The ideological hammer

When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.
When all you have is a conservative ideology, as the Harper Conservatives do, then all solutions are ideological.
Here's another example:
In Macleans, John Geddes writes about the secret history of the RCMP and Insite, noting how some RCMP leadership changed their views about harm reduction as they actually reviewed and discussed the research findings about the Insite project. Geddes concludes his article with this question:

The question now is whether these revelations about the undisclosed evolution in the RCMP’s perspective on the Insite experiment will have any impact on the government’s determination to end it.

No, they won't.
This has been another edition of Simple Answers to Simple Questions.
I've been writing articles for several years about the Cons war against Insight -- and RossK at The Gazetteer made key connections to the Bush Justice Department and the Haters' Club.
I think we can conclude, without fear of contradiction, that on the part of the Harper Conservatives there has never been the least indication they understand anything about drug use and how to deal with it realistically. They're against drugs because it is Conservative ideology to be against them and don't bother them with the facts!
(H/T The Jurist)
UPDATE: Mr. Sinister describes the refusal to participate in the reality-based community as the unbearable lightness of being a Conservative.

More members for the League

The League of Extraordinary Canadians is increasing by the day -- 900ftJesus and, in comments, Beijing York provide more nominees:

Luc Pomerleau, biologist, Food Inspection Agency for whistleblowing.
Douglas Tipple, consultant, PWGSC, set up then fired for his advice on real estate.
David Rotor, consultant, PWGSC, set up then fired for his advice on real estate.
Arthur Carty, National Science Advisor, phased out.
Alan Leadbeater, Canadian Information Commission, dismissed
Johanne Gelinas, Environment Commissioner, dismissed for a scathing report
Jean-Guy Fleury, chair, Immigration & Refugee Board, resigned out of frustration
Jean-Pierre Kingsley, Elections Canada, stonewalled, resigned while investigating the CONs
Louise Arbour, UN High Com. for Human Rights, was refused support on 2^nd term, publicly rebuffed
Steve Sullivan, victims of crime ombudsman, term was not renewed, publicly took issue with the Harper government's tough-on-crime agenda.
Sheridan Scott, Competition Bureau head, ran afoul environment minister, quit after being told her appointment would not be renewed.
Deanna Allen VP Canadian Wheat Board, fired by Harper appointee Arason following Measner's firing.

The Liberals are compiling a Harper Enemies List too.
Canada is being governed by Dick Cheney North.
UPDATE: Chantal Herbert makes the story mainstream and calls out the MPs and Senators who are letting this happen.

Saturday Morning Cartoon

Whitewash coming

This Toronto Star story likely foreshadows the emerging whitewash of the G20 "reviews" now underway.
So, what happened in Toronto during the G20 protests was this:
Toronto police were trying their very best and events unfortunately spiraled out of their control sometimes and they were spread so thin that they couldn't arrest any black bloc when they were actually vandalizing police cars and breaking windows because they were busy trying to get some blood to a hospital and really all of the trouble was the protesters' own fault because they had allowed themselves to be infiltrated by the black bloc and the protest leaders hadn't denounced the bloc tactics so all of the protesters were guilty until proven innocent and the Toronto police are just trying to protect the safety of the people of Toronto.
Oh, and nobody knows who ordered any of the police to do anything they did all weekend, like blocking protest routes after telling protest organizers to use those routes, and arresting people for no reason, and not feeding prisoners or giving them water, nope, they just can't figure out who was giving orders for anything so no-one can be blamed for any of that, it certainly wasn't the fault of the Toronto police who are just trying to protect the safety of the people of Toronto.
Oh, and we should all be grateful, GRATEFUL, to Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair who went to the police command centre for five minutes on Sunday and took charge in a masterful yet firm way to order the ketteling to be stopped because he was just trying to protect the safety of the people of Toronto.
Oh, and we really shouldn't bicker and argue anymore because if there's one thing we can all agree on, it is that we all learned some very worthwhile lessons from the whole experience that will really help in the future to protect the safety of the people of Toronto.
So there you have it.

Shorter

Shorter Prime Minister Harper:

L'Etat, c'est moi

Don't let the door hit you on the way out

After seven years, the last U.S. combat brigade left Iraq today.
Yes, there are still 50,000 US troops there, as "advisors" -- its not the end just yet, but it is the beginning of the end.
And the unprovoked US attack on a country which hadn't attacked either them or their allies will go down in history not only as a cruel and brutal war crime, but a pointless one at that.

