A status report on the Ongoing Journalistic Jihad Against Prime Minister Stephen Harper;
Actually, we pretty much collapsed like a house of cards.
I am also unhappy to report that public reaction to our announced boycott of the Prime Minister’s press conferences has not been exceedingly positive. Typical of the many emails our office has received was this one: “Who do you navel-gazing, pasty-faced twits think you are?” And that was from my wife.
Related: Andrew Coyne.
“Nuance” was much on the minds of the travelling press accompanying Mr. Harper to the G8 summit in Russia, apparently in the belief that their own appalling mistreatment might be taken as a metaphor for his dealings with the whole world. “Harper’s seeming lack of nuance, empathy and people skills are making his week-long diplomatic foray … an excruciating exercise,” Canadian Press reporter Bruce Cheadle filed from the summit. “Throughout the trip, Harper has distanced himself from reporters. Since leaving Ottawa last Wednesday, he has spoken to media travelling with him only three times, including a brief encounter on the plane.”
As these tantrums of narcissism continue among members of the Canadian press, I’m reminded of a scene in the animated movie “Finding Nemo”, (albeit with a slight modification in dialogue);
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Cheap shot comments regarding any purported physical resemblance between these animated seagull characters and CTV’s Craig Oliver will not be tolerated on this thread.)
A favourite daydream of mine:
The Canadian government decides to privatize CBC.
And the Fox Network buys it.
A favourite daydream of mine:
The Canadian government decides to privatize CBC.
And the Fox Network buys it.
I prefer “tentative” which is the way that all classical liberals should hold opinions.
“Tentative”, just another word for unsureness.
They come to critisize but are unsure of the correctness of their criticism.
Laughable. Tentatively, of course:)
I prefer “tentative” which is the way that all classical liberals should hold opinions.
“Tentative”, just another word for unsureness.
They come to critisize but are unsure of the correctness of their criticism.
Laughable. Tentatively, of course:)
I prefer “tentative” which is the way that all classical liberals should hold opinions.
“Tentative”, just another word for unsureness.
They come to critisize but are unsure of the correctness of their criticism.
Laughable. Tentatively, of course:)
Sorry about the triple posts.
Tentatively, of course.
I think the reason the MSM hates Harper is because he is, in fact, quite loathsome. When everyone hates you, you might have to ask yourself “why”.
If everyone hates Israel, maybe there is a reason why…
Still embarassed to be Canadian, and no, I am not in Cuba.
The one thing the press of today fails to understand {majority today I think} is that they are progressively digging a themselves a deeper and deeper creditability hole. For one, I no longer read the newspaper and accept anything I read as anywhere near the truth. I will give today’s “journalists” credit for one thing though, they made me realize that most of what you read in a history book should certainly be taken with a grain of salt. Watching how they twist and turn today’s events to their liking you begin to realize that it was probably the same way 100 or 1000 years ago. We call and know what they are today, politely, the lib/left, I can just imagine what they were called when you were allowed to publicly call and say things as you saw them. As a whole I would have to regard their lot as morally and ethically bankrupt.
Iran
(sung by Craig Oliver to Kate Werk, with a tip of the hat to the 80’s technopop band, Flock of Seagulls)
I balked along the avenue.
I never thought I’d meet a girl like you;
Meet a girl like you.
With acrylic brush and prairie wise;
The kind of wise that runs me through;
Runs me through.
And Iran, Iran so far away.
I just ran, Iran all night and day.
I couldn’t get Volpe.
(Craig Oliver electric drum solo)
A cloud appears above your head;
A beam of right comes shining down on you,
Shining down on you.
The crowd is moving nearer still.
George Stephanopolous comes in view;
George comes in view.
And Iran, Iran so far away.
I just ran, Iran all night and day.
I couldn’t get Volpe.
Reached out a hand to stop the mace;
You’re slowly disappearing from my view;
Disappearing from my view.
Reached out a hand to try again;
I’m voting in a stream of right with you;
A stream of right with you.
And I ran, I ran so far away.
I just ran, I ran all right and Stockwell Day.
I couldn’t get Volpe.
http://www.oz.net/~davester/AFOS/Lyrics/IRan.html
All Rights Reserved, Plato’s Stepchild and Neil Sedaka
“I think the reason the MSM hates Harper is because he is, in fact, quite loathsome. When everyone hates you, you might have to ask yourself ‘why’.”
