Worshipping At The Wrong Altar

We live in a world where major events offer the average person little influence. Wars, rumours of wars, starvation, mass displacements of population, all are part of a daily menu of woes that reminds us of our impotence. It is enough to make many shun news and current events and embrace ignorance.

Some, I believe, try to counter that impotence through what is often called performative politics. Essentially empty gestures, they allow practitioners to delude both themselves and others into thinking what they do really matters. That flattering balm undoubtedly assuages the egos of some, but at bottom, in my view, it means little or nothing.

We all know there are positions people are loathe to publically take for fear of rebuke. Instead of calling Israel genocidal, for example, we say the opposite - it has a right to defend itself, as if one has anything to do with the other. Thus we are spared the inaccurate but damning label of anti-semite. Lest we want to be cast with the right wing rabble, we say nothing or little to question the wisdom of allowing children to begin gender reassignment. Transphobe is not a term we relish if it is applied to us. 

Neither of the above examples is to suggest that I have become some kind of reactionary. What I have become however, is appalled by the fact that honest discussions and disagreements have been become weaponized to the point of suppression. Group think is demanded; non-compliance with a putative truth is met with punishment, usually in the form of stigmatization.

The story that set me off is the resignation of Niagara Regional Chair Bob Gale. Gale most recently drew attention to himself by trying to open discussions on amalgamation of a number of local governments in a search for efficiency and cost-saving. In doing so, it would appear that he is paying an unanticipated cost. 

Niagara Regional Chair Bob Gale has abruptly resigned, just hours after anti-racism groups in Niagara demanded he apologize for owning a signed copy of Adolf Hitler's infamous manifesto, Mein Kampf.

The Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association (NRARA) and Justice 4 Black Lives Niagara said in a joint statement on Wednesday that they condemned Gale for purchasing and owning the book signed by Hitler, the leader of the German Nazi Party and architect of the Holocaust, in which six million Jewish people were systematically murdered along with millions of Roma, 2SLGBTQ+ and other victims.

"[We] demand a public explanation and apology," the groups said.

I am troubled by this for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that Gale describes himself as one who collects historical documents. His collection consists of acquisitions from across the political/historical spectrum: 

"[M]y collection includes an 1859 letter from anti-slavery advocate John Brown, a letter from George Washington, a letter from Winston Churchill and Vatican archives."

By this measure, Gale is not a crypto fascist extolling the Third Reich, but in these fraught and performative times, that apparently does not matter.

That reality is perhaps best exemplified by the NRARA's Saleh Wazzirudin:

"Bob Gale needs to explain himself publicly and apologize for owning one of the most notorious pieces of antisemitic hate.”

Sherri Darlene, founder of Justice 4 Black Lives Niagara, said in the joint statement that it's no secret that racism has been a problem in the region for a long time.

“It’s shocking but not surprising that Niagara’s highest elected municipal official owns hate literature," she said.

Joining in that group-think pile-on are Niagara NDP MP Wayne Gates and Premier Doug Ford, both of whom approve of Gale's decision to resign, which just shows that political courage is absent across the spectrum.  

The times in which we live leave little room, even among progressives, for nuanced, subtle thinking or reasoned discussion. It is almost as if we have grown allergic to anything possessing shades of gray. And that is something, unfortunately we have in common with the reactionaries we claim to oppose.

 

Tyranny Has More Than One Face

Methinks there is much truth in the following:

Laughing At Absurdity

I believe that the older we get, the more important it is not only to recognize and acknowledge the tragedies of life, be they social, economic, political or environmental, but also the many absurdities that abound within those realms. Call it dark humour, whistling past the graveyard, or just being politically incorrect, seeing the absurd is a coping mechanism that allows for the release of at least a modicum of the despair that envelops us in the twenty-first century.

I therefore have little sympathy with those who are easily offended. Consider the following political cartoon that appeared recently in the Toronto Star:



As the heading suggests, it is the cartoonist's take on the fact that many are vying to become the next leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, one that looks headed for the Opposition benches after next year's election, in no small part due to the spectacularly unpopular Kathleen Wynne, our current premier.

Yet the cartoon was too much for at least one Star reader, who penned his outrage in the following missive:

Re: Cartoon, March 8

The Star cartoon by Theo Moudakis depicting a plot to assassinate Premier Wynne is obscene and unforgivable. What was the intention here by the Star to its readers?

Showing her cabinet attempting to hide, with knives, suggesting to do away with the premier, is not what you should be preaching to your readers. Truly, there must be another answer on matters of opinion.

Dennis Dineno, Oakville

I've known people like Dennis throughout my life. They are often quite good people, but overly earnest in their pursuit of justice and rectitude. There is little in their lives to leaven the oppression that life regularly metes out. They can be a trial for those around them. Indeed, just reading his umbrage tasks me.

