I've been having too much of a good time sailing and fishing in the north of Scotland to keep up with what has been happening in Canada.
But everywhere I go, as soon as people find out I'm a Canadian, they can't wait to tell me how much they admire Justin Trudeau.
And how they wish he was their prime minister.
So you can imagine how shocked I was to find out that Trudeau is in trouble back home.
For having done the right and decent thing in the case of Omar Khadr.
Most Canadians think the government’s settlement with Omar Khadr was wrong. And if anything is fuelling that anger, it’s the belief that Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government had other options, but chose to pay.
And find out as well, that the monstrous leader most responsible for that settlement is back...
Along with his ghastly family...
Who are now pimping for the sleazy Ezra Levant.
Which couldn't be more obscene considering that Omar Khadr almost certainly didn't kill anyone, and was himself the victim of a war crime.
And any Canadians who think that a child as badly wounded as he was should have been tortured and held in a place like Guantanamo, should have their heads examined.
Or as Michael Harris writes, cut their pathetic mouth-foaming.
A lot has been written about the apology and compensation the Trudeau government has given to Omar Khadr – much of it hysterical and inflammatory.
It has also been shamelessly political, wallowing in the same cesspool of division and hate-mongering that characterized the previous government on a range of issues, including immigration, First Nations and environmentalists.
To those who are horrified about the amount of money Khadr received, I have another question: Where were you when the Harper government was blowing $5 million of taxpayer money in legal fees to keep from paying Khadr anything?
For it is indeed the price of grinding a citizen's rights into dust. And if Stephen Harper was a depraved political leader...
Former PM Stephen Harper’s hopelessly self-interested critique of what the new government has done in the Khadr case clearly demonstrates one thing: Harper and his party remain frozen in their northern Republican block of ideological ice. That blue, solidly-frozen face beside Harper is Andrew Scheer. He is proving to be about as new as taxes.
So is the sinister religious fanatic Andrew Scheer.
Andrew Scheer says the Conservative Opposition will force a debate in the House of Commons on the Liberal government’s payout to former Guantanamo Bay inmate Omar Khadr.
“We’re going to force every Liberal in the House to take a stand,” he said to applause. “It will be simple: Do you support paying a self-confessed terrorist over $10 million or do you stand with the common sense of millions of Canadians? Justin Trudeau will have to stand and defend it.”
For he too could not be more disgusting...
That's how low Canada has fallen.
And let's be clear, hatred is a Con value.
And unless Scheer and his Harperites and Trudeau haters are defeated once and for all.
They will destroy our country.
And all I can say is thank goodness I am far away, where the Scottish highlands meet the North Sea.
And the air is so much fresher and cleaner these days, than it is in my grubby old Canada...
32 comments:
People don't see his human rights being violated, they see a brown arab terrorist who killed an American soldier winning the lottery. To put it bluntly.
71% of those polls oppose the payout, including a majority of Liberal and NDP supporters. Your off side and so is Trudeau.
Watching him pay a political price for this will be sweet. Oh and don't come back.
stay where you are you have so many loose nuts and bolts upstairs Canada cant afford to treat your illness
Just to lay a little perspective on the mouth-foamers up in arms about this settlement, Jon Stewart once reminded us during the height of the Guantanamo Bay controversy that neither Canada nor the United States treats its convicted criminals that badly. The cannibal serving life in a Colorado supermax who ate somebody's brains is not subjected to waterboarding, sleep deprivation and forced-feeding the way the Gitmo inmates were. Yet you're going sit there and to try to convince me that the child soldier brought to a warzone by his father, grievously wounded in an air strike and tossed a grenade out of fear for his own survival that happened to unfortunately kill Sgt. Speer deserved to have more than a decade of his life stripped away from him in a hell we don't subject Paul Bernardo to? You're really going to try that argument, folks?
Because that's what you're telling me if this settlement upsets you. Tell me what a year of your life is worth. What ten years are worth. Then tell me why Khadr's aren't worth that much.
One of the "Speer kids" that Ezra's collecting for is now older (18) than Khadr was when he was wounded in Afghanistan. The other is the same age (15). So, if the Speer spawn are "kids," why do Ezra, Harper, et al. deny that Khadr was a child at the time and deserved to be treated as such?
Hi Simon that beach looks beautiful, in what part of Scotland is it? And don't even think of staying there! We would miss you too much.
Hi anon....some people may see it that way, but let's face it, they're not very bright, and they probably wear white hoods over their heads, so no decent person should take their views into consideration...