Fair enough. But surely that works both ways:
“I think the reason people hate the MSM is because they are, in fact, quite loathsome. When everyone hates you, you might have to ask yourself ‘why’.”
“If everyone hates Israel, maybe there is a reason why…”
No doubt because they’re nasty, hook-nosed Zionists who, working through the Bilderberger group, the Freemasons, the Royal Family and the NSA are busily proceeding with their evil plans for world domination.
“I think the reason the MSM hates Harper is because he is, in fact, quite loathsome. When everyone hates you, you might have to ask yourself ‘why’.”
Fair enough. But surely that works both ways:
“I think the reason people hate the MSM is because they are, in fact, quite loathsome. When everyone hates you, you might have to ask yourself ‘why’.”
“If everyone hates Israel, maybe there is a reason why…”
No doubt because they’re nasty, hook-nosed Zionists who, working through the Bilderberger group, the Freemasons, the Royal Family and the NSA, are busily proceeding with their age-old evil plans for world domination.
what would be useful for Fox in the CryBitchComplain Network. Im sure the cameras are old , the union is f–ing crap, the offices are in the highest priced real estate the crown could subsidize and all the re-runs of Rainbow Country are already on DVD.
Id love to see the sale just so I could see PeterPansbridge say “critics say” one last time whilst some unknown bitcher comes on in a room full of disheveled books ( I truly think its a CBCpravda set) and pages back and forth through some report.
Kneel McDonald CEEBEECEEnews unemployment line Ottawa.
Does anybody know where to find the interview with Peter Pansbridge and Andrew Coyne.
With all those seagulls looking like that it must be BODAGA BAY where you can feed the seagulls and they will EAT OFF YOUR HAND
Headline: Trudeau … Not Dead Enough. …-
All Mid-east evacuees flow through Trudeau
940 News – 1 hour ago
Montreal has been named the official gateway for all Canadians returning from Lebanon.
How long before CBC interviews someone who wanted to get to the GTA non stop?
CMSHIT
Canadian Media Support Hezbollah International Terrorists will soon be their slogan by the sound of things. I’m too far off in the boondocks to notice – are Hezbollah flags flying on any of the hdqtrs in Tor.? Or maybe they’re wearing the twin flag pins – like mine, which is the Star of David and the Canadian Maple Leaf.
Good to see montreal the gateway, they deserve each other and hopefully most will say in quebec. They deserve each other and should fight together quite well.
CanWest News has a wire story day from the Ottawa Citizen that is reported in the Montreal Gazette with the headline: “Half think Harper too pro-Israel”. The lede is: “Canadians are evenly split on Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s stance on the conflict in Lebanon, according to an Ipsos-Reid poll released Sunday.” Paragraph three starts by saying: “It said 45 per cent agree Harper’s position is “fair and balanced and completely appropriate,” while 44 per cent say it is “decidedly too pro-Israel and is not appropriate.”
Why do I mention this? Because the next sentance says: “Eleven per cent say he has not supported Israel strongly enough.” So, for those of you keeping score at home, 56% say the prime minister should be supporting Israel as he is, or even more.
Moving on, in the middle of the article we read: “The poll said residents of Quebec and Atlantic Canada are the most likely to feel the minority Conservative government’s position is decidedly too pro-Israel. In British Columbia and Alberta, four in 10 felt that way.” (So 60% didn’t -Vitruvius.) “Residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba (58 per cent) are the most likely to feel the minority Conservative government’s posture is fair, balanced and appropriate, followed by a little more than 50 per cent everywhere else except Quebec and the Atlantic region.”
So what did CanWest just attempt to hide: Alberta and BC are more in favour of Israel’s positition than the rest of Canada, even more so than the prime minister. Perhaps someone should send CanWest that old school-yard ditty: Liar, liar, pants on fire, hanging by a telephone wire. Or maybe we should encourge them, and then Alberta can just separate. Step right up.
I can only dream that BC and Alberta could separate. Just think what a Country like that could do without all the eastern teat suckers dragging it down in self pity, false caring, cretien morals, a constitution that is nothing more than the quebec and legal full employment act and just plain old fashioned stupidity. When the voting numbers once again dictate/vote a good man like Harper out once again, then maybe, just maybe.
nolongerproud: How about a brief essay on what is loathsome about Harper? I’m encountering quite a few people I’d describe as left/lib who seem to be growing fond of the man. He is a honest man, a man of integrity don’t you think? Please don’t tell me he’s “shrewd”; that is a job requirement.
