Monday, December 17, 2018

What They Don't Know Can Hurt Us All



My good friend Dave, who lives in Winnipeg, has a very keen mind and makes it a steady practice to be well-informed about public matters. Consequently, at times he is overwhelmed by the political corruption and ineptitude that, as a citizen, he must bear witness to. Sometimes, in a sardonic moment when confronted with and seized by especially egregious examples of said shortcomings, he says to me, "Lorne, I wish I had been born an idiot!"

I empathize with how he feels, but while both Dave and I know that ignorance can be bliss, we also are acutely aware it can be dangerously destructive, especially when that ignorance exists in high office.

One of the most distressing aspects of contending with people's significant educational and intellectual limitations is that all too frequently, they think they are the smartest person in the room. For such individuals, problems are easily defined, and solutions simple. All the time others spend on lengthy and detailed analysis is time wasted to such people. In the best of situations, the espousal of such misplaced arrogance is limited to family and friends; in the worst, it infects government, and you wind up with ones led by the likes of Donald Trump and Doug Ford, both of whom regard themselves, no doubt, as brilliant, but who others see as manifestly incapable of heading a hot dog stand, let alone a government.

And so we find ourselves in Ontario led by a buffoonish premier, Doug "Backroom Dealer" Ford, taking the province down a path of national ridicule and lost opportunity. It can only get worse.

Happily, there are still those souls (notably outside of government or in the opposition ranks) unwilling to turn a blind eye, resolutely insisting upon a public accounting. Rob Ferguson writes:
The odds are against Toronto police veteran Ron Taverner ever being able to effectively lead the OPP because controversy over his friendship with Premier Doug Ford has done irreversible damage, policing experts say.

Concerns about potential conflicts of interest will always linger, several law enforcement sources said Sunday.

“You’re not doing any favours putting him in that job,” former RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson told the Star, echoing remarks from others in the field.

“I don’t see how this can be fixed,” said a retired senior police executive who requested anonymity to speak freely.

“If there’s any perception of a linkage like the pictures of him arm-in-arm with Premier Ford, how is the public ever going to have confidence?”
The fact that Taverner has temporarily stepped aside should be the occasion of only limited relief. Until his appointment as the new OPP Commissioner is unequivocally quashed, there is still public peril:
Should the appointment proceed, “he’s going to have trouble, subject to the members of the OPP looking over his shoulders wondering about every inquiry he might make,” Paulson predicted.
Because the OPP conducts investigations of politicians, (the gas plant investigation is one well-know instance) any hint of an unseemly relationship with those in power is anathema to public confidence:
“There’s investigations into the government, into the bureaucracy or into departments, things that if they’re not the government that the government would surely want to know and be able to manage,” Paulson said.

“The government knowing about things in advance is not a good idea, particularly in those kinds of investigations. Because then you get into all sorts of shenanigans of tainting evidence and tainting your investigation.”
Michael Armstrong, a retired chief superintendent of the OPP’s organized crime division, had this to say:
“One thing I took out of being in a leadership position is people want to look up to you. Don’t be somebody that they’re making jokes about. They want you to be the person they can look up to and aspire to be.”
I don't envy what lies ahead for the OPP's reputation, practices and morale should Taverner ultimately become commissioner. But I worry more about what such an appointment will do to the people of Ontario. And it will just be more evidence that they elected a man wholly unfit to lead this province in any but a downward direction.


2 comments:

  1. .. perhaps this comment may seem off base ..
    I was following a twitter thread that mentioned a book release by Media Lens - Propaganda Blitz, with a forward by John Pilger

    Two things struck me as I read the forward, and the various comments, reviews. For sure the entire cross section of the content.. ie corporate media. But the 2nd was the undertone regarding the need for 'independant journalism' as opposed to the 'approved tone or packaging' of news and opinion etc by corporate media

    It all reinforces my opinion that 'we' need to be all over mainstream media especially, political parties and related governments, and organized religion. Thus, Doug Ford, Donald Trump, Jason Kenney, Sean Hannity, Justin Trudeau, Rex Murphy and so many others, need to be sampled via diverse independant perspective and fact. This is the era of groupthink that cannot be allowed to permeate reality among citizenry or the electorate. The jargon and sloganeering is rampant.. For The People - Energy Security - Great Again - Nation Building - Tidewater - Fake News - Left Wing - Alberta Oil - Voter Fraud - This Great Province .. the code words fly, copy and paste 'journalism' is becoming standard fare.. and opinion pieces by the likes of Joe Oliver are essentially vested interest echo chamber stuff. I rhink we're just seeing the tip of the iceburg.. ie able to pick up on 10% of the bought and paid for propaganda. Thus Doug Ford's administration and party caucus requires constant examination.. and realistically, supervision. The scams and scripts, talking points are spewed daily, the late Friday release of legislation is so obvious an evasion..

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    1. Your points are well-taken, Sal, and reflect why I am such a fan of The Toronto Star. The people working there seem very devoted to ferreting out and dissecting much of the nonsense that passes for truth and wisdom today. It is why I am always on about the need for strong, free and unfettered journalism, something that is becoming harder to find in the times we find ourselves in.

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