Public Forum Roundup

Over the years, I have been a regular writer of letters to newspapers. My first one, I believe, was when I was about 13, and for the next 50 years or so I had a consistent output. That output has waned in recent years, probably because I no longer have the fire in the belly I had in my younger days, as well as the fact that this blog allows me to exercise my writing muscles on a regular basis.

I still, however, read letters to the editor on a regular basis, and with great interest, sometimes reproducing them here. Many are succinct gems that I hope get people thinking. Today i shall reproduce three of them. The first one especially resonates with me. Although we give happily to a number of charitable causes annually, I have never, to my knowledge, given a penny to hospital fund-raising efforts. The letter encapsulates my reasoning:

Ontario hospitals should not be begging for donations

On Dec 28, there was full page ad in the Star, placed by Lakeridge Health Foundation, soliciting donations towards the purchase of five life-saving devices: Automated External Defibrillators (AED). I pay taxes. Those should be sufficient to equip a hospital in Ontario. That is the bargain between me and the government; tax me and take care of the health and education and general well-being of the citizens of Ontario. If the taxes don’t cover the costs, raise the taxes.

Needed hospital equipment purchases should not require the hospital to put a tin cup on the sidewalk begging for donations.  Perhaps Premier Doug Ford could redirect the $200 vote-buying bribe cheques he has promised us and spend the $3 billion-plus on AEDs. They apparently cost $3,200 each. He could buy a million of them. They could be in every hospital ward, every bus, every subway car, every long-term-care facility, every beer and wine selling grocery store.  Even at the Ontario Place spa, maybe.

Graeme Elliott, Toronto

The ironic tone in the following, dealing with the travails of our current prime minister, especially appealed to me:

Trudeau’s chosen female ministers have failed him

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must be so disappointed. In 2015, he made international headlines by naming a cabinet that was 50 per cent women. Sadly, every single one turned out to be a dud. After what I can only imagine were heartfelt efforts to position one of them as his successor, they all failed to demonstrate the necessary intelligence, character, and gravitas for the job: Jody Wilson-Raybould, a crown prosecutor who held leadership positions in both Kwak’wala and Canadian governments. Not a team player. Joyce Murray, who made a fortune planting trees. Can’t think outside the box. And Chrystia Freeland, who found common ground with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and defended Liberal trade policies from a Trump attack in 2017, couldn’t see the upside in a few trifling Christmas gifts for all Canadians. The woman simply does not understand politics. Sad. Facing a second Donald Trump presidency, Trudeau and his small circle of like-minded advisers stand alone, grimly shouldering the weight of Canada’s future. On behalf of all Canadian women, I want to apologize for leaving this lonely burden to them.

Catherine Murton Stoehr, North Bay

Finally, a letter about Kevin O'leary, the toad who leaves warts on all he touches:

Kevin O’Leary represents his own interests, not Canada’s

Kevin O’Leary posted on X that he is willing to go to Mar-a-Lago to negotiate on Canada’s behalf to unify Canada and the U.S. O’Leary’s right to negotiate on our behalf exists only in his ego. He is no elected official. In fact, he recently became a citizen of the United Arab Emirates. Not only is there no income tax in the UAE, but there is also no need to file any report on your income. Pack your ego away Mr. O’Leary. You don’t represent anyone’s interest but your own. Remember, we are the true north strong and free.

Bruce Kerr, Toronto

Not a bad cross section of Canadian opinion, eh?

We Are All Complicit

There are still many who both turn a blind eye to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and justify israel's atrocities as mere self-defence. If you believe that fiction, all I can say is your critical-thinking skills are grossly deficient. 

But even if we are rightfully appalled by those atrocities, most of us, in our own ways, are complicit in them. We do not openly protest the carnage; we do not write letters decrying it; we continue to elect people who will only worsen the genocide; we do not demand that Canada stop being an echo chamber for American Middle East policies that only enable and embolden the destruction of countless lives.

The following is very, very difficult to watch. If you choose to view it and are subsequently still staunch advocates of Israel's actions, I don't know what to say to you.

Today is the start of a new year. I wish it were a new start for humanity as well, but I suspect that is not in the cards.

Pay-To-Pray: The Latest Trump Grift

Every evening before dinner, I watch an hour of television news: a half-hour of local and a half-hour of American national reportage. When I sit down for supper to give a news overview to my wife, I am often struck with a sense surrealism. Surely what I have to report can't really be happening; perhaps I am lying in a hospital somewhere in a deep coma-induced fever dream, which would explain a lot about what I am seeing during the news hour.

Examples abound, one being the ongoing genocide in Gaza, where hospitals continue to be bombarded by the IDF as they ferret out Hamas 'sympathizers' and 'operatives', with absolutely no proof being offered. The systematic elimination of Gaza's healthcare structure ensures only more death and destruction of Palestinians, clearly Israel's objective.

But I digress. Today's excursion into absurdity involves a story I have not seen on TV news, perhaps because the legacy media do not want to provoke Don Trump, given that they are the enemy of the people. No, this is the kind of story one has to search for in order to find out Trump's latest grift: Pay To Pray.

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is reportedly planning an interfaith prayer service the day before his inauguration, where participants can worship alongside the businessman and his wife, Melania.

