For the last two weeks I was lucky to have been in Britain as the Rupert Murdoch / News International scandal hit that country like a massive meteorite, rocking its very foundations.
It was an awesome spectacle. The torrent of outrage, the angry debates in Parliament, the unrelenting media coverage, the sight of the Con Prime Minister trying to explain why his former media advisor, and close friend, was arrested.
Or trying to dodge questions about his cozy relationship with Murdoch's dragon lady Rebekah Brooks, whose enormous country estate is only a mile away from where the Camerons live. And who frequently came over for drinkies.
Or the police chief trying to explain why Murdoch's minions had been able to hack so many phones, bribe police officers, and get away with it for so long.
And needless to say I found the whole sordid show hugely entertaining...
Mr Murdoch arrived in London yesterday, wearing a Panama hat and clutching a final copy of the News of the World, in a bid to save his crumbling organisation after the phone-hacking scandal saw the 168-year-old paper axed.
But he flew straight into another storm as it was claimed 9/11 victims may have had their mobiles tapped by News of the World reporters.
Because NOTHING could hurt Fox News as much as being associated with the defilement of those victims.
And the Fox News Gang knows that this story is bad news. So they're not touching it with a "ten foot turban."
Which just about says it all about what kind of "journalists" and people work at Murdoch's Krazy Con network.
My only regret ? Last Sunday in Scotland, my brother bought me a copy of the News of the World's last edition. He said it might be worth something in about fifty years. But after glancing at that hideous tabloid wanking away about its "proud" record of filth, sexism, and scandal, I tossed it into the recycling bin.
Only to think later that I should have tossed it onto the barbeque and made a YouTube of it burning. I'm sure it would have been my most popular video ever eh?
Especially if I had roasted a pig that looked like Stephen Harper Rupert Murdoch over its smouldering embers.
But sadly others beat me to the idea.
And they did it better...
Now imagine Fox News roasting over that sewer grate.
Or better still our own Con media getting grilled for polishing Stephen Harper's ample arse with their noses.
What about the Murdochian impulse to control politics along a right-wing axis? Well, the National Post was clearly created in 1998 to push Canadian journalism rightward and has had smashing success. In last May’s election, every daily in Canada, except the Star and the smallish Le Devoir, endorsed Stephen Harper. Even in the last U.K. election you didn’t get such uniformity.
Mmmmm....slurp....drool.
What did somebody say about Stephen Harper the other day?
Well I have to say that as I lay on those grassy dunes, staring up at the clouds, listening to the roar of the waves, drinking in the fresh North Sea air, it was really easy to forget the horrible sights, the grunting sounds, and the foul stench of Harperland.
Especially since the only Canadian news I saw on Scottish TV was a few seconds of Great Majority Leader and the royal couple, wearing cowboy hats at the Redneck Stampede.
Which was just as well eh?
Because if I'd known that the Great Harpony didn't just look ridiculous, but was also sounding like a man possessed.
“Conservative values are Canadian values.”
Thus spoke Stephen Harper in front of 900 hootin’ and hollerin’ supporters at the Calgary Stampede. The Liberal era was basically over, he claimed, gone like “disco balls and bell bottoms.” The citizens of this great land have moved into the Tory temple and “Canada is more united than ever.”
It might have ruined my holiday.
Or not. Because as I told Sébastien as I showed him the battlefield of Culloden, where a Scottish army was slaughtered by the English.
A lost cause is only a lost cause if you don't believe in it enough.
More than 250 years later Scotland is still here. And while the Con government in London is planning to slash medicare, raise tuition fees, and privatize schools and hospitals.
The Scots are expanding their medicare system, delivering more and better services for seniors, and providing their kids with free university educations.
Which only goes to prove that you can have the country you want, if you are prepared to fight for it.
And that sooner or later all tyrants bite the dust.
All things considered, Mr. Harper must feel he has the golden touch. He must feel that he can get away with anything. But when you’re the man on the mountaintop, as he is right now, that sense of invincibility can be destructive. Hubris takes over when what is most necessary – given that from the pinnacle, the only remaining route is down – is humility.
But of course now I'm home, and staring at this horror show...
So now I don't know what to say eh?
Except does that sinister Con drag queen have a costume for EVERY voice in his head?
When he gets tired of playing a cop, or a hockey "expert", will he play Margaret Thatcher or Mussolini ?
And if so when can I get my money country back?
And of course, holidays are wonderful, and a great escape from Harperland.
But as we say in Scottish...Och aye the noo broon coo.
I realize it's probably not the best time to leave Canada. Canadian summers are so short eh?
But the truth is I can't wait to leave, because politically speaking this has been the worst summer EVAH. First the Cons got a majority, and then it started to rain.
And it won't be too hard to give up blogging either, because if all the yelling and shrieking in the progressive blogosphere was light, the truth would be blinding. But all I see are people wailing in The Great Darkness. Especially if they are Liberals.
And since I love all progressives and my blogging family, that makes me sad.
