New Media » canadian politics

Murder, Lies and the Bigotry of Low Expectations

jnarvey — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:48:15 +0000

My latest broadside in The Propagandist, The Bigotry of Low Expectations of Muslim Immigrants by an Imam. A note on honour killings, expectations of Canadian citizenship and some very weird comments by a Canadian Imam who the mainstream media loves to quote. The way this guy talks about his fellow co-religionists, you’d almost be tempted to accuse him of… well, Islamophobia.

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Should Politicians Tweet Foul Language?

jnarvey — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:29:36 +0000

NDP MP Pat Martin is getting some flack today for tweeting inappropriately. A big part of me thinks, “What’s the big deal?”

“This is a f—— disgrace…closure again. And on the Budget! There’s not a democracy in the world that would tolerate this jackboot sh–,” Martin tweeted.

He followed up with another comment asking “In these uncertain economic times, don’t you think our parliament should be debating our federal budget? Some due diligence?”

But that wasn’t all. Martin went on to tell off followers who criticized his post, telling one person to “F— off” and directing the Bart Simpson-coined expression “Eat my shorts” at another.

I’ve actually got a fair bit of sympathy for Mr. Martin. I’m a bit of a foul-mouthed guy, myself (particularly if I’ve got a couple of beers in me). I don’t recall if I’ve ever sworn on Twitter before, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised to discover that I had.

That said, elected politicians are presumably held to a higher standard of civics than non-elected pundits like me. They’re supposed to set an example about respectful communication, even, or perhaps especially, if pissed off.

Also, contrary to what one might infer from Martin’s overheated rhetoric, the Conservatives were not shutting down debate by some improvised fascist measure. Closure is just part of the parliamentary rules. Majority governments use it all the time to prevent filibustering USA-style. Not exactly “jackboot” stuff.

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Contempt Of Democracy

jnarvey — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 06:22:42 +0000

A few things to think about in the wake of today’s silliness.

We live in a parliamentary democracy that is the envy of the world. Barring a surprise election victory by the Bloc Quebecois, it’s going to stay that way, no matter which national party gets in.
The majority Conservative government is not going to throw their political opponents into prison camps or turn the country into a contaminated neo-con dystopia.
If you think the Conservatives’ lack of a majority of the population’s vote is a problem for democracy, you might have raised the point when the Liberals were getting voted in by similar margins. Thank the first-past-the-post system. And if you don’t know what that is or don’t care, you’ve got no business being a Senate page.
If you’ve got a beef with the Conservatives, organize. Protest. Tell your opposition MP what you want them to say in the House of Commons.
Don’t make an ass of yourself and our democratic traditions.

I Will Keep The Gloating To A Minimum Canadian Conservatives Win. Lefties Lick Wounds...

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I Will Keep The Gloating To A Minimum

jnarvey — Tue, 03 May 2011 23:49:14 +0000

Canadian Conservatives Win. Lefties Lick Wounds

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God Ordered This Census, You Say?

jnarvey — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:51:28 +0000

You’ve got to be kidding. First, just about every hard-boiled secular (or at least non-Christian) political opponent of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already implied he’s some kind of nefarious theocrat with a hidden evangelical agenda that’s sort of modeled on Iran’s Islamic Republic.

But what’s the latest criticism of Steve-O? The PM is ignoring the will of God by making the census voluntary.

Our government is wrong-headed in its policy direction because it refuses to be influenced by cherry-picked verses from the Old Testament? What?

You can’t make this stuff up. Thanks, Globe and Mail.

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Get Your Propaganda Here. On Chavez, Slavery and Dancing IDF

jnarvey — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:31:53 +0000

Not getting enough political re-education in your breakfast cereal? Read the latest, greatest posts in The Propagandist.

