, we are running out of time," Mullen said, adding that not sending U.S. reinforcements to Afghanistan is "too great a risk to ignore."

He said the new influx of U.S. forces into Afghanistan that Bush announced Tuesday -- an Army brigade and Marine battalion with a total of about 4,500 troops -- does not meet the demands of commanders there [emphasis added: 'A very "quiet surge" indeed' and a rather remarkable public separation from the president], but is "a good start."

...Many NATO countries restrict their troops' combat roles; others have set an end date for their involvement in the war, with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper saying yesterday that all of his country's troops will withdraw in 2011, according to the Associated Press...

As for the president:

Bush Said to Give Orders Allowing Raids in Pakistan

As for the Pakistanis:

Pakistan’s Military Chief Criticizes U.S. Over a Raid

As for the Afghans:

Karzai backs U.S. strategy on militants in Pakistan

Relations in the 'hood are going to get very strained.

As for the Brits:

Britain and NATO struggle for Afghanistan numbers

Upperdate: Audio of an interview on Afghanistan with Maj.-Gen. (re'td) Lew MacKenzie by Steve Madely, CFRA Ottawa.

Uppestdate: More on the Diggers:

Aussies and Afstan: In for long haul but no troop increase...

Danny unleashed

Williams is a superhero in Newfoundland, but how is this playing in Upper Canada?

In a blistering intervention into the federal election campaign, Newfoundland and Labrador premier Danny Williams called Conservative leader Stephen Harper a "fraud" and warned all Canadians that Harper would implement a right-wing "hidden" agenda if he wins a majority.

"There is nothing Harper will not do in order to win a majority government," said Williams.

"This is a party who purportedly offered a terminally ill MP a life insurance policy to get his vote. How low can you go?"

The reference was to an allegation, flatly denied by Harper, that Conservative officials offered an insurance package in 2005 to MP Chuck Cadman, then dying of cancer, to cast a vote that would defeat the then-Liberal government.

Harper has sued the Liberal party for defamation over a similar allegation that he was party to a bribery of Cadman. The case is in court.

At the outset of the speech to the St. John's Board of Trade that was nationally televised, Williams paraded a "Buddy the Puffin" mascot through the hotel ballroom with an "ABC" sign — meaning "Anyone But Conservative" — and told Harper to leave the province's bird out of his "nasty, disgusting personal attack ads."

[...]

Williams said Harper has kept "his agenda carefully hidden," and urged people to read Harper's writings over the past 10 years.

Which means it isn't exactly "hidden," is it?

Damian P.

Update: The Telegram's Geoff Meeker says the Williams government has commissioned polling on the issue, and wonders whether Danny's going to take his campaign national. It's not just me wondering whether "ABC" includes the BQ.

Elizabeth is in

Harper and Layton have backed down from their opposition to letting Elizabeth May in the leaders' debate:

A spokesman for Harper said the Conservatives still object in principle to May's presence, but given that Layton has changed his mind, the prime minister will not boycott the debates if the Greens are admitted.

"We're not going to stand alone on a point of principle," said Kory Teneycke.

"Our point of principle doesn't change but ... we would not boycott the debate.

"We don't think she should be there. But if the NDP have decided they're changing their position, we will not stand alone."

Harper's change of heart came less than an hour after Layton said he was backing down from his opposition to May's participation. Layton said the issue had "become a distraction" and he did not want to continue "debating about the debate."

The NDP leader had come under fire from his own supporters after saying May, who is closely linked with Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, had no place at the table.

They "fold[ed] like a cheap green suit," opines Warren Kinsella. Indeed they did, and they should have known their opposition to May's participate was going to backfire. I think people kind of expected Harper to take this position (even though, as I've repeatedly written, I think having another viable left-winger in the race helps him) but not Layton, who came across as just another member of the establishment.

Damian P.

Totten in Georgia

...including a brief visit to the part occupied by the Russians. Another must-read.

Damian P.

Frankly, my dear, I don't think Governor Palin could define...

...a neo-con. Nor, I think, could almost any Canadian "journalist"--in this case Linda McQuaig:

[...]

Among neo-cons like Palin and Harper, any attempt to actually address real problems like climate change – with solutions other than military contracts – is ridiculed.

What's the difference between Palin and Harper? Lipstick.

Rimshot, please. And thank goodness that the good governor has better things upon which to, er, cogitate. Though she may actually be, in many ways, an instinctive neo-con.

By the way, has anyone ever suggested that military contracts are a solution to climate change? Crazed left delusionitis (such people are not clever enough to have an ideology, unless one can so define hating capitalism, the US, and Dubya in particular--along with our prime minister).

At least the Malignant McQuaig is more restrained (in language if not in thought) than Horrible Heather.

Mark C.

What's happening with US forces in Afghanistan...

...and how our major media cover the war. A post at The Torch:

A very "quiet surge" indeed by US/Canadian "journalism"

Mark C.

The dragon's real face

This is worth reading:

Former diplomat says West has 'fantasy' view of China

And note this earlier post:

Hardline young Chinese

Mark C.

Uh-Ohbama

Obama hands the McCain-Palin campaign a gift:

“That’s not change,” Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said of what Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is offering.

“You know, you can put lipstick on a pig,” Obama said, “but it’s still a pig.”

The crowd rose and applauded, some of them no doubt thinking he may have been alluding to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s ad lib during her vice presidential nomination acceptance speech last week, “What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.”

I think Obama was just using an adege that's been around forever, and I doubt he was trying to be sexist in any way. But with women already rallying behind Palin, in no small part because of the tone of criticism she's attracted, this was exactly the wrong thing to say. (It reminds me of a controversy around 15 years ago, when Doritos changed its packaging - and put up billboards reading, "kiss the old bag goodbye.")

Damian P.

Taliban on target

Our election, that is (via Danjanou):

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The Taliban say they know that an election campaign is underway in Canada and that's why they have stepped up attacks against Canadians in Afghanistan.

Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yussef said Tuesday the insurgent movement wants Canada's next prime minister to pull Canadian troops out of Afghanistan.

"Yes, I know that the election is being held in Canada. That is why our attacks on Canadians are increased," Yussef said through a translator.

"One of the Canadian soldiers, who has won a medal as well, was killed in our recent attacks."

Sgt. Scott Shipway died Sunday when his armoured vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in the volatile Panjwaii district of Kandahar.

The seasoned soldier, who was cited for saving a comrade's life during his previous tour in Afghanistan in 2006, was just days away from the end of his second tour when the blast occurred.

Yussef said he's familiar with Prime Minister Stephen Harper but isn't sure about the other candidates or parties running in the Canadian election.

While he doesn't know which party is most likely to withdraw Canadian troops from Afghanistan, Yussef said such a platform will be "good for that party and for their nation and for the Canadian people."

"My suggestion for the next prime minister is to withdraw Canadians from Afghanistan," he said, adding Canada needs to stop following U.S. foreign policy...

Given the actual pre-election call dates of the most recent fatalities, I think Mr Yussef is just spinning bull. But the Talibs are awfully good at spinning--and they certainly are targeting Western publics (something the Globe and Mail's man in D.C. just noticed; what a bright bulb).

More on the Taliban's PR prowess (further to this post of Damian's): what the Taliban are reading--and work hard to read:

Afghan [actually Canadian] deaths may hurt Tory campaign

Our side's major achievements, however, are barely covered in the Canadian media. No wonder the public is not happy with the mission.