So, from the perspective granted by my years, my advice is to embrace the oddly funny moments life has to offer. To rebuke them prevents what little light there is to shine through and keep us from total darkness.

Winston Smith - Alive And Well At The CBC?

You may recall the protagonist of Orwell's 1984, the records clerk named Winston Smith whose job it was to continually rewrite history so that it accorded with the constantly-changing imperatives of Big Brother's government. The novel's ending is ambiguous; Winston, a broken man, may or may not die.

I am here to report that Winston did, in fact, survive, and is currently in the employ of the CBC, going about the old job he had at the Ministry of Truth.

And the Corporation is keeping him busy.

Winston's first order from feckless management is to deftly excise a segment of Stuart McLean's classic about Dave and the Christmas turkey:

In the wake of an online campaign waged by animal activists, the CBC’s Vinyl Cafe radio program has decided to edit out portions of Stuart McLean’s beloved holiday story, “Dave Cooks the Turkey.” The campaigners alleged some listeners deemed parts of the fictional tale degrading to animals.

What are the offending elements, exactly? Here's one of the "degrading" passages:

“As the turkey defrosted it became clear what Grade B meant,” a recorded version of the story goes. “The skin on the right drumstick was ripped. Dave’s turkey looked like it had made a break from the slaughterhouse and dragged itself a block or two before it was captured and beaten to death.”

That is followed by this "insensitive outrage":

Unable to operate his oven, Dave eventually brings the bird to a hotel for cooking, where the chef says that it looks like the turkey had been “abused.”

You can listen to the sequence starting at about the 18 minute mark here.

CBC has posted on Facebook the following exercise in political correctness:

“Clearly we don’t want any part in the abuse of animals, nor in promoting the abuse of animals,” the post read.

“The story will be on the show next weekend. But we have made a few small changes. We have edited out a couple of lines that, after reading some of the thoughtful letters that have come in over the past week, we no longer feel comfortable airing on our show.”

Won't hurt a bit, I'm sure.

But Winston has a far greater and more involved task before him, one that has been made only slightly easier by some preclearance work the CBC has done in its ongoing efforts to exorcise the troublesome visual spirit of Jian Ghomeshi:


Winston is now tasked with removing his haunting digital presence:

CBC management announced Monday they are pulling almost all interviews conducted by Jian Ghomeshi offline, sparking outrage from Q listeners on social media.

But master of doublespeak, Chuck Thompson, the CBC's media relations chief, was quick to clarify:

“We aren’t erasing the archives, we’re just taking them offline for now”.

With language befitting a politician, Thompson went on to say,

“There is no obvious right or wrong approach here”. ... “We’ve been giving this a lot of careful consideration over the last few weeks and want to give the program every opportunity to be as unencumbered as possible while some very creative people reimagine Q’s future.”

Listeners and viewers were not so accommodating:

“Jian did many wonderful interviews. It is part of CBC’s history. You must not erase it!” wrote one commentator. “Editing the past would be very disingenuous,” wrote another.

But, of course, editing and rewriting the past has always been Winston Smith's forte, hasn't it?

Oh Lord, Spare Me From The Overly Earnest

For someone like me, who strives not to be crushed by the many cruel absurdities the world has to offer, a sense of humour is a key survival mechanism. In that, I suspect I am hardly unique. And yet there are those among us, many striving to accomplish some real good, who go about their tasks grimly, never smiling, their personalities devoid of any suggestion that they are able to laugh at things.

I have known several such people. Harry Potter's invisibility cloak seems a very attractive concept whenever they are in the vicinity.

This morning's Star carries a story of one such person. Kalina Christoff, founder of Humanize Birth, an organization that advocates for “an increase in women having positive, empowered births,” took offense at a video produced by the obstetrics and gynecology wing at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto.

While one might wish to debate the artistic and comedic merits of the video, it could best be described as a light-hearted spoof of the life of obstetrical staff, inspired by Psy's Gangham-Style video that has enjoyed over one billion hits on YouTube.

Acting as any organization concerned about its image and fundraising ability would, Sunnybrook has removed the video (although someone else has since uploaded it again, as you will see), but, unfortunately, this act of contrition has not placated Ms Christoff, who is demanding an apology.

Why the deep offense? Says Ms Christoff, a line [from the video] says ‘no matter what, we’ll deliver your baby’ — a lot of women take offense to that because they deliver their babies”.

In any event, watch the video and decide for yourselves:

As for Ms Christoff and her crusading compatriots, I have another video recommendation that might help her and her offended ilk to lighten up. Enjoy: