You know Caeser (by the way I hope you decided to spell your name incorrectly, that e instead of an a at the end really bugs me sometimes)
Yes, done on purpose.
You know Caeser (by the way I hope you decided to spell your name incorrectly, that e instead of an a at the end really bugs me sometimes)
Changed just for you.
Thank-you. Cheers
Anywho, when I arrived I figured that the inward looking, self satisfied view of the lefties
Don't paint me with that brush, you know nothing about me. I have always voted Socred/Liberal (prov-obviously) and Tory, prefer less not more government, don't own Birkenstocks, don't smoke dope, don't break the law, am against legalization of marijuana, and despise big-labour.
Well done. So you are not a leftie.
What planet are you from where one can never express concerns and opinions that don't directly fall in line with one's usual political views? Must be pretty nice not to have to think, just categorize everything according to what the 'right' is supposed to think.
I guess my problem is that the views you are espousing tend to be those of the majority of Canadians and I don't think they came by them honestly. I don't think the majority thought there way through the issues at hand. The media and the politicians have been spoon feeding a particular anti-American line, especially on Iraq for so long, picking news stories to back up their position that the public can't fail to understand the position the way they see it.
Many people forget that at the time of the invasion of Iraq (yes it was an invasion, yes the Iraqi government was overthrown, yes the allies occupied the country, yes the Kurds and Shiites were liberated, yes there are locals who are perturbed at having lost their positions and are concerned about being fed to their own meat grinders at Abu Ghraib, yes there are some foreign muslims who have shown up to protect their supply lines between Afghanistan and Algeria, yes it did discomfit the business arrangements of some nations and individuals and finally yes it did serve America's national interests as well as the interests of many other nations - a fair day's work on balance I would say.).... at the time of the invasion 50% of Canadians supported the notion of going into Iraq. If the Government of the day had said yes the numbers would likely have gone higher. This was the experience in all the other allied countries. Unfortunately that 50% wasn't evenly distributed across Canada. Some pockets showed more support than others. There is a strong belief in some quarters that the decision made was to prevent a replay of the Conscription battles (the Boer War caused similar fault lines).
Now I can understand us having to stay out because of that domestic situation. I may not have liked it but I can understand it. I thoroughly detest the adoption of the line that we must denigrate a necessary and useful action at all cost and may not make reference to the advantages conferred on the region and Iraq.
Ranting I know. But I am afraid that your reiteration one more time of a commonly held view, a view that in my opinion is approaching dogma rather than debate, was just too much.
I'm a prairie type person by nature
So as long as we are accepting stereotypes as fact, you must be a redneck, Bud/Canadian drinking, meat-and-potatoes eating, bigot cowboy from Calgary/Edmonton who thinks higher education is grade 10? This is obviously not what I expect you to be, but I thought I would characterize you as you characterized me.
Lessee. Redneck? Yep guilty. Worse than you may think. Folks from the Borders and Lowlands were referred to as Rednecks back in Britain long before Jeff Foxworthy heard about us. Bud/Canadian? No. But I do like my beer. Big Rock Traditional by preference. Meat and Potatoes? Had to cut out the potatoes on this low-carb diet. Bigot? Try not to be but discriminating and chauvinistic, yep. Cowboy. Unfortunately not. No Hat, No Cattle and bucked off a horse three times in a row. Grade 10 is higher education for some people that I know. My Father-in-law for one. Not many opportunities in the Depression.
You know I moved out here to the left coast about 11 years ago, temporarily.
Why don't you move back? Don't want you to succumb to all the 'mold, moss and rust' on all the 'mountains, trees, buildings and clouds' or catch pneumonia from the 'relentless overcast and months of rain'.
I've heard that line before. Call me in a few years and tell me about freedoms when you are responsible for the lives of your children and your decisions affect others.
Now then. Back to the case at hand.
In these discussions it seems to me that some participants are often parroting views and attitudes expressed by our media and politicians. I am afraid I don't hold either in very high regard right now.
The media in particular galls me for I have been late in coming to the realisation that they are descended from pamphleteers and propagandists and generally the line has bred true. I used to accept as fact that the Canadian media was a neutral party, assiduously retailing the facts so that the populace could make informed decisions. I overlooked errors and omissions on the grounds of lack of knowledge, oversight and accident.
This current situation with respect to Iraq and Terrorism and President Bush has changed my view. A change that started when I saw how Manning, Day and Harper were treated, not to mention all my fellow "red-neck" Albertans.
The media consistently fails to mention all the facts. Curiously the facts that are omitted tend to be those that bolster what is commonly known as the right-wing or conservative view.
Case in point. Equalization report in Canadian Press today - "Conservative economist" states that equalization has perverse incentives "Mainstream economists" can't prove him wrong.
2nd Case. 350 tonnes of explosives gone missing in Iraq according to New York Times. Kerry slams Bush.
NBC reporter embedded with 101 Abn that secured the site informs that Explosives were gone when the got there.
NYT's take on the issue.......Bush and Kerry Campaigns battle over Missing Explosives.
Consequently a lot of people end up with fairly "filtered" views of reality.
And from where I stand your views on this particular issue squares fairly well with the rest of the populace at large who come by their opinions from a limiited number of sources.
Now if I have misread your understanding of the world, if you have come to your conclusions based on more than listening to CBC/CTV and the local rags, then I apologize.
However it is an unfortunate fact of life that people tend to be known by their associations. And your association with that particular view doesn't recommend you highly in my view.
Yours, Kirkhill