I worry that, if M.Dion's position looks desperate in a few weeks and if there are quite a few more fatalities, he may throw the Liberals' agreement to extending the mission until 2011 to the winds and demand a much earlier withdrawal of Canadian troops. Thereby handing the Taliban quite a political victory--and maybe getting a lot of votes.

Now a bigger picture;

Pakistan's Great Game

Mark C.

Where's Andrew?

His two most recent blog posts: a German-language quote from philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein which translates (via Google) as "what one can not speak, thereof one must be silent," and a clip from Desperate Housewives showing a character named "Andrew" being forced to apologize to a neighbour against his will.

Hmmm...did his bosses at The Atlantic finally have enough, or is he just messing with us? Ann Althouse's readers are wondering, too.

Damian P.

Haul the CBC before the HRC!

Further to Damian's post, Horrible Heather is noticed by Ed Morrissey at Hot Air:

Hatred in Canada alive and well

Mark C.

Damian adds: I'm a bit surprised at how Mallick's latest drivel has gotten so much attention in the blogosphere, considering that it's basically the same tiresome crap she's been writing for years now.

That she's getting paid for it by the publicly-funded CBC - by you and I, in other words - is even worse. And yet, I'm deeply uneasy about suggestions that her column should be dropped. An opinion writer is supposed to get people riled up, and our newspapers and websites would be very dull places indeed if commentators took care not to offend anyone.

The left has been outraged about another CBC employee for years, using arguments similar to those currently directed at Mallick, so conservatives should be careful what they wish for. My suggestion to anyone outraged by Heather Mallick is to do what I do: don't read her.

Update: The title of the post is, one must add, ironic. No self-respecting conservative would do any such thing--much as...

Upperdate: More from Jonathan Kay at the National Post:

Canadians have a friend in CBC columnist Heather Mallick -- even if they don't know it: Her latest column for the Ceeb's Web site is so appalling that it might finally convince whoever is elected on Oct. 14 to clean house at 25 John Street.

A subtle, pervasive leftwing tilt in news coverage is one thing -- CBC viewers and listeners are used to that. But over-the-top, hateful anti-American speech, coming on top of Neil Macdonald's disgraceful spouting of debunked Sarah Palin conspiracy theories on The National last week, is another. The only advantages the taxpayer-funded CBC has in today's crowded media market are professionalism and staid credibility. Yet Macdonald and Mallick are turning the broadcaster into just another left-wing blog. Why, exactly, should Canadians be paying $1-billion for agitprop they can get from DailyKos.com or Rabble.ca?

[...]

Of course, Mallick should be at liberty to spout such nonsense: All speech -- including hate speech -- should be free. But Canadian taxpayers shouldn't have to subsidize it.

[...]

The folks at the CBC might want to take care of their credibility problem before it's too late. Otherwise, I suspect, the next government will take care of it for them.

One can but hope.

Clap on! Clap off!

I don't think it's a good idea to make your caucus look like a New Age cult, but that's just me:

Damian P.

Jack's back

Former provincial NDP leader Jack Harris (what is it with the New Democrats and politicians named "Jack," anyway?) will be running in St. John's East:

Veteran New Democrat Jack Harris made a bid Monday for a political comeback, announcing his candidacy in the same riding that sent him to Ottawa more than 20 years ago.

Harris, who led Newfoundland and Labrador's New Democrats from 1992 to 2006, will represent the party in St. John's East in the Oct. 14 federal election.

[...]

Harris, who is close with NDP Leader Jack Layton, comes out of political retirement as Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams is vowing to defeat Conservative candidates in the Oct. 14 general election.

Harris will face off against Liberal Walter Noel, a former provincial cabinet minister, and journalist Craig Westcott, who is representing the Conservatives.

Harris won a byelection in St. John's East — which had voted Tory for three decades straight — in July 1987. His tenure as an MP was short-lived, however, as Progressive Conservative Ross Reid defeated him in the 1988 general election.

Harris - a former law partner of Danny Williams - is well-liked even by people who don't support his politics, and I wouldn't be surprised to pick up quite a bit of disaffected Conservative support this time around. With Walter Noel as the main alternative, even I'd consider casting a strategic vote for him.

Damian P.

Stay classy, Heather

Heather Mallick at cbc.ca:

Palin was not a sure choice, not even for the stolidly Republican ladies branch of Citizens for a Tackier America. No, she isn't even female really. She's a type, and she comes in male form too. [emphasis added]

Bonus quotes: "I mean, I know men have their secret meetings at which they pledge to do manly things, like being irresponsible with their semen and postponing household repairs with glue and used matches," and, "Is it racism? I'm told that it is, although I find racism so appalling that I have difficulty identifying it."

Sure she does. Your tax dollars at work, Canada! (via SDA)

Update: an anonymously-sourced piece, full of unbelievable allegations, written under a pseudonym, posted to - and later deleted from - an obscure left-wing website, and banned from the Obama campaign's website? That's good enough for some of Australia's biggest newspapers.

I note that Palin arch-nemesis Andrew Sullivan hasn't posted anything these past few days. Why isn't he answering questions about this?

May left out

Unlike Jay Currie, I won't vote for the Green Party even in protest. But I agree that this is deeply unfair:

Elizabeth May said her party will pursue legal action against a consortium of TV networks, which decided Monday to exclude the Green leader from the televised leaders' debates on grounds that three other leaders said they would boycott the show if she were allowed to share the stage.

A defiant May accused the party leaders of preserving a tight "old-boys club" and the networks of turning their backs on democracy instead of calling the leaders' bluff on their warnings of being no-shows.

"Day 2 of the Canadian election and democracy has taken a nosedive," the May told a news conference on Parliament Hill.

[...]

She chastised the consortium for failing to give good reasons for its decision, saying only that she is being excluded because of threats from three parties - the Conservatives, Bloc Quebecois and New Democrats - that they would not participate if May were included.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said that while he supports her inclusion, he would not attend if the prime minister does not.

The BQ admits it didn't want May included, but denies that Gilles Duceppe would have stayed away. I can at least understand why Jack Layton wants to keep down someone else who could split the left-wing vote, but I cannot understand why Stephen Harper wants to.

Damian P.

Update: Don Martin:

...the best news for Green Party leader Elizabeth May’s campaign so far was being kicked off the television debates.

Debate in that low-ratings shouting match and she’d be the afterthought -- the final paragraph of analysis, doomed to be a fifth leader overshadowed by pundits preoccupied with picking a winner between the Stephen Harper and Stephane Dion standoff.

But as the only national party leader kicked off the debate, undeservedly so in my view, she’ll be able to hold court before, during and after the debate as a media darling, shut out by a television consortium bullied into silence by the Harper Conservatives.

[...]

...the media love a victim. And because it was an unjust and unfair move by Big Television, she deserves and she’ll get kid-glove treatment.

There’s no debating the winner of the leader’s debate now. It’s Elizabeth May.

This must be the first time a story about the Green Party has topped the newscasts.

Rocky Layton wants to be a contenda

An e-mail I've received, for some reason, from the NDP:

Stephen Harper is a strong leader.