Also, how about at least letting us know what country you went to? And maybe the trigger for the move? Are you quite well off? If so, inheritance or did you make it in the free markets?
Hezbollah has won the hearts and minds of the Lebanese people.
PMSH has won the hearts and minds of conservative twits.
The MSM has won the hearts and minds of everyday Liberal lefty Canadians.
Israel has won the hearts and minds of Jewery.
Nobody has won the hearts and minds of everyone.
Kate,
I agree with you fully. Under no circumstances will i comment on the extraordinary physical resemblance between the animated seagull characters and CTV’s Craig Oliver.
That would be totally unacceptable.
Me No Dhimmi,
I’d be happy to respond to your requests if you send me your email address.
A few variations on the theme of Nolongerproud… (8.00am) to the key of Vitruvius:
“Harper is…quite loathsome.”
Saddam Hussein is loathsome, Bernardo and Homolka are loathsome. Anyone that thinks “Steve” is loathsome lacks “balance and nuance.” 🙂
Does anyone still wonder why the credibility of the political left is declining? As a somewhat simplistic differentiation, core left-Liberal supporters (known as radicals in earlier generations) redefine terminology and erase distinctions, whereas core right-Conservative supporters (known as liberals in earlier generations) realize calling a rooster a hen won’t produce eggs. More simply put, left-libs appear to see the world starkly in black and white, while right-cons see the grey…
A polar reversal of such magnitude within a generation is bemusing. Regardless of why, it is very encouraging.
Seagulls don’t look like Craig Oliver.
Cartoon characters that represent greed, stupidity and hysteria look like all squacking scavenger carrion eating liberal appologists.
Second from the right top, looks Mansbridgey.
David Brown,
“Hezbollah has won the hearts and minds of the Lebanese people.”
Since Hezbollah is a banned terrorist organization, what does this say about the Lebanese people?
I would have to disagree with you though. I still hope that the majority of Lebanese are not fans of terror. If they are, I’d have to say I’d be more in favour of the type of collective punishment you (and your MSM Joo-hating friends) seem to disdain.
PMSH has been growing in popularity with people who are solidly center and often used to vote liberal. Not everyone hates the Joos David.
“The MSM has won the hearts and minds of everyday Liberal lefty Canadians.”
You can also ad “those who hate the Joos” to fans of the MSM. Since they do so love to bash Joos whenever possible.
Remember: Liberal Willy Graham is the guy in the middle with the nuance feathers in his mouth. …-
The Hill Times, July 24th, 2006
BACKROOMS
By Angelo Persichilli
-Angelo Persichilli is political editor of Corriere Canadese, Toronto’s Italian-language daily newspaper.
Harper catches Liberals off-guard, Grits could lose substantial Jewish vote in next general election
Criticizing the PM’s reaction without denouncing the cause is a futile political exercise typical of a political organization that has no ideas. The Liberals just don’t get it.
TORONTO–The situation in the Middle East is too complicated, dangerous and important to be a footnote in a column on Canadian politics. …-
Criticizing the Prime Minister’s reaction without denouncing the cause is a futile political exercise typical of a political organization that has no ideas, neither in foreign, or domestic politics.
In fact, this is the second time that Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is supposed to be a foreign political novice has caught the Liberals off guard on an international matter.
The first one was during the vote on the Afghanistan mission. The Liberals, obsessed by their criticism against the government, were pushing for a Parliamentary debate on the extension of the mission, and tried to embarrass Harper by portraying his decision as undemocratic. …-
http://www.voy.com/178771/18445.html
Dosanjh was spinning “hearts and minds” talk on CTV or CBC the other day…
He was babbling something about no longer having the “hearts and minds” of the Afghani’s.
He made that pronouncement while standing in the sweltering heat, near our Pacific shores, within steps of air-conditioned shelter.
He declared that finding, all while ‘our men and women of our military’, continue to stand *with* the Afghani’s in their sweltering heat, 24/7, for months at a time.
The Canadian Government continues to do far more for Lebanese nationals with Canadian passports than is required under the 1977 Immigration Law which requires the country of residence to take responsibility for their nationals – in the case of many of these refugees that is Lebanon.