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The Bloc Quebecois Is Worried About Traitors to Canada

jnarvey — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:17:03 +0000

Separatists in Quebec want potential traitors to Canada identified by CSIS toute suite. How about looking in a mirror, Maria from the Bloc? From Kelly McParland in the National Post:

The head of CSIS, the national spy agency, is being questioned about his contention that some Canadian politicians are under the influence of foreign governments, and who gets all hot under the collar about it? A Bloc MP, who wants the “traitors” identified.

“Who are the traitors in the current political class, Mr. Fadden?” demanded Maria Mourani of the Bloc Quebecois. Mr. Fadden described her words as totally inappropriate, saying there was no question of treason.

“You don’t use the word ‘traitor’ but I’ll say it…. I’m giving you a chance to tell us. Who are these ministers who are traitors to the nation?” Ms. Mourani fired back.

Um… yeah.

There’s Something Distinct About Quebec, Alright

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The Propagandist Goes To War

jnarvey — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:50:12 +0000

It’s a weird, scary world out there. Hugo Chavez fanboys and Hezbollah-luvin’ fifth columnists are trying to undermine our rights and bring us back to the Dark Ages. Political correctness is strangling free speech.

The Propagandist is fighting back.

New Media fans, note that I’ll be moving much of my original political writing over to The Propagandist. This is not just another political website — we aim to make this THE go-to online magazine of its kind. Think Adbusters, but with a 180-degree difference in editorial slant.

The Propagandist is also looking for contributors. Interested? Check out the submission guidelines.

Read some of the latest articles in The Propagandist:

Semper Fi.

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Libby Davies Has To Go

jnarvey — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 04:09:01 +0000

Libby Davies can be seen on YouTube saying she thinks that chanting “long live the intifada” “sounds good” and saying (not once but twice) that Israel has been occupying Palestinian land since 1948, that “it’s the longest occupation in history,” and that it’s time for boycotts and disinvestment. – Bob Rae

People are fired up about this. Here’s video of a protest outside NDP MP Libby Davies’ office in the heart of Vancouver:

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No More Two-Track Middle East Policy From NDP

jnarvey — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:15:26 +0000

Probably the best thing to come out of this weird incident with NDP Deputy Leader Libby Davies is the end of an unofficial two-track policy on Israel. With the statement from Thomas Mulcair, the NDP’s other deputy leader, the idea of Israel as an apartheid state is definitively ejected from mainstream political discourse in this country.

Let’s take a quick look at Mulcair’s statement as recorded in the National Post:

“No member of our caucus, whatever other title they have, is allowed to invent their own policy,” said Mr. Mulcair. “We take decisions together, parties formulate policies together, and to say that you’re personally in favour of boycott, divestment and sanctions for the only democracy in the Middle East is, as far as I’m concerned, grossly unacceptable.”

If the NDP caucus truly believes this, then it’s a sea-change for public discussion of foreign policy vis a vis Israel and the Palestinians in this country. The ideology behind boycott and divestment campaigns against Israel are firmly relegated to the land of 9/11 Truthers, Creationists and the more nefarious minds behind the Rhino party.

For political pragmatists like myself, the BDS campaign has always been an extreme phenomenon that never carried any official support from any legitimate political party or their rank and file, or at least shouldn’t have. Yet there’s no question that NDP rank and file were far more likely to have sympathy with the “Israel Apartheid State” view than their Liberal or Conservative party counterparts (and nobody really cares what Bloc members think about this stuff, anyway).

Now, many NDP members, particularly those a little higher up in the food chain, are forced to confront the reality that the BDS ideas they’ve flirted with for years are simply not part of the NDP platform — and really never have been. If NDP supporters want to retain ties to BDS, it will have to do so in a fairly clandestine manner; in the same way that when some Conservatives decide to make a statement about pro-life abortion politics, they do so in a private venue amongst their close colleagues. The days of NDP MPs like Libby Davies coming out overtly in favor of a controversial BDS campaign are now over.

That is to say, those days are over if the NDP really do mean what they’re saying.

Libby Davies Puts Her Foot In It

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