That's the opening line of our first New Democrat TV ad. And it's true - it takes a strong leader to ignore 5 million average Canadians who can't find a family doctor. Don't you think it's time for a new kind of strong?

Watch the TV ad here - I'm sure you'll love it. And if you do, make a donation to get it on the air where you live now.

In this election, we're going to take the fight to Harper. We're running straight out to defeat Conservatives starting week 1.

And we're going to elect Jack Layton - a Prime Minister who'll bring about change that takes us forward.

I want you to be a part of it, starting today.

We can't let the corporate-backed Conservatives outspend us in this campaign. But for that I need your help.

The first step is to get this ad on as many TV screens as possible in this first week. We're at the deadline to increase our airtime for this ad - after that, we're locked in. So please make your immediate donation right now. Any donation - $25, $125 or whatever you can - will make a huge difference.

Let's show Canadians what the New Strong looks like. Let's show them a Prime Minister who'll put you and your family first. Be a part of it - donate today.

Brian Topp
Campaign Director
for Jack Layton and the New Democrats

P.S. Your immediate donation is eligible for a generous tax credit. A donation of $200 only costs you $50 with the credit. Please make your secure online donation right now. Let's start this campaign strong.

Rather boring overkill to have five links to the same begging page, I say. And, whether or not the Conservatives are "corporate-backed", they can't get money from corporations thanks to current election financing law. How about some truth in begging, Mr Layton?

Mark C.

"Our Name Has Been HIJACKED"

Dion the Dork strikes again. First this:

..."What is a car pool?" he asked organizers, who enlightened him. "Oh, that's good. I'm never alone in my car."

Now he's telling reporters to go to "greenshift.ca" to find out about his carbon tax plan (CBC Newsworld, 11:31 EDT). When one does one gets the title of this post.

This train is running off the rails even as it tries to leave the station.

Later in the day (1910 EDT): Silly Stéphane left out the "the" in the URL (cf. "Dion blames hearing for English-language skills"). And it looks like the Liberals may have had to pay some cash (at bottom of party's main page):

The Liberal Party of Canada and Green Shift Inc. have resolved their dispute over the "Green Shift" trademark. The Liberal Party of Canada will continue to use "Green Shift" under license [emphasis added] from Green Shift Inc.

Green Shift Inc. is not affiliated with the Liberal Party of Canada and the grant of the license does not constitute an endorsement by Green Shift Inc. of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Are crows green fowl?

Mark C.

Damian adds: I don't expect the Liberals to be reduced to two seats, alas, but I haven't seen a federal party leader run a campaign this incompetently since 1993.

Update: Not quite so fast on the lawsuit's being settled:

The Liberals may have been premature in announcing last night that they'd ended the legal wrangling over the name of their cornerstone federal election promise -- the Green Shift policy.

Toronto-based environmental consulting firm, Green Shift Inc., sued the federal Liberal party in July for nearly $9 million in damages over trademark infringement.

Last evening, the Liberal party announced the two sides "have resolved their dispute over the 'Green Shift' trademark."

However, reached shortly after the statement was released, Green Shift Inc. owner Jennifer Wright said that they have not yet struck a deal, and that they were still finalizing the details.

"I would hope and trust that tomorrow that would be a true statement. I don't feel right at this moment that I can confirm 100 per cent that it's true right now. I think tomorrow it will be a done deal."..

For some strange reason I've seen no major media coverage of M. Dion's being URL-challenged (other than this brief mention in the National Post under "UNFORTUNATE MOMENT OF THE DAY"). Why might that be?

Upperdate: The first sentence of a piece by Linda Diebel in the Toronto Star:

It's a bad sign in an election when they're laughing at you off the top.

Note:

Last week, an estimated 20 per cent of the Liberal caucus voted with their feet against attending national caucus meetings in Winnipeg...

"Harper's patriot games"

Andrew Coyne (Maclean's, August 27) is bang on about the Conservative hype concerning "Arctic sovereignty":

Canada's Arctic sovereignty is getting along just fine, thank you. For all the emphasis the Conservatives have placed on it — "use it or lose it," in Harper's famous formulation — and for all the reams of hyperventilating, the-Russians-are-coming reportage it has received in the media, no one is actually threatening to invade Canada's frozen North. Neither is there much dispute over Canada's territorial waters — the ribbon of sea along our coast, 200 nautical miles wide, that international law acknowledges as ours. Even the much bolder claim we have lately advanced to the waters beyond the 200-mile limit, reaching as far as the North Pole, is for the most part uncontested.

It's true that other nations — the United States, Russia, Norway, Denmark — have their own claims to the Arctic waters, or more importantly to the fabulous deposits of oil and gas beneath. But the overlaps, at least where Canada is concerned, are surprisingly narrow: a sliver of the Beaufort Sea, where we are in conflict with the Americans, and another near the North Pole, which the Russians claim as theirs. Oh, and the fabled Northwest Passage, which global warming may soon make navigable? The one Canadians are taught from childhood belongs to us? Seems we're about the only ones who think so.

It can't hurt our case, and may help, if we bolster our physical presence in the North. Certainly we should hope that the Arctic spoils are divided by something resembling a legal process, rather than by military force or international free-for-all. And there are good reasons — environmental, security — why it would be in everybody's interest for Canada to continue to police the passage. But on its merits, the question of Arctic sovereignty would not seem to warrant anything like the attention it has received from this government.

It does, however, serve an important political objective — namely, as part of the Conservatives' efforts to rebrand themselves as the Canada Party, or perhaps to redefine Canada itself: to devise an alternative language and symbology of patriotism to the one so successfully exploited over the years by the Liberals. The North is an important part of that strategy — as Harper has put it, "Canada's Arctic is central to our national identity as a northern nation" — but it is only a part...

Mark C.

Ridings to Watch

The Toronto Star makes a list. The paper highlights St. John's South-Mount Pearl in Newfoundland, but I'm more interested in seeing what happens in Avalon, where Fabian Manning (a former Tory MHA who, ironically enough, went into federal politics after a falling out with Danny Williams) is the only Conservative incumbent seeking re-election in my home province.

Norm Doyle's old riding of St. John's East could be the most entertaining of all, with one of Danny's most persistent critics, Craig Westcott, running for the Conservatives. Former Liberal MHA Walter Noel is also running, and rumour has it that former provincial NDP leader Jack Harris - who is very well liked across the political spectrum - may take another shot at federal politics.

Damian P.

A spectre is haunting Europe

Maybe Mark Steyn is right after all--that is, if Europe comes to depend on Muslim immigration. Doug Saunders of the Globe and Mail highlights the continent's dismal demographics:

[...]

Eurostat, the European Union's statistics body, created a continent-wide frisson of alarm over the Aug. 31 weekend with a study bearing the innocuous title “Population and social conditions.” [This is the actual title - MC: "Ageing characterises the demographic perspectives of the European societies"; more great Globe reporting]

The statisticians discovered that it will be only seven years – not 20 or more years as previously thought – until a population milestone is reached, the point at which deaths will outnumber births across the continent, something that has not occurred since the disease-ridden years of the 18th century.

In other words, as of 2015, Europe's population will no longer increase naturally. And, even with immigration at its current levels, that means that within the next generation, the European population will begin shrinking.

[...]