Yes, Canada is doing much more than required by law and I, along with many Canadians who do not hold other nationalities, support this compassionate effort. What we cannot abide is the broadcasting of the views of those who complain about the rough seas they have been transported over at our government’s expense. It is irresponsible of the CBC, CTV and other media to continue this thinly-veiled attack on our government — the government of all Canadians.
Aren’t Universals fun?! You can say absolutely anything about anyone, asserting your claim as Ultimate Universal Truth, with no need for proof, no evidence, zilch. That’s fun.
So, we have David Brown with some super great Universals:
1) Hezbollah has won the hearts and minds of the Lebanese people.
Ahh, heck. So, ALL Lebanese people are ALL emotionally bonded with terrorists. Wow. Proof? Who needs it? Reasons? Who needs it. After all, it’s a Universal Truth because David Brown said it.
2) PMSH has won the hearts and minds of conservative twits.
Again, an emotive conclusion. Again, no evidence. Oh, and what is a ‘conservative twit’? Actually, this is a ‘Begging the Question’ Fallacy. But, never mind…
3) The MSM has won the hearts and minds of everyday Liberal lefty Canadians.
Oh, here we go again. Yet another emotive assertion. Proof? What’s an ‘everyday Liberal lefty Canadian..as differentiated from a not-everyday Liberal lefty Canadian?
4) Israel has won the hearts and minds of Jewery.
This is getting boring. I suggest he read Ha’artz Daily.
5) Nobody has won the hearts and minds of everyone.
Who is Nobody? Do you mean Odysseus?
And then, we have no longer proud, of whom we can also say, we are no longer proud of him. But his assertions are equally fun. How about:
“I think the reason the MSM hates Harper is because he is, in fact, quite loathsome. When everyone hates you, you might have to ask yourself ‘why’.”
This is yet another ‘Begging the Question’ error. Do you know, that the reason that a horse is a horse is because it is a horse??? So, as some have asked of you, nolonger, what’s loathsome about Harper? Be careful of those logical fallacies in your answer.
How about, if ‘everyone (in this terrorist group) wants to kill everyone in the West’..does this mean the problem is with Everyone in the West, or Everyone in the Terrorist Group??
If X-person wants to kill Y-person, is the problem with Y? Does he deserve it? Or is the problem with X? Hmmm?
Don’t be mechanical, nolonger. Think. No longer.
Liberals “mine mine mine”
…with apologies to Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.
I find it bordering upon the insane that a comment such as the following makes it into anything like a rational discussion in this country:
“I think the reason the MSM hates Harper is because he is, in fact, quite loathsome. When everyone hates you, you might have to ask yourself ‘why’.”
In light of the certifiable insanity of the Iranian leadership, the craven complicity of Syria and the continuing indiscriminate, criminal terrorist attacks from south Lebanon, this comment about a duly elected leader and decent human being, Canada’s Prime Minister, is beneath contempt.
All Canadians should be outraged and need to ask themselves “why” do we have to put up with this mentally deficient contempt from the ideologically captive MSM.
ET – NLP is not “begging the question”, he’s equivocating and excluding the middle.
This is actually refreshing – it’s the arguments from ignorance (aka: precautionary principle in revisionist lingo) that really annoy me.
Garth Turner does interview on CBC suggesting dual citizens get sorted out on the docks in Lebanon.
It’s all a money thing to Garth it seems.
They don’t pay taxes here and all..
I’ll pay Garth’s airfare if he wants to be the one to stand on the dock and decide who gets on the boat.
One way ticket only Garth.
How many of the Liberal leadership contenders have dual citizenship?
Any problem with the leader of a country having allegiances to another country?
Always burns me when I see Dosanjh as critic of our armed forces. Another person with allegiances to a country other than Canada.
enough
ET,
Nice smackdown.
I must remember to refrain from easy pot-shots in the vicinity of both you and Vitruvius which is too bad cause the gratuitous slaps to our trolls are fun!