I also realize that I'll be missing Pride Week, and the Gay Pride Parade. But at least I won't have to endure the debate over whether the Fordzilla is a homophobe. When that's exactly what he is.
By deciding not to attend this year’s parade, the mayor is reinforcing the stereotypical notion of Pride as nothing more than a queer fest for cruising homos. In that sense, the mayor is delegitimatizing an entire community, an influential and important one, whose members also have kids, mortgages and dreams and aspirations for their loved ones, just like the mayor.
And you can't put lipstick on that pig...
Besides, on a higher note, they say you have to leave Canada to write about it.
And I'm taking Sébastien to the place where as a small boy, while keeping an eye on the sheep, I had some of my BEST ideas...
When it was sunny.
So maybe I can figure out what flaw in our national character caused us to be known as the Ugly Canadians.
Doctors from many countries have implored Canada for years to change its ways. The Lancet, a leading medical journal, has underscored the dangers of asbestos. The World Health Organization has warned that “at least 90,000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis resulting from occupational exposures.” Doctors from Canada (including Quebec) and abroad have signed petitions, sent letters, organized delegations – all to no avail.
Because that one really hurts eh?
On the other hand I'm also taking Sébastien to see the wall a Roman Emperor put up to keep out my rebel people...
So I'm hardly about to give up on the Canada I love so much. Or stop attacking Emperor Harper. Or stop trying to knock down the walls of poverty, ignorance, and bigotry.
And I know that if we unite and help each other, we CAN defeat the Cons.
So I think I'll just wrap this up with a message of hope.
And this great new song that stands for just about EVERYTHING I believe in...
Well I see the great postal filibuster has ended. The NDP has surrendered to reality. The union-bashing Cons got what they wanted. The workers were shafted.
And at least the NDP defined itself as THE opposition party, and appears to recognize the importance of symbolic protest.
In fact, symbolically, the NDP Commons filibuster over back-to-work legislation has been brilliant. It has gone on long enough to portray New Democrats as the party willing to defy Harper.
But, so far at least, it has not gone on so long that it materially harms the public and, in particular, those small business operators dependent on mail service whose votes the NDP hopes to attract.
Because now that the HarperCons have a majority, that's the only kind of protest we've got left.
Although I also note that Brigette DePape has some ideas in that regard.
"When they tell us to stay home they are trying to get us to forget that the power of the people in the streets is greater than the power of any government."
But here's the question. How far are we really prepared to go to block the Harper Agenda? And how many Canadians are prepared to stick their necks out to defend Canada? Like Tim DeChristopher is prepared to do to save the planet.
I ask that question because I recently watched a video of DeChristopher addressing the Power Shift conference in April.
And it was one of the most riveting speeches I think I've ever seen...
So how far are Canadians prepared to go?
I have no idea. I guess it depends on how far the Cons are prepared to go. And how much we love our country.
But I do know a couple of things eh?
If Tim DeChristopher ever runs for President of the World I'd vote for him.
Thanks to the NDP and Brigette DePape, the power of peaceful protest is alive and kicking in this country.
It took a long time, even in the place where the gay rights revolution was born. Every homophobic group in Amerika tried to stop it. But tonight the state of New York finally legalized gay marriage.
Here's the historic vote as covered by Rachel Maddow:
Can you believe it? Almost 42 years to the day since the Stonewall Uprising, gays and lesbians in that state have finally won the right to celebrate their love.
I dedicate this moment to Patrick, and all those who could not live to see this day. But they are with us now in Heaven, and we can know at least we - and so many straight people - did not let them down.
You think it’s going to stop with this? You think now bigamists are going to want their rights to marry? You think somebody that wants to marry his sister is going to now say “I have a right”? I mean, it’s the same principle, isn’t it?
You know...the Empire State Building is decked out in the rainbow colours these days to mark Pride Week.
Holy Lady Gaga. Sometimes it's not easy to be gay eh? When the bigots aren't trying to kill you, the Christianist closet queens are trying to "cure" you.
In the United States their hugging fondling praying cousins at Exodus International recently had an app removed by Apple.
But in this country the eggy freaks at EGA are able to promote the same harmful nonsense, and suck up hoover up donations as a registered CHARITY !!!!!
But now finally, some are taking aim at that scam thanks to the excellent work of my awesome brother Mark at Slap Upside the Head.
So please sign his petition, because it's the best way to put those phonies out of business. And since Stephen Harper shares their views and believes that homosexuality is a choice, so can presumably be "cured," it won't be easy.
As for the "ex-gay" movement, as someone who came out at the age of thirteen and has been fighting bigots and bullies ever since. All I want to say to those self-haters is this:
Closet queens PUH......LEAZE.Get a grip on yourselves...uh...metaphorically speaking. And repeat after me:
Hooray you're gay
And gay is never going to go away.
Or better still, sing it with the Juliettes...
Yup. As I was saying. Sometimes it's not easy to be gay eh?