As birth rates stay low and longevity increases, this gap will widen. By 2060, there will be 50 million fewer workers and 67 million more seniors, so the ratio will have changed to 1 in 3 – in other words, there will be only two working-age people to support each senior.

The costs of supporting the over-65 population are already the largest government expenses in many European states. This doubling of the ratio means that taxes will either have to increase dramatically – some speculate they may have to double – or the quality and level of public services will have to be slashed harshly without any commensurate tax cut. Either choice would badly wound the economy.

The Swedes got down to nuts and bolts: “To cope with this decline, the aging population must work longer; that means both men and women,” the newspaper Dagens Nyheter wrote, joining many voices now calling for a retirement age of 70 and longer work hours to boost productivity.

“But that will not be enough. Immigration must increase, with everything that entails in terms of integration measures...

Back to Mr Steyn.

Mark C.

Of Women and Strength

The gals are kicking butts, gentlemen.

Sarah Palin's speech last Wednesday night at the RNC had me cheering! Her stinging line about a mayor being a sort of community organizer - but with responsibilities - was terrific. That must have hurt the opposition as much as it drew cheers. It was merely one of many targeted punches that changed the entire contest from a referendum on Obama to a true contest of Ideas.

I had my daughter read Peggy Noonan's article on Palin's speech for the passion and intelligence that define her style.

The Wall Street Journal's Barbara Amiel offers Palin an historical perspective on Margaret Thatcher. It is a warning about the arrogant country-club RINOs who run the Party and whether over time they can control Palin. We'll see.

The Jerusalem Post's Caroline Glick points out that McCain's selection of Palin highlights his leadership ability by demonstrating that he can confront his own weaknesses and seek complementary strengths where needed.

Glick proceeds mercilessly with an indictment of the left media and their ideological brethren: "McCain's undoing of the elite, leftist media provides a universal lesson for contending with the Left. At base, the Left's ideology, whether relating to women's rights, human rights, academic inquiry or war and peace is not universal but tribal. Moreover, when the Left is challenged on any one of its signature issues, because it cannot actually make a case for the universal applicability or even logic of its views, it tends instead to embrace the politics of personal destruction while ignoring the obvious contradictions between its stated beliefs and actual behavior.

"Although a necessary component of political warfare against the Left is the ability to expose its hypocrisy, exposing its hypocrisy alone will not bring victory. Leaders and policies capable of supplanting the Leftist elite and their failed ideas are also required. In the case at hand, had Palin been perceived as under-qualified to serve as vice president on Wednesday night, McCain's chances of winning the presidency would have been vastly diminished despite his successful unmasking of the Left's hypocrisy."

Heh. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Joseph Hayyim

Have you seen this Dear Leader? (II)

The Times says he might be dead. Who knows?

Damian P.

Brady's hurt

I missed the first few rounds of my fantasy football draft, and the auto-draft gave me Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. One of them had to go if I wanted a top running back, so I traded Brady. Looks like I dodged a bullet:

Reigning NFL MVP Tom Brady left Sunday's game against Kansas City after being hit on the left leg, depriving the New England Patriots of the quarterback who last season led them to a 16-0 regular season and their fourth Super Bowl appearance in eight years.

The fear now is that Brady suffered damage to his ACL and MCL in his left knee, which would mean the Patriots quarterback would be sidelined eight months, reports NFL Network's Adam Schefter. More medical tests are pending Monday.

"It's not good," said a Patriots team source.

The NFL Network was reporting he was out for the season, but that apparently hasn't been confirmed. Patriot fans must be crying in their beer - looks good on 'em, doesn't it? - but don't forget what happened the last time the Pats' longtime starter went down:

A former fourth-stringer who was the 199th overall selection in the 2000 draft, Brady himself took over at quarterback when longtime starter Drew Bledsoe sustained a life-threatening chest injury in a 2001 game against the New York Jets. Brady led the Patriots to their first NFL title that year, another in 2003 and another in 2004.

Damian P.

Try your luck

James Bow is running an election-prediction contest.

Damian P.

Vive la langue anglaise!

The French education minister favours something no imaginable Québec government will. Ah well, better that the Québécois (with their propre nation) fester in their little hyper-nationalistic backwater.

Mark C.

Predate: RoC (English? Hah!) Canadians equally inhabit their own backwater.

Third time lucky? Or good?

Think about it: a profile in the New Yorker of General David Petraeus, together with an account of the surge in Iraq, by Steve Coll (author of the excellent Ghost Wars on Afghanistan and the US pre-9/11).

A similar account of the surge's origins only is here. Now if only the general can bring enough US troops to bear, in good time, in Afghanistan (only the UK might also provide significantly greater combat troop strength).

Mark C.

The Canadian prisoner's dilemma

Why vote for any party? David Warren is mad as hell and doesn't want to have to take this any more:

We are all prisoners of the Canadian consensus

..all parties are committed to preserving Canada's dysfunctional socialist health care system. All are committed to the continued heavy regulation of private enterprise generally, and to choking small business in particular with red tape. All are committed to maintaining a crippling tax burden, and a tax collection system with arbitrary and unaccountable powers of search and seizure. Moreover, in the name of the "global warming" imposture, all are committed to significantly extending the leaden hand of government micro-mismanagement into every aspect of our daily lives that may touch even tangentially on "the environment."

And to take a subject of special interest to me, none is prepared to defend our country's common-law heritage, and due process in our courts (especially our family courts). None will vindicate the most elementary rights of free speech and free press. None will lift a finger when journalists and many others are hauled before "human rights" kangaroo courts, and put under star chamber inquisitions, as if Canada were exactly the sort of country our fathers fought in two World Wars.

The debates are seldom if ever about which direction we should be going, but rather, how far and how fast we should proceed along the pre-determined highway. This is the "Canadian consensus," shared by the various self-appointing and self-regulating elites in government, law, media, and academia...

Read the whole thing. Very much along my line of thinking - a society almost closed to real debate on far too many issues.

Mark C.

Symbolic, no?

The Liberals' plane - an old, inefficient 737, no less - isn't ready:

All of the parties are ready to launch their campaigns on Sunday, although it appears the Liberal have had problems getting their plane ready.

The New Democrats have taken their campaign bus for a test spin and the Conservatives are running election ads, but the Liberals are scrambling to fix up a Boeing 737 made in 1979.

The Air Inuit plane is not expected to be ready until near the end of the week. Conservatives say it's a blunder on the part of Liberal Leader Stephane Dion.

It's tempting to ask why, if Dion wants to be seen as the environmentalist candidate, he's using a plane at all. But if you want to really cover this massive country - while carrying around a horde of reporters and staff - you really don't have much choice. That said, whose brilliant idea was it to charter this plane?

After Dion's charter with Air Inuit was revealed yesterday, Conservative MP Jason Kenney accused Dion of failing to live up to his green credentials by chartering an aging aircraft that is 35 per cent dirtier than the Conservative or NDP jets.

"Dion is prepared to lecture Canadians about the environment but he won't walk the talk," said Kenney. "He's using the dirtiest, least environmentally friendly campaign plane of any party, underscoring his own hypocrisy on the environment."

Damian P.

Update: Skippy is absolutely stunned.

Afghanistan and the election

On the same day the election was called, another brave Canadian falls:

Scott Shipway, a Canadian soldier who was one week away from finishing his second tour of duty in Kandahar province, was killed on Sunday, a military official said.