Nolonger’s problem is a smugness which is clearly a symptom of never questioning his own opinions and never having to back up his assertions logically. He must surround himself with nothing but like-minded people. I’d say he grew up in Toronto’s Annex or some similar place (despite his claims to be elsewhere.) Definitely he is under 40 (and probably under 30) and went to public school in Ontario. Maybe he also got a degree in a second-rate university like Carlton – in sociology, English or some other humanities subject. In other words, subjects who have been degraded in recent years. These subjects especially are now taught through indoctrination rather than logical/critical thinking. You learn what to think (and not to question it) instead of how to think (which involves questioning everything.) Same goes for David but I doubt he earned a degree. Even the humanities wouldn’t graduate someone that logically challenged…
One of the most annoying habits of some people (regardless of politics) is their tendency to take everything they believe as a given (begging the question as ET points out.) This leads to a general (sorry ET, Vitruvius) tendency to forget to argue the point and move directly to the “so you must be stupid” part. Starting with “everyone knows that…” is not an argument but an assertion to be proved. If you take your assertion as a given, use it as proof of your point, you have accomplished nothing but make yourself look uneducated and foolish.
As for nolonger’s assertion that PMSH is loathsome, I find a lot of people loathsome. That isn’t an argument.
As for the so-called point that if lots of people hate you that you have done something wrong, learn from Churchill. He said (and I paraphrase from memory,) “it’s good to have enemies as it implies that you have taken a stand.” You can also turn around the old adage to read “judge a person by who his ENEMIES are” which I take to be as important as who his friends are. In other words, I judge people by who they chose not to associate with as much as who they do associate with.
I’d be proud of myself to have enemies like nolonger, Dithers, the CBC as they represent in large part what I have taken a stand against. I find no reason to question my positions in the face of opposition from those I do not respect – quite the opposite.
Not to quibble, Henry Schriemer, …much..just a tiny quibble. But, I think that NoLongerProud of himself’s assertion that Harper is hated because he is loathsome IS a ‘begging the question’ fallacy, because he hasn’t defined the ‘Is Loathsome’ attribute of Harper. He just asserts it.
Now, the ‘everyone hates you’, which NoLonger actually wants us to accept as the Cause of ‘Being Loathsome’ is more interesting and brings in another fallacy, of causation rather than definition.
According to NoLonger, IF you are hated, then, it means that you are hateful. That’s actually a ‘modus ponens’ fallacy; the fallacy of Affirming the Consequent.
He set it up as:
IF you are Hated, THEN, you are a loathsome person.
This should, logically read:
IF you are a loathsome person, THEN, you will be hated.
Our NoLonger has reversed it and set up an erroneous causality. That’s the fallacy. So – zero marks for his inability to think logically and critically.
Red Dodge – I find it difficult to understand why I should be required to pay for repatriation of Canadians of convenience: those who suffered (maybe) 3 years max to get their passport and then buggered off to their homelands, knowing that they are entitled to pensions, medicare, protection, etc, – all on my dime.
This sense of entitlement is endemic amongst those who pay little or no tax and yet believe that the minority who work and pay through the nose year after year are obligated to perpetually support the non-productive, non-contributing parasites.
Too many years of too many liberal governments have eroded the concept of personal responsibility and replaced it with a collective sense of entitlement, victimization and resentment.
Fuck you and the camel you rode in on.
ET – Hmm, this requires a beer (but then I’d have to stop marking exams), and some further thought.
I must admit, I had Shakepear in mind when thinking of the equivocation, and my earlier post for the excluded middle.
I must find the time to brush up on formal logic…too much time in geek-land.
Thanks, everyone who’s posted with altogether fair criticism of the loathsome comments made about our PM. nolonger, using your faulty logic, the pretty well universal censuring here of your unsubstatiated opinion obviously means that it’s not up to snuff–no arguments needed on my part to prove my point. What magic thinking!
I notice your cop-out response to Me No Dhimmi: You’ve posted on a blog. Prove your case for all to see. We’re waiting, no longer!
BTW, it gives me some pleasure–schadenfreude, I’m afraid–that it’s people like you who are no longer proud to be Canadian: Until very recently–PMSH has had a lot to do with my change of heart–that’s how I’ve felt since Trudeau set in motion the dismantling of Canada’s social and behavioural norms, as government policy, at taxpayer expense. The Charter spawned the tyranny of political correctness that has decimated the equanimity, fairness, self-sufficiency, and even native intelligence of a critical mass of Canadians. (Such people never grow up: They cry foul at the drop of a hat–quite allowed under Charter “etiquette”–and expect others to fight their battles for them at public expense. And every time they win, which is often, the “rights and freedoms” of the rest of us are diminished. Not a pretty picture.)