When I think about what Stephen Harper and his sinister thugs might have been up to in Afghanistan. And how we'll never know what really happened, because the Cons have shutdown the judge's panel.
The Conservative government decided to shut down a panel responsible for vetting documents on the handling and treatment of Afghan detainees, a newly released letter indicates.
The June 15 letter from two former Supreme Court judges on the panel says they were advised by the government after the recent election “that it is unlikely” the document review process would be renewed, even though they had examined only an “initial” cache of records.
So the great document search into torture turned out to be nothing but a FARCE.
When I think about how most Canadians probably don't give a damn because they tuned out the Afghan War a long time ago. And the how the words "Canada" and "human rights" don't go together anymore.
I say thank goodness for Amnesty International, which is celebrating its fiftieth birthday.
I've always admired the organization. I tattooed its logo on my arm when I was fifteen. I love the way it fights for the rights of political prisoners all over the world. And how it champions all kinds of other human rights causes that would otherwise receive little or no attention.
From the rights of Gypsies to be treated with respect and dignity.
To the rights of girls in Nicaragua to live free from sexual violence.
Well I see that Rob Ford has announced that he'd rather get drunk at his cottage, than march in the Pride Parade.
Rob Ford is skipping the pride parade to spend his Canada Day weekend at the cottage, ending a long tradition of participation by Toronto mayors in the popular event.
And I for one am delighted eh?
Because it is a long parade route, it can get brutally hot, and if he melted into a pool of grease, they'd have to get a sewer sucker to hoover him up.
And surely nobody is surprised by the message he is sending to the city's gay community.
Councillor Janet Davis said the mayor’s decision not to march is indicative of his feelings toward the gay community. “By not going to Pride I think he is sending a very clear message that they don’t count in Rob Ford’s city,” she said.
Gawd. What an idiot MONSTER. Why does he hate the people of Toronto soooo much? When can we remove him from office?
And why is that grotesque Fordzilla stirring up homophobia again? Because all you have to do is read the comments in the Globe article to see what I mean:
Hmmm, hang out at lake with family, have a beer, grill some steak and catch some fish.
OR
Watch half-naked, oiled up men dance around in their underpants blowing whistles.....
Pass the beer Rob. I wouldn't go either; someone might sneeze and spread AIDS
And if some gay person is beaten or murdered as a result, he'll have blood all over his trotters.
Oh well. At least the lesson couldn't be clearer eh?
Until progressives unite to defeat the common enemy, they'll get the government, the Prime Minister.
If you want to survive Canada's Summer of Anger, there are two subjects you absolutely must NOT discuss with your fellow hosers.
One...who is to blame for the Vancouver riot? Because chances are you'll have to listen to some deranged rant about how young people are inherently dumb and dangerous. How they HUMILIATED Canada. And how they should be shamed, jailed, whipped, and their lives ruined FOREVER.
Because then you might have to listen to a lengthy and foamy diatribe about how those unionized workers are lazy, greedy, PARASITES, who are giving themselves juicy pensions with OUR tax dollars. And how DARE they have a pension when I don't ???!!!
When in fact:
(1) The postal service workers make millions and millions of dollars in PROFIT for the government. They don't depend on the largesse of taxpayers, and the only people that do are the ones with the best performing pensions in the country.
(2) The attempt to create two kinds of workers at Canada Post is part of a larger campaign to do away with pensions altogether, and an all out assault on the rights of young Canadians.
The CEOs have decided. The value of young people is lower than the value of people from my generation. You don’t deserve the same salary, even if you are better educated. You don’t deserve the same vacation time or health benefits. And you certainly don’t deserve to have the same kind of secure retirement. It’s just not in the business plan.
(3) Stephen Harper and his Cons are out to destroy public pensions, and what's left of the union movement in Canada. Because for them and the big business porkers, pensions are SOCIALISM. And unions are The Enemy.
And they know that if young Canadians are barely able to support themselves, they'll be less likely to join a union, and less able or willing to support the elderly.
So we'll ALL suffer, the race to the bottom will continue, and people will end up gnawing on each other in the darkness of a capitalist jungle. While the fat cats look down on us from their fortresses or their executive jets, rattle their jewels, swill their champagne, and laugh their porky asses off.
Which is when I start thinking of what happened in Vancouver. And wonder what might happen when young Canadians realize that their future has been stolen, their planet has been torched. And find a REAL reason to riot...
But for Godzilla's sake, whatever you do, don't mention that to anyone you don't know really well eh? Or you might be attacked or publicly SHAMED.
Even though that won't change the truth: Or there will be justice, or there will be trouble.
And this too is true:
If you are under the age of 35, pay close attention. Your standard of living, and that of your children, is being decided right now in the boardroom, the workplace and even on the picket line. Sooner rather than later, you will need to pick a side.
We are heading for an ideological and generational struggle the likes of which most Canadians can't even IMAGINE.
The Cons and their corporate masters are preparing to wage war on young and old Canadians.