A roadside bomb killed Sgt. Shipway and left seven others wounded in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar province, said Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, who is in charge of Canadian troops in Afghanistan. Sgt. Shipway was a member of the 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Man. He is the 97th Canadian soldier who has been killed in Afghanistan.

The explosion occurred around 12:30 p.m. local time. Brig.-Gen Thompson described the latest casualty, nicknamed Poppa Shipway, as a seasoned veteran whose motto was “never let the comrades down.” This was his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.

CP's Murray Brewster looks at the effect this could have on Harper's re-election campaign:

...preventing the Taliban from influencing Canadian voters this fall may be easier said than done, a military historian warns.

Desmond Morton, a professor at McGill University, says Prime Minister Stephen Harper is wrong if he thinks Afghanistan has been neutralized as political issue.

"The Conservatives want a quiet month - or two - to have their campaign, but I don't think anyone will say that out loud to you," said Morton, who informally advised former Tory prime minister Brian Mulroney on military matters.

The number of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan may well surpass the psychological milestone of 100 as politicians stump door-to-door across the country this fall.

To date, 97 soldiers have died - four of them in the last week, including one Sunday.

The manipulative, media-savvy Taliban are probably thinking about that "a lot more shrewdly and with more information than will the present government," said Morton.

[...]

In what was considered a stroke of political brilliance, Harper carved an agreement with the Liberals to extend the military deployment in Kandahar until 2011. He recruited a former Liberal deputy prime minister, John Manley, and a panel of eminent Canadians to help make the case for continuing the war and reconstruction effort.

Tories confidently crowed in private that Afghanistan had been "neutralized" as a potential election issue and indeed it's waned in terms opposition sniping and public attention since the spring.

But a few well-timed, spectacular attacks could force it back into the minds of voters without any help from politicians, Morton said.

Even though the Liberals under Paul Martin took Canada into Kandahar, Morton predicted Harper and the Conservatives could end up "wearing" the blame for the war.

They've closely identified themselves with the mission and twice extended the deployment of troops, defying polls that suggest many Canadians want the troops out of harm's way.

Brewster raises the spectre of 3/11, which sealed the fate of the Aznar government in Spain. (Morton, meanwhile, speculates that Canadian troops "may have been ordered to keep a low profile" during the campaign, a pretty serious allegation.) If casualties continue at their current rate, I think it may be enough to keep the Conservatives from winning a majority - but not enough for them to lose, especially considering the Liberals' history on this subject.

If, God forbid, something particularly catastrophic happens, all bets are off. Needless to say, all Canadians - regardless of political affiliation - hope that won't happen.

Damian P.

Have you seen this Dear Leader?

Kim Jong Il has gone missing:

Speculation was mounting last night over the health of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il. He has not been seen in public for more than three weeks, and, according to a source who has seen intelligence reports, five Chinese physicians entered North Korea about a week ago and are still there.

The 66-year-old leader was last seen on 14 August, when he inspected a military unit. State media carry reports every time Mr Kim attends a public event, but never comment on his health. An official with South Korea's main spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, has said Mr Kim has chronic heart disease and diabetes but that his illnesses have not affected his public duties.

North Korea next week marks 60 years since its foundation. An annual military parade is usually staged on the anniversary. If Mr Kim doesn't attend, this may indicate his health has worsened, South Korean officials believe.

No great loss if he's gone off to join his Dad, but I suspect he's holed up with a surreptitiously obtained Wii Fit or something.

Damian P.

It's on

I guess he wasn't bluffing after all:

Canadians will go to the polls on Oct. 14, after Conservative Leader Stephen Harper met with Governor General Michaelle Jean Sunday morning and asked her to dissolve Parliament.

"Between now and Oct. 14, Canadians will choose a government to look out for their interests at a time of global economic trouble," Harper told reporters on Sunday after he triggered the vote.

"They will choose between direction or uncertainty; between common sense or risky experiments; between steadiness or recklessness."

Harper said his government delivered on its commitments and developed consensus on major issues such as the mission in Afghanistan and Indian residential schools.

"But now we have come to a moment where the people of Canada have to choose the way forward."

An early prediction:

Conservatives - 145
Liberals - 90
Bloc - 38
NDP - 34
Independent - 1 (Bill Casey)

The indispensible Election Prediction Project will be looking at this campaign riding-by-riding, too.

Damian P.

All the Sarah Palin rumours, one site

No, smart guy, it's not andrewsullivan.com. (via Tim Blair)

Damian P.

Update: "This is getting to Manchurian Candidate levels of creepiness. It's deeply sinister and slightly terrifying."

I agree, but probably not the way Sullivan intended. How long before he leaves The Atlantic for Pat Buchanan's American Conservative?

A joint appearance on 9/11

This speaks well of both candidates:

Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama said Saturday they will put aside partisan politics for a joint appearance at Ground Zero to mark the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, in a statement, said they will appear together at the World Trade Center site on Thursday "to honor the memory of each and every American who died" in the 2001 attacks.

The campaigns already had agreed to suspend television advertising critical of each other on Sept. 11. The McCain campaign has said it will air no ads that day.

Damian P.

Over here, Ms. May

Another 9/11 troofer, Qais Ghanem in Ottawa South, is running for the Greens. Maybe they're following the lead of their U.S. counterparts.

Damian P.

Update: Ghanem isn't a fan of Israel, either:

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is affirming her support for an Ottawa-area Green Party candidate accused of “Israel bashing,” just one day after citing anti-Semitism as grounds for rejecting one of her B.C. candidates.

Qais Ghanem, a Yemeni-born physician with a strong interest in the Middle East, has stirred debate among his fellow Greens on the party's online discussion forum. The Greens' Ottawa-South candidate has aligned himself with three other Green candidates to form what they call the “Ottawa Group of Four.” They are pushing the party to approve a resolution called “Palestine” that “calls upon Israel to end its forty-year occupation of all Arab lands without preconditions.”

When some in the discussion forum suggested Dr. Ghanem's comments were one-sidedly anti-Israel, the Green candidate fired back. “I do not have to record the opposite point of view to every quotation I dig up, for the sake of so-called ‘balance,'” he wrote on Aug. 17. “The Israeli point of view is voiced non-stop by the North American media which is controlled by a small oligarchy.”

I do not agree with Ghanem's position on Israel, but it isn't necessarily anti-Semitic. That said, just who belongs to this "small oligarchy" powerful enough to control all media?

The Greens want in

They may go to court to get Elizabeth May included in the leaders' debate:

The Green Party of Canada will go to court if necessary to persuade Canada's broadcast consortium to include leader Elizabeth May in the televised leaders' debates for the federal election due to be called on Sunday.

"There is no democratic debate without the Green Party's voice," said Jim Harris, Campaign Chair and former party leader, at a press conference outside the Toronto court house on Wednesday.

The party has retained Toronto lawyer Peter Rosenthal to represent them in negotiations with the consortium.

There's only one thing that baffles me more than Harper's attempt to keep out someone who could further split the anti-Conservative vote, and that's Stephane Dion - who's basing his entire campaign on environmental policy - trying to keep her in the debate. (The Liberals won't be running a candidate in the Central Nova May-MacKay fight, either. What on earth are they getting out of this deal?)

Damian P.

OMG!