Hi anon...I wouldn't care if 99% of Canadians disagreed with me, the rule of law is important and I don't give a damn what anybody else might think. As for the politics of the story don't get your hopes inflamed. Scheer may be too dumb to realize it but all he is doing is making himself look even more like Harper Two. And that will cost him the next election, and if he's still around the one after that. And don't worry, I will be coming back in a few days, if only to cancel out the vote of losers like you...
Hi anon...thanks for providing a sane comment, and some much needed perspective. Anyone who thinks that Omar Khadr shouldn't be compensated for the outrageous way he was treated by his own government is either a born again racist or as dumb as a spoon. The die was cast the moment Stephen Harper ignored not one but two Supreme Court judgements. By settling the case out of court, Justin Trudeau probably saved taxpayers about ten million dollars. How dumb do those idiot Canadians need to be not to understand that? Canada may be a big beautiful country but some of its people are too small to deserve it...
Hi anon...that beach overlooks the Moray Firth near the town of Nairn. Which was once a popular resort where people like Charle Chaplin used to spend their summers. And don't worry I am only taking a short break so I can recharge my batteries and return to fight the Cons harder than ever...
Hi anon...you ask a good question, but to answer it I would have to look into the diseased mind of the smelly bigot Ezra Levant, and since I don't have hazmat suit I can't do that. What I will say is that I am sorry that the Scheer kids lost their dad. But he volunteered to be a soldier so he knew what might happen to him. Omar Khadr on the other hand never had any choice in what happened to him. He was victimized first by his ugly family, secondly by the Americans, and thirdly by his own government and many of his own people. So he deserves every dollar he is going to receive. And while I would encourage people to send money to the Scheer kids, tying it to the Khadr case is obscene, and anybody who thinks that Levant gives a damn about them must be delusional...
Hi unknown...tell me are you senile, are you crazy, or are you just really dumb? And what on earth makes you think that I care about anything old Cons have to say. Sorry I don't. If that's all you can bring to a discussion may I suggest you don't bother. So be a good boy, take your medication, or a hot toddy, and stay in your room until you can learn some manners....
Oh Canada, sometimes I despair of you.
The first time we hear from Stephen Harper in several years is to have him slam a just settlement in a case that the Supreme Court of Canada had judged against his awful government.
Long live Canada!
Long live the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms!
Is it just the "old stock" Canadians who don't like justice to be served?
Those smug buggers who sacrifice horses at the Calgary Stampede and are busting out of their western shirts just like the virgin cowboy Jason Kenney.
Have a great trip, Noddy, and stay off the Crabbie's Ginger Wine.
Don't worry Simon, it's just the crazies losing their minds again. Harper crawls out of his crypt to criticize Trudeau for having to clean up his mess, Ezra sees a money making opportunity ( he's got a mansion to pay for) and it gives Andy and his loser alt right base something to Screech about.
Omar is innocent. I'd like to see Stephen Harper pay for having him tortured for 10 years, but we know the rich and powerful never pay for their crimes so he'll have to settle for the cash award. He deserves every penny, it's just sad that Justin had to apologize for Harper's Crime.
I'm glad you'll be back soon, we need you. 🌞🌞🌞 Pamela
Considering this all happened 15 years ago is the fundraising not a little behind the curve. This poll is a nothing burger. Most Canadians realize that loathsome as the Kadar family is, under the Charter of rights they are protected from torture. Canada allowed this to happen and just like Harper payed Mahar, we must pay Kadar.
If Khadr is not deemed worthy of protection by our government, how can any of us feel secure the government will protect us if needed. If we give up our rights for security, then what are our soldiers fighting for?
~GS
You're right: the political process is incomplete when the new-rightists are merely relegated to opposition benches. Though the first step, disconnecting them from the public treasury where they can use our own money to sabotage our own sovereignty, is being completed across the country, the next step, putting their cancer into remission, remains to be done. It probably isn't enough that they're cooperating with us in this regard: their vitriol hurts us all as their evaporating base intensifies and crystallizes hatred like W-18. I pray we don't end up with a system that enables fringe parties to win the balance of power---at least until this fringe faction has gone extinct for good.
BTW, you aren't so far north as to hear a peculiar language called Norn, are you?
Enjoy your visit. I was there (mostly on Skye) in '72, an unusually hot (except for the ocean) and sunny summer. Boy! Did I ever see some dandy sunburns. Didn't look like anybody knew much about them.
And here we've got Jagmeet Singh talking about income redistribution. Didn't you already take a vacation to Scotland this year? Surely there is a poor Syrian family that could use the break more than you. You need to check your white privilege Simon.
Omar Khadr didn't choose his family. Imagine if one of your parents or both were serial killers, or major drug dealers who destroyed countless lives?