I was a stranger, and you took me in

Stephen Harper explains why Canada apparently shouldn't take in Tamil refugees even though we signed the UN refugee convention half a century ago:

"We are responsible for the security of our borders and the ability to welcome people or not welcome people when they come"....when hundreds of people come to the country outside the proper channels, it leads to “significant security concerns,” he said.

I'm not quite sure what the "proper channels" are for refugees from the other side of the Pacific Ocean, but arriving in a boat doesn't seem particularly outlandish to me.
I sincerely hope we will see a less hysterical reaction, from our politicians and from the public, as we learn a little more about these people -- like the woman who apologized that she couldn't be handcuffed because she has only one hand.
And by the way, getting the Navy to turn away future refugee ships without giving people the opportunity for a hearing would be unconstitutional.

The shot heard round the world

For New Yorkers, the Bobby Thompson home run in the 1951 National League pennant race was their Paul Henderson moment.



Bobby Thompson died today.

League of Extraordinary Canadians (Updated)

What do all of these people have in common?
Pat Stogran


Munir Sheikh


Paul Kennedy



Richard Colvin


Linda Keen


Bill Casey


Michaelle Jean


UPDATE: Thanks to Commenters for these additions to the League:
From Alison:
Peter A. Tinsley


From Ted:
Adrian Measner


John Reid


Robert Marleau


Bernard Shapiro


Remy Beauregard


Hanging by a thread:
Marc Mayrand


Kevin Page


UPDATE 2: And here's another one (HT POGGE)
Marty Cheliak

Shorter

Shorter Tory plan to find people to support the census change:

Nice little government job your relative has here, fella. Be a shame if something were to happen to it.

Summertime blues

The thousand peaceful protesters who were arrested a few blocks away from Stephen Harper's Toronto G20 hotel had a terrible summer. The Tamil boat people and Omar Khadr and Munir Sheikh and mayors and farmers had a terrible summer. But Stephen Harper had a nice summer.
Isn't that special?


(HT the Jurist)

Boat people

Then


Now


Canada welcomed 50,000 Vietnamese boat people a generation ago, and we have been a better nation for it. The times in our past when we have turned desperate people away are now recognized as tragedies.
As Nosey Parker says:

I still want the buggered-up Canadian refugee system to be fixed, but I don't want to be standing in Mackenzie King's shoes, waving goodbye to the MS St. Louis.

"It's not going to be a national movement"

Worst prediction ever.

Political courage

Obama today made a strong defense of the so-called "Ground Zero mosque".
Obama gets it -- we don't get to choose the battle, we can only choose our side.
Initially, Obama wanted to stay out of the mosque dispute, and I can understand why. But as it became not only a national battle in itself, but also a symbol of religious tolerance vs anti-Muslim bigotry across the United States, then he had no choice.
Greenwald writes

The campaign against this mosque is one of the ugliest and most odious controversies in some time. It's based purely on appeals to base fear and bigotry. There are no reasonable arguments against it, and the precedent that would be set if its construction were prevented -- equating Islam with Terrorism, implying 9/11 guilt for Muslims generally, imposing serious restrictions on core religious liberty -- are quite serious. It was Michael Bloomberg who first stood up and eloquently condemned this anti-mosque campaign for what it is, but Obama's choice to lend his voice to a vital and noble cause is a rare demonstration of principled, politically risky leadership. It's not merely a symbolic gesture, but also an important substantive stand against something quite ugly and wrong. This is an act that deserves pure praise.

"We don't know and we don't care"

Paul Wells and Chet write thoughtful posts about why Harper wanted to gut the census -- Wells says the long-term goal is to roll back the big-L Liberal social policies which Canada has adopted over the last 40 years, while Chet notes Harper's basic misunderstanding of the Canadian character:

. . . the lasting, bedrock values of diversity, the common good, a toleration for muddling through, and so on, that Harper opposes are not new Liberal impositions; they're basic Canadian values, and they're actually quite old. The only thing the Liberal Party has ever really done about them is to align itself (roughly) with them more often than not, and to dimly reflect their implications in policy as Canadians grew and changed with new realities. . . .
What Harper and his true believers are up to, really, is that thing that traditional conservatives were always against: social engineering. . . . In the end, they'll fail. Political parties just don't have the power to change people's character all that much; there are always too many other forces at work. Harper thinks he does have that power, because he thinks, incorrectly, that the Liberals once had that power. But he's wrong, both historically and politically.

Does anyone still remember Wayne and Shuster? They understood as well as anyone, I think, the bemused tolerance Canadians have for their governing institutions, along with impatience for pomposity and disdain of hypocrisy. I wonder how many of our politicians today remember this skit?