Sullivan's latest line of attack: "Is the party of traditional marriage aware that the vice-presidential nominee actually eloped with her now-husband?"

Kind of sad, isn't it?

Damian P.

Just wondering...

Hypothetically speaking, Danny, would "Anything But Conservative" include the Bloc Quebecois?

Damian P.

Update: the Bloc isn't running candidates in Newfoundland? Really? Good thing I used the word, "hypothetical," then. (In any event, I don't think Danny's limiting his message to people in his own province.)

Lede buried

Story: thousands of people have cancelled their subsrciptions to Us Weekly because of the Sarah Palin “Babies, Lies and Scandal” cover.

Real story: thousands of people actually subscribe to Us Weekly.

(Via the great Jim Treacher, who writes, "if this week has shown us one thing, it's that this lady absorbs abuse and converts it into laser beams of awesomeness.")

Damian P.

Boom!

Mr. Landry, meet Mr. Jacobs.

Aside from that moment, and the Giants' opening drive, it was a pretty dull game, wasn't it?

Damian P.

Select the right immigrants...

...then let economic incentives do the rest:

A new study shows immigrants earn more money in Calgary, Regina and Saskatoon than they do in Toronto, a significant trend that could help explain why the city's share of immigrants is steadily declining.

While Toronto remains overwhelmingly the dominant hub for newcomers, its proportion of Canada's total annual immigrant intake dropped to nearly one-third in 2007 from half in 2001. In contrast, the numbers settling in western cities such as Calgary, Edmonton, Regina and Saskatoon have increased every year in the past five years.

"This represents a significant shift in immigration patterns," said Jack Jedwab, executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies, which released the study on immigrant family income this week [Sept. 4].

"We think of Alberta and Saskatchewan as a place for internal migration, but now the West is drawing immigrants as well."

Immigrants often settle where family members live, but are also drawn by economic opportunities. The oil and natural-gas booms in Alberta and Saskatchewan have led to huge labour demands and a rise in wages as business owners struggle to fill jobs.

[...]

Ottawa's goal has always been to disperse immigrants more evenly across the country and avoid concentrating too many new arrivals in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. In 2007, cities outside the "MTV" received nearly one in three of Canada's total 236,000 newcomers...

One inference from this is that the "MTV" may well become hubs of the poorest immigrants--with all that may entail. Now, to attract the right people to respond to those incentives...

Mark C.

"Why We Fight"

Cpl. Andrew Grenon, one of three Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan yesterday, wrote this poem about his mission in 2006. (via Warren Kinsella)

After yesterday's events, of course, it becomes even more poignant and moving. Rest in peace, Cpl. Grenon, Cpl. Seggie and Pte. Horn - and thank you.

Damian P.

It's over

The world is coming to an end, folks. It was fun while it lasted:

Pamela Anderson is Dating Michael Jackson

Damian P.

Update: "alex" in the comment section: "Maybe they're gonna use each other for parts."

Well, that settles it

Sully notes that Sarah Palin's hometown has a serious meth problem. I, for one, believe America's elected officials should only come from places with no crime or drug problems at all, like Chicago.

Damian P.

Update: Andrew, I have no problem with Palin being questioned on her record, accomplishments, policy positions and personal beliefs. This woman could be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. I want her to be questioned about these things, and I want them to be investigated.

My problem is that you've spent most of the week trying to find out whether her daughter is actually the mother of her youngest child, based on Daily Kos postings and this past season of Desperate Housewives. So, please stop lecturing the rest of us about how to cover this candidate, okay?

The greatest environmental problem facing Canada today

Jews, according to one Green Party candidate. (No prizes for guessing his opinion about the 9/11 attacks, too.)

More, including a purported legal threat, here. New, rapidly-growing political parties seem to attract their share of nuts - God knows, the Reform Party ran some pretty kooky candidates back in the day - and I'm certain that Elizabeth May doesn't believe or condone this garbage. But we'll see how she handles it.

Damian P.

Update: no, my Jew-hating friend, you can't have a Green Party nomination. Not yours. (Hat tip: Rob Breakenridge)

Apples vs. Oranges

A one-act play about political arguments on the internet.

Damian P.

NFL opening-day trivia

From ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski:

Name the quarterback who, if he passes for at least 3,000 yards this season (he threw for more than 4,000 last year) will move ahead of such QBs as Joe Namath, Ken Stabler and Terry Bradshaw. And, if he can scrape together another season or two of comparable numbers, likely will end his career as one of the top 20 passers in league history.

Answer after the jump...

Damian P.

Jon Kitna.

"Hemisphere First Defence Policy"?/Canada's "National Cesspit"

How this flapdoodle from minister of national defence MacKay produces over 100 comments at the Globe and Mail beats the hell out of me. Maybe some people are just, er, programmed. Channeled. Whatever:

West Coast Not West from Canada writes: The problem with this is that we do not know what kind of weapons to defend against when the Martians come and attack us. The fact that they are coming for us is a sure thing, because, you know, they hate our freedom and democracy and stuff. Not to worry though, the Leader will protect us if only we give him unquestioning power.

And the comments are "semi-moderated". What, pray tell (other than pure profanity), might be excluded? Canada's "National Cesspit", I say.

Mark C.

"A star is born"

Sarah Palin. The Wolfman said it. A very good speech--by a great politician. A caller to WBZ, Boston, just said: "Got my vote in 2012" (if it comes to that) - from a man who also said he'd never voted Republican.

Mark C.

Damian adds: I missed it, but if the reviews are any indication, and barring anything catastrophic, Palin is in this race to the end.

Update: Anne Applebaum makes an important point:

...Here is a woman [Michelle Obama] who actually chose to present herself as simultaneously intelligent, ambitious and maternal, eschewing both the Laura Bush/Cindy McCain "traditional first lady" stereotype (the " shadow in pearls," in the words of blogger Danielle Crittenden) and the Hillary Clinton "I don't bake cookies" stereotype. I have no idea if she's actually a sincere or nice person -- most people running for national office aren't nice, so why should their wives be? -- but that isn't the point. The point is that she took the cards that were handed to her generation and played them beautifully. She's not a victim and didn't present herself that way.

Yet Palin, who gave her first prime-time speech last night, confounds the stereotypes, too. Leave the politics out of it for a minute and look at it objectively: Here is a woman who has managed to raise five children, however chaotically, and become one of the most popular governors in the country, while shooting some caribou and picking up basketball trophies along the way. No less intelligent, ambitious and maternal than Michelle Obama, equally civic-minded and physically fit, she is the perfect illustration, in the words of Slate blogger Meghan O'Rourke, of the fact that the notion of a clearly defined, right-left/red-blue cultural war has become deeply misleading, since "the categories aren't as tidy as they're made out to be," especially for women. Is it "right wing" or "left wing" that Palin went back to work the day after having a baby? Is it "feminist" or "conservative" to defend one's daughter's right to get pregnant before being married? There aren't good answers -- just as it isn't easy to say whether Obama's presentation of herself as both happily married and professionally successful was a "red" or "blue" piece of political theater...

Meanwhile, Jonathan Kay of the National Post highlights an egregious example of, good gracious me: "Left-wing bias from the CBC" (via Norman's Spectator).

Upperdate: Andrew Coyne loved it:

The best natural speechmaker since Reagan

Paul Wells is not that impressed: "She excites the Republican base and turns off everyone else."