Under the Charter, “victims”–often manufactured and/or totally undeserving ones–almost always win, at the expense of responsible Canadians who pay (and pay and pay), not only with trucated rights and dignity, but all the bills too, e.g., criminals have loads of rights and consume bucket loads of Canadians’ $$ while their [true] victims are left to their own devices–and wallets–on the sidelines.
Rory Leishman, in his fine new book, Against Judicial Activism, exhaustively catalogues the many travesties the Charter has foisted on the hapless citizen-victims of this country. All Canadians, especially soft-headed ones like nlptbc, should read this expose of the Hydra-like corruption at the heart of the Charter culture in this country.
As a Canadian who used to be proud, but isn’t anymore, I guess that nolonger, wittingly or not, supports the use of the Charter to, among other things, browbeat fine Canadians and remove their rights to freedom of belief, speech, and association. Perhaps this person could explain why he/she thinks the Charter culture–brought to us and nurtured by the Libranos–which is used over and over to discriminate against whole groups of upstanding Canadians, is a cause of such pride. (Or maybe nlptbc hasn’t given this aspect of the equation a moment’s thought. Maybe nlptbc hasn’t given this topic a moment’s thought because he/she is completely ignorant of the facts. Actually, if that’s the case, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit.)
PMSH has nothing to do with creating or perpetuating the parasitic culture of entitlement and victimhood the Charter spawned. nolonger, I think that culture is altogether loathsome, and so were many of the Liberal hacks and crooks, including those at the top–some were PMs–who willfully turned this country from “the true North, strong and free” to “the Gulag of politically correct, jackbooted impostors, grovelling and sycophantic”.
Now THAT’S loathsome.
PMSH is a politician cut from altogether different cloth than that of the LIEbrals and Dippers, thank God: Now, after decades in the political wilderness, I’M once more proud to be Canadian!
Way to go, lookout – my sentiments exactly.
After many years, i am again proud to be Canadian. I admire and respect the first non-loathesome prime minister this country has had in many a long year.
lookout – many thanks for your post on the Charter. I completely agree with your comments.
The Charter has set up the notion of the Rights of A Group against any and all individual rights. Individuals don’t have rights in Canada; only groups have rights.
The Charter has also expanded this ‘group-ism’ by transforming Canada into an oligarchy rather than a democracy.
A democracy means that every individual citizen has an equal opportunity to engage in the economic, legal and political governance of this country. Most of the Charter is devoted to the insertion of official bilingualism in Canada (sections 16-24). This has set up a mode of governance which confines participation to a minority of the population, the bilingual.
Among anglo and allophones, after one full generation, the bilingual total amounts to about 10% of their 80% proportion in Canada. Among francophones, this amounts to about 45% of their 20% proportion in Canada. Result? Most of our governing authority is in the hands of a small group who self-define and self-select their membership. Essentially, over 80% of the Canadian population is excluded from governing roles in Canada. Is that a democracy?
And the specious assertions of ‘so, go learn French’ are empty. A unilingual individual doesn’t have the time and money to spend months, and years, away from their employment, to learn that other language.
Canada’s Charter rejects FACTS and is instead insisting on FICTION. Factually, Canada is not a bilingual country; to assert that it ought to be, is pure fiction. It is dangerous to live in a fictional world. That’s the utopianism of socialism and its social engineering. Canada has spent a massive amount of money on this social engineering, and after one full generation, we must realize that, factually, you cannot make reality into fiction. You must acknowledge reality.
Factually, if you don’t use and hear this other language, everyday, on the street, in the stores, at work – then – How can you learn it?
Yet, Canada insists, with less than 20% of its population as francophone, and more than 80% of its population who don’t use the language – that any authoritative employee, must be bilingual. That goes for judges, for reviewers of all research grants in Canada, for heads of public corporations, for career diplomats, for careers in the RCMP, in the military, anywhere.
That’s what our Charter has done to us – it has effectively disbarred the majority of the population from key roles in their own gov’t.
The problem with the charter, as with any document that attempts to lay a framework for a nation’s legal definition of itself, is in its fundamental character – prescriptive vs restrictive. The former describes the citizen in relation to government (eg. Canada), while the latter does the converse (eg. USA).