Here is one of the best articles (in French; perhaps it will be translated - I don't have the time right now) I have seen on the question by retired lawyer Huguette Gagnon:
http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/canada/503299/exercice-de-projection-pour-comprendre-l-affaire-omar-khadr
Hi Pamela...As I said in my post, I'm glad I'm in the rugged north of Scotland and far away from all that anti-Khadr hysteria in Canada, because every time I check it out I feel like vomiting. Not only do I see the Cons trying to undermine the rule of law again, but it seems to me that the poison of Trump is threatening to engulf us. But as I said, I am recharging my batteries, a no-Trump day is a good day, and when I get back I am going to kick Con ass from one end of the country to the other...
Hi Steve....I think you're right, the poll is probably considerably less than it appears. Most Canadians agree that Khadr was badly treated, but hate the idea of giving him all that money. They should remember that Omar is blind in one eye, is in danger of losing his sight in the other, and recently required a nineteen hour operation to repair the damage to his upper body. And let's not forget the psychological damage caused by 10 years in Guantanamo.
Hi Scotty...I completely agree with you. If we were dealing with the old PC party relegating them to the opposition benches would be good enough. But this new alt-right. version threatens the very foundations of our country and must be totally destroyed before it poisons what's best about Canada.
As for the language of Norn, I'm not far enough north to come into contact with those who still speak it. Which is just as well because Glasgow Scottish is hard enough ;)
And yes, although Scotland can be a cloudy place, when the sun comes out it can be really hot. And when those incredibly white people are exposed to it they can end up looking like lobsters. Not me though, I just get so many freckles I'm forced to wear a veil...
Hi anon....what are you talking about Con? What on earth has Jagmeet Singh got to do with Khadr story? And since when are you my travel agent? For the record my last trip to Scotland was to attend a clan meeting I.e. family gathering.. Now I'm on holiday so kindly buzz off...
Hi lagatta....thanks for the Devoir story. And of course you're right, since when do people in this country get judged on how people feel about their family? That isn't even fascism, it's madness...
Hi Simon, I hope you are enjoying your vacation. The poll also said that 74% saw Khadr as a child soldier and that he should have been treated as such. So I think for most people, it is about the money. My prediction is that the cpc will be so shameless in this that eventually even those who agree with them will grow tired of their act. Much like the niqab.
@Filcher Exactly. Charter rights are meant to apply to all of us, criminal and law-abiding citizen alike! If we're choosing not to recognize the charter rights of certain people... that's a scary precedent to set.
@Anonymous So 71% of those polled are unfamiliar with Section 7 of the Charter. A rather unsettling statistic, if I might say.
Looks like our Civics classes aren't getting the job done.
And there is just about every reason to believe that Khadr did not throw the grenade and that the American military was just continuing its long and distinguished tradition of lying.
There seems to be enough evidence to think that it might have been a friendly fire incident and we know the US military will lie like troopers (well some of them may well be real troopers) if there is any chance of that.
If Khadr had a chance of a real trial rather than a rigged, military kangaroo court he might have had a good chance of acquittal. Of course that's why G. W. Bush formed the military tribunals. He and his legal advisors knew only too well that they had little, if any, evidence justifying the detention of almost all Guantanamo prisoners.
His claims of torture were merely ploys to gain sympathy and secure his release—a tactic taken straight out of the Manchester Manual, an al Qaeda training document seized by authorities in the U.K.
ANON 6:56 The Manchester Manual Lesson 18 “1. At the beginning of the trial, once more the brothers must insist on proving that torture was inflicted on them by State Security [investigators] before the judge. 2.Complain [to the court] of mistreatment while in prison. 3. Make arrangements for the brother’s defense with the attorney, whether he was retained by the brother’s family or court-appointed. 4.The brother has to do his best to know the names of the state security officers, who participated in his torture and mention their names to the judge.
Look at point 1, and consider what "insist on proving torture was inflicted on them" means.
Thank you both for clearing this up for me. A 10 year detention of a minor at Gitmo is nothing more than a stay at the Hilton/Radisson or whatever. Do you peeps have your vacation booked there? FFS
Khadr was like 12 when he first went over there. If he had a normal mother she would have been up in arms campaigning the government to retrieve him. That likely would have been unsuccessful but even so the common opinion of him for Canadians would be quite different. Then his father was killed and he was left with other terrorists as babysitters. I argued about the Afganistan mission with friends when it first started and they sold it as mostly to remove land minds. Trumps whole speach about Irans support of terrorism coming back to bite them fits more aptly to 911.
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