David Frum is conflicted:

That was an amazing performance by Sarah Palin last night...

Do I therefore unsay any of the anxieties I have expressed in the past week? Well yes and no - but mostly no. Here's why...

Note: The Republican governor's speech got higher ratings than the Democratic senator's. That's a hell of a lot of potentially helpful exposure (via Kate McMillan).

Uppestdate: A British lady's view:

There are few sights more bloodcurdling than the liberal pack in full cry. The viciousness of the attacks on Sarah Palin is a testimony to the degree of panic her appointment has generated in Leftist circles.

It would seem that it is only sexist to trash a woman candidate if she is a Woman Candidate, which is to say a liberal.

[...]

Like Margaret Thatcher before her, Mrs Palin is coming in for both barrels of Left-wing contempt: misogyny and snobbery. Where Lady Thatcher was dismissed as a "grocer's daughter" by people who called themselves egalitarian, Mrs Palin is regarded as a small-town nobody by those who claim to represent "ordinary people"...

I like the "both barrels". As for what a poor girl might otherwise do (note the hat at the start):

A sea of red

Detailed U.S. car sales numbers for August. Read 'em and weep, unless you're affiliated with Nissan, Subaru, Mini or VW.

Imagine seeing figures like this twenty years ago:

Chevrolet - 185,080 (-19.2% compared to August 2007)
Toyota - 182,252 (-9.4%)
Ford - 133,088 (-26.2%)
Honda - 131,766 (-7.2%)

Damian P.

"Is Harper White Enough?"

Terry Glavin is bemused by polling, the media, and Harper-mania.

Mark C.

Obama on O'Reilly

This should be interesting - and a smart move by Obama, considering how many people watch the show, even if it makes his supporters' skin crawl. (Would McCain go on Countdown with Keith Olbermann? Would Olbermann allow it?)

Damian P.

All Palin, all the time

That's what I fear this blog is becoming, but there's just too much out there not to mention:

- Byron York wonders whether the GOP has crossed the line between understanding the Palins' family situation, and celebrating it.

- Megan McArdle: "On Sarah Palin as a VP I have no particular opinion, except that she doesn't make me any more interested in voting for John McCain. But the people criticizing her are making me considerably less interested in voting for Obama. If this sort of deranged logic produces unwavering support for Obama, I have to question my own judgement."

- Palin reportedly wanted some books banned from the town library when she was mayor, which means "freespeecher hate bloggers" (myself included, I presume) are hypocrites. Weak. (As I point out in Kinsella's comment section, Ezra Levant - one of the bloggers he calls out by name for this alleged inconsistency - has never even written the word "Palin" on his site.)

- Gawker calls out left-leaning, purportedly "open-minded" and "non-judgmental," bloggers and commentators for making fun of Palin's home state. (via Hot Air)

- what happens when the guy who runs Rolling Stone produces a glossy gossip magazine? This.

Damian P.

Palin's church

If Barack Obama's pastor was a legitimate campaign issue, so is this:

A review of recorded sermons by Ed Kalnins, the senior pastor of Wasilla Assembly of God since 1999, offers a provocative and, for some, eyebrow-raising sketch of Palin's longtime spiritual home.

The church runs a number of ministries providing help to poor neighborhoods, care for children in need, and general community services. But Pastor Kalnins has also preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell; questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war "contending for your faith;" and said that Jesus "operated from that position of war mode."

[...]

In his sermons, Pastor Kalnins has also expressed beliefs that, while not directly political, lie outside of mainstream Christian thought.

He preaches repeatedly about the "end times" or "last days," an apocalyptic prophesy held by a small but vocal group of Christian leaders. During his appearance with Palin in June, he declared, "I believe Alaska is one of the refuge states in the last days, and hundreds of thousands of people are going to come to the state to seek refuge and the church has to be ready to minister to them."

He also claims to have received direct "words of knowledge" from God, providing him information about past events in other people's lives. During one sermon, he described being paired with a complete stranger during a golf outing. "I said, I'm a minister from Alaska and I want you to know that your wife left you -- you know that your wife left you and that the Lord is gonna defend you in a very short time, and it wasn't your fault. And the man drops his clubs, he literally was about to tee off and he dropped his clubs, and he says, 'Who the blank are you?' And I says, 'well, I'm a minister.' He says, 'how do you know about my life? What do you know?' And I started giving him more of the word of knowledge to his life and he was freaked out."

Kalnins has, of course, preached on a bevy of topics ranging from humility to "overcoming bitterness." But the more controversial remarks reported above were not out of the norm, appearing in numerous sermons spanning the four years of available recordings.

Obama has surged ahead in recent polls. I have a feeling his lead is going to get bigger.

Damian P.

Update: true, a "whose pastor is kookier?" argument poses some problems for Obama. But note that Palin, unlike Obama, said some eye-opening things in her church. (Saying the American military is doing "God's work" raises some obvious problems, but I can at least understand why a politician would say it. But a pipeline is God's will, too?)

Pity poor Jason

Such awesome blogging self-importance:

What to expect from me during an election

Mark C.

1921 and all that

Terry the Pirate uses history well:

"And Then The Russian Army Invaded Georgia."

Mark C.

"Pakistan gets it (one hopes)"

A post at The Torch. Perhaps a pity a certain Canadian did not get his wish.

Then there's this to take into consideration (see the last part for a comparison of British and Canadian media coverage of the war):

Development through combat

Mark C.

Jerry Reed, R.I.P.

I was three years old when Smokey and the Bandit was released. It was one of the first movies I ever saw, which might explain a lot.

Damian P.

Bacon dust!

Kissing Suzy Kolber raises the bar.

Damian P.

A "teachable moment"

Ruth Marcus writes that Sarah Palin's support for "abstinence-only" sex education is fair game:

It's naive to imagine, in the anything-goes Internet era, that Palin's daughter's pregnancy would go unremarked upon. It's also mistaken, I think, to expect it. Like it or not, Bristol Palin's pregnancy is intertwined with an important public policy debate about which the two parties differ and on which Sarah Palin has been outspoken.

Which brings me to the teachable moment: What should teenagers be taught about sexual activity and contraception? By whom? What access should they have to condoms or other forms of birth control? Specifically, is abstinence-only education enough?

The 2008 Republican Party platform acknowledges that "each year, more than 3 million American teenagers contract sexually transmitted diseases, causing emotional harm and serious health consequences, even death." It expresses support for "efforts to educate teens and parents about the health risks associated with early sexual activity and provide the tools needed to help teens make healthy choices."

Then it adds, "Abstinence from sexual activity is the only protection that is 100 percent effective against out-of-wedlock pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases."

Yes, but talking about abstinence turns out to be easier than abstaining. More than 60 percent of high school seniors report having had sex at least once. The message that every family should take from Bristol Palin's pregnancy is: It can happen here. (via Kinsella)

Many of the attacks against Palin have been way over the line, and only serve to make her look like a more sympathetic candidate. (According to Byron York, evangelicals at the GOP convention - many of whom became evangelicals because of family crises, like unplanned pregnancy - are rallying around the nominee.) But that doesn't mean she should get a pass on this issue.