These two different frameworks arise from two diametrically opposed views on the nature of mankind (humanity, for the sensitive). The prescriptive approach arises from the belief that we are fundamentally good, while the restrictive approach derives from the observation that we are fundamentally bad.
Oddly enough, this has historically demarked the difference between left & right politically as well.
Just so, Henry. Indeed, as far as I know, no other state constitution has a clause like the 10th ammendment of the Constitution of the Unites States of America.
Excellent comments, Henry and Vitruvius.
I like your outline, Henry. The Canadian charter is prescriptive in terms of prescribing the rights of the individual within the superior rights of the gov’t, while the US Constitution is restrictive, in restricting the rule of the gov’t over the individual. And, as Vitruvius points out, that unique Tenth Amendment of the US Constitution, which acknowledges the rights of the people.
I see your point about the prescriptive- and a view that mankind (I’m not politically correct) is basically good and the restrictive that mankind is basically bad. But, I don’t agree.
I think that the socialist, which is to say, the prescriptive ideology, views mankind as basically good but also basically dumb and unable to express this innate purity and goodness except when guided by The State.
The conservative, or Real Liberal (not the invalid socialist Liberal Party), views mankind as neither good nor bad but both, and views the role of gov’t as enabling the one and inhibiting the other.
The ‘fundamentally bad’ perspective is usually a religious socialism, where dogma is required to rein in the Evil That Is In Mankind.
It all comes down to the difference between selfish and greedy. Selfish is a synonym for alive, it means, oraganismally, that I’m first from my perspective. Greedy means I want what’s yours. I don’t do greed, it’s most unbecoming.
These principles are translated into the concepts of negative and positive rights. Negative rights affirm the life-is-selfish axiom: that what’s mine is mine, and the state can’t take it away. Positive rights are greedy, they allow the state to deny the very nature of self life, and allow the state to commandeer individuals’ resources in the name of the individual greeds expressed by a powerful collective (also know as special interest group).
Negative rights, or those that Henry calls restrictive (of the state) are one of the greatest accomplishments of the human species. They are typified by the Fundamental Freedoms elucidated in clause 2 of the Canadian Charter of rights and freedoms, with supporting roles from the democratic and legal rights sections.
Positive rights, or those that Henry calls prescriptive, are, on the other hand, the statist embodiment of the evil of greed. In general, if a founding principle of a modern democratic state says: “the state can’t…”, that’s probably a good thing, and if it says: “the state can…”, that’s probably a bad thing (although there are a few exceptions, I’m a minarchist, not an anarchist).
Hey jlc , just so we get this straight and before you run out and have camel sex consider this.
If we are pulling people out of a war zone because they hold Canadian passports then just do it.
Sorting and dividing families on the dock doesnt cut it.
BTW , six figures in tax paid this year doesnt hurt quite as bad if it gets the job done right.
And any SOB with the gall to bitch about how bad the conditions were on their trip out should be dropped right back in.
Without a parachute.
I believe Henry and ET are speaking of what the classical Western Tradition has long described as “fallen human nature”. Now that’s certainly not PC, but it is accurate, as the polsters would say, 19 times out of 20.
The PCs in the MSM have assumed that human nature is “born free but everywhere in chains”. Rousseau was wrong. Humans need restrictions i.e. a moral code. That is what the Trudeaupian vision, which is now codified in the Canadian Charter of Rights, fails to comprehend.
ET – I agree that socialism (rather than socialists, necessarily) needs to presume stupidity in all but the elite by virtue of its prescriptive structure (“We’re from the government and are here to help you!”). I will, however, quibble on your ascribing to the conservative position the view that mankind is neither good nor bad but both. This is more properly ascribed to two separate camps within the conservative tent. The more doctrinally-systematic Christians (Puritans, Presbyterians, Calvinists…) tend toward the “man is bad” camp, while the libertarians split across the spectrum (as it is not an issue for them). Neglecting the other camps (status quo ante conservatives, etc.), historically, the weighing was toward the former. Presently, I think the “man is good” view is predominant. (today’ conservative is yesterday’s liberal).
Regardless, I was careful to note that “fundamentally bad” derived from observational evidence. I will more carefully note that I am presently asserting this in an ensemble-averaged sense, assuming the ergodic hypothesis.