Of course, a Presidential candidate's position on sex education - or the theory of evolution, for that matter - really shouldn't be an issue, since schooling is a matter best left to the states. Indeed, here in "socialist" Canada, we've somehow gotten by without a federal department of education. But that's another post...

Damian P.

Still fifth

Jago's September blog rankings are out. I'm honoured to be in the top five, but it's a little embarrassing to be stuck behind a site that's been on hiatus these past few months...

Damian P.

Don LaFontaine, R.I.P.

You might not know the name, but you definitely know the voice.

Damian P.

Good reasons not to get HDTV

CTV's "Desiccated" Oliver and "Giggles" Taber (also of the Globe and Mail)--all jeers, no cheers from me. Just had to get that off my chest. More about "Giggles."

Mark C.

Update: See BobC's comment.

CNNational Enquirer

All pregnant Palin daughter (1845 EDT, Sept. 1). Hurl. Listen to Senator Obama. What a degradation of what once was an important news organization (more here) that created the "CNN effect". The Wolfman, now a cub reporter...

Mark C.

Undercover Mosque: The Return

Last year's controversial documentary, about hateful and inciteful speech promoted in British mosques, gets a sequel. Hopefully, it will be available online before long. (via David Thompson)

Not surprisingly, there's a Saudi connection:

The director general of Regent's Park Mosque is Dr Ahmed Al Dubayan, a Saudi diplomat. He has denied to Dispatches that his mosque promotes the Saudi version of the faith, often called Wahhabism. And indeed, the imams in the main hall are Egyptian, and the sermons I heard from them were tolerant and moderate when you listen to them on Fridays.

But the preachers I heard in the women's section took their theology directly from Saudi Arabia. One of them had recently returned from three years of study in Saudi Arabia, and the other preachers almost exclusively directed me to the works, sermons, fatwas and online sites of the scholars of the Saudi Arabian religious establishment and their adherents.

[...]

Interviewees for the film explained that an ideology like this has spread throughout Britain's mosques from the Saudi Arabian religious establishment. One leading Muslim figure told me: "Petrodollar money coming from Saudi Arabia has basically distorted the growth and development of the Muslim community in Britain"; while a British imam accuses them of distorting Islam - "the abuse and misuse of this great faith of mine".

Damian P.

Bad, but no Katrina

Insurers do not expect the damage from Gustav to be as extensive as the destruction wrought three years ago. Here's hoping that's true. More here.

Damian P.

Not perfect, just human

I am no fan of Dr. James Dobson, but I think his response to the Bristol Palin story is worth reprinting:

"In the 32-year history of Focus on the Family, we have offered prayer, counseling and resource assistance to tens of thousands of parents and children in the same situation the Palins are now facing. We have always encouraged the parents to love and support their children and always advised the girls to see their pregnancies through, even though there will of course be challenges along the way. That is what the Palins are doing, and they should be commended once again for not just talking about their pro-life and pro-family values, but living them out even in the midst of trying circumstances.

"Being a Christian does not mean you're perfect. Nor does it mean your children are perfect. But it does mean there is forgiveness and restoration when we confess our imperfections to the Lord. I've been the beneficiary of that forgiveness and restoration in my own life countless times, as I'm sure the Palins have.

"The media are already trying to spin this as evidence Gov. Palin is a 'hypocrite,' but all it really means is that she and her family are human. They are in my prayers and those of millions of Americans." (via LGF)

I suspect that's what many easily-caricatured "Christian right" voters are thinking as well. Meanwhile, Barack Obama - himself the son of a teenaged mother - says Bristol and her pregnancy should remain "off-limits."

Damian P.

Update: Captain Ed: "We have walked in the Palins’ shoes."

"The Canadians who dominate...

...the American conservative punditariat are divided on Palin—but Mark Steyn is bang on." Colby Cosh may in the end be too good for the American media to pass up--I mean: 1) Where would an intelligent conservative feel more at home? and, 2) Who pays more? See also the last two paragraphs here.

On the other hand, a formerly intelligent liberal did well in Britain.

Mark C.

Greening the television election debates

A nice post by Steve Janke. Ms May is especially trying to green a certain valley:

...In 1966, Annapolis Valley replaced Digby-Annapolis-Kings. In the 1976 redistribution, Annapolis Valley-Hants was created from 83 per cent of Annapolis Valley and 17 per cent of Halifax-East Hants. There was no change in the 1986 redistribution but in 1996 the name was changed to Kings-Hants...

Mark C.

Damian adds: I see Janke's point, and I'm not anxious to give the Green Party even more exposure. That said, in 1993 Preston Manning was included in the debates despite there being only one Reform Party MP (albeit an elected one) and Lucien Bouchard was allowed to participate even though the Bloc caucus was made up almost entirely of floor-crossers. With these precedents, and with the Greens not that far behind the NDP in some polls, I don't see how May can be left out.

Palin Derangement Syndrome

There are some very good reasons to criticize Sarah Palin. None of them are listed here. Note to the nutroots: when even Roseanne Freaking Barr thinks you're going too far, you're going too far.

This should end the pregnancy "scandal," though I suppose Palin could have been wearing a fake belly. (I'm surprised Andrew Sullivan hasn't demanded to see her credit card receipts, to prove that she didn't buy one.) The Kossacks, wisely, are backing off, but Sully is still having a hard time letting go.

Yesterday I wrote that the Palin selection was going to backfire on McCain, but if it can drive the left this far around the bend, maybe the Republicans are on to something.

Damian P.

Update: a bombshell: Palin's oldest daughter is pregnant. Allahpundit thinks McCain knew, and that it might not hurt the campaign. It might actually make Palin look more sympathetic. On the other hand, it certainly doesn't help the case for abstinence-only sex education, which Palin supports...

Update II: McCain did know all along, according to the New York Post. Wouldn't it have been better to simply reveal this from the start?

Update III: this won't turn off the GOP base, accoring to Jeff Goldstein:

Many on the left will believe, quite mistakenly, that such an announcement is likely to weaken Palin’s support among “the hard-right conservative base”. But in fact, it will do no such thing — first, because the “hard-right conservative base” that liberal Democrats consistently invoke is largely a caricature that lives only in their minds and as a convenient trope in their rhetoric, from whence it can be trotted out as a foil and a boogeyman on cue; and second, because those energized over the choice of Palin include many disaffected libertarians and classical liberals who were, until the announcement of the Governor’s candidacy, set to either sit the election out, or else cast a protest vote for Bob Barr.

That the Palin family — by dint of ugly rumor mongering from “progressive activists” and a compliant left-leaning press that was cynically situating itself to pretend that these rumors “needed investigating” — was all but compelled to release information about their teenage daughter, is precisely the kind of thing that drives real civil libertarians and privacy advocates crazy, especially because the information has nothing whatever to do with Governor Palin’s candidacy, but instead invades the privacy (and quite possibly effects the “choice”) of a minor.

Update IV: according to Marc Ambinder, outside of McCain and a few of his senior staffers (and Palin, obviously), no one else in the campaign knew about this.

I'm also wondering, had it not been for the vicious internet rumours about Palin and her children - which gave the McCain camp an opening to break the news about Britol's pregnancy - when and how was the campaign going to deal with this? I don't see how it could have been kept quiet until after the election. More evidence that Palin was chosen on the fly?

Update V: for God's sake, Andrew, let it go.