But those who want to join need to weigh the price of prayer: Tickets to the service will be awarded only to those who donate at least $100,000 to Trump’s inaugural ceremonies, or who raise $200,000.

Earlier this month, Axios cited a seven-page prospectus that listed the service alongside several other donor-only events, such as a “cabinet reception” with Trump’s nominees and “candlelight dinner” with Trump and Melania.

According to the report, if a donor gives $1 million or raises $2 million, they’ll earn six tickets to the suite of inauguration events.

Indeed, the entire Inaugural Weekend appears chock full of grifting money-making opportunities for team Trump:

I could go on, but my capacity for absurdity today is limited. Moreover, such tawdry and self-serving enterprises stand in sharp contrast to the values and life lived by Jimmy Carter, whose legacy is being promulgated widely upon his passing. 

The authenticity of a man like Carter, his lifelong efforts to live a life of meaning and service, especially in his post-presidential life, were his way of emulating the life of Jesus and the message of the Gospels. Service to others, helping to fight for the betterment of all, exemplify his life. I imagine there are many who cannot understand a man like him- far better to be like the tech bros and other billionaires, the only real question being who will have the biggest pile of toys when they die. Beyond that their vision cannot go.

Jesus famously chased the moneylenders from the temple. Today, obviously, they all would be welcomed with open arms.

 

 

"A Mean-Spirited Buffoon": Charlie Angus Speaks Again

A shame, in many ways, that Charlie Angus is not running in the next election. Thus far, he seems to be the only politician to call Trump what he is: a mean-spirited buffoon. As you watch, you will see that Angus has Wayne Gretzky's number as well.

All in all, some very astute and satisfying assessments.

As The Year Winds Down

As the year winds down, it is hard not to feel dispirited. With our domestic federal politics in disarray, and, of course, the United States' devolution well underway, with oligarchy brazenly flaunted, it is difficult to believe better times await us.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez succinctly addresses the latter:

Unfortunately, the traditional bulwarks of democracy are also rapidly fading, engaging in the very thing American historian Timothy Snyder has warned us against: anticipatory obedience. The thirst to appease Trump seems insatiable.

Tech chief executives, media organisations and foreign leaders are seeking the president-elect’s favor through donations, self-censorship and appeasement. Analysts say the surrender is driven by a combination of greed, fear of Trump’s unfettered power and a belief that resistance is futile.

In Star Trek: the Next Generation, the Borg were a hybrid species that subsumed into their collective various cultures and civilizations, with the warning that resistance was futile. And yet in that universe, resistance, and ultimately victory, prevailed. The real world, however, seems to be doing the opposite with Trump.

“Part of the shock of the Trump win is how quickly and how many people in various areas, from the media to politicians, are acquiescing in advance,” said Tara Setmayer, a former Republican communications director on Capitol Hill. “People are resigning themselves to self-preservation over the good of maintaining a free and fair democracy and resisting Trump.”

Despite his criminal, civil and moral record, Trump is being feted everywhere.

Steve Schmidt, a political strategist and former campaign operative for George W Bush and John McCain, said: “He’s entering office is the most powerful president in American history. He is an American Caesar, unrestrained. Trump has made a threat and said, I’m coming after people, and he’s appointed people that will do what he wants without him having to tell them to do it.”

A parade of chief executives have travelled to Mar-a-Lago to bend the knee to Trump. Along with Meta chief executive Zuckerberg, Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Sergey Brin and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made the pilgrimage. Meta, Amazon, Uber and Open AI chief Sam Altman are all reportedly donating $1m to the fund for the inauguration on 20 January.

Bezos, a onetime critic of Trump’s rhetoric, now says he is “optimistic” about Trump’s second term while also endorsing his plans to cut regulations. As owner of the Washington Post newspaper, Bezos killed an endorsement of Harris during the presidential election. The Post is struggling to find a new executive editor amid fears it will no longer live up to the “Democracy dies in darkness” slogan it championed during Trump’s first term.

The hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe show, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, visited Mar-a-Lago in November despite previously eviscerating his fascist rhetoric. Scarborough defended the meeting, arguing that any journalist would take an opportunity to meet the president-elect but he and Brzezinski were being penalised for being “transparent” about it.

This proliferation of knee-bending is bad for the body politic and can only embolden the president-elect. 

Setmayer, who now runs the Seneca Project political action committee, commented: “The way some in the mainstream media have already decided that acquiescence is their way of self-preservation not only is naive but dangerous because without that we don’t have an informed citizenry. It’s supposed to be without fear or favor and media is acting out of fear. And by way of acting out of fear, they are giving Trump the favor that he wants.”

There is much, much more in The Guardian article that I have excerpted here, and I hope you will have the time to read it. There are at least two inferences to be drawn from the current sycophantic demonstrations of fealty toward Trump. One is that democracy is being debased to the degree that it will soon be unrecognizable. Another, and this is more disturbing in its own way, is how quickly our species can adjust/pervert our concept of what is right and just. In the current rush to normalize Trump, we are casting aside traditional concepts of morality, fairness and justice, something history amply teaches us will lead to dire consequences for all.

Some Interesting Graphics (A.K.A. America The Beautiful)

Make of this what you will,  but it always puzzles me why the American dollar is so valued, while ours is not.

And under The Land of Opportunity For Some rubric, there is this:

In Times Of Uncertainty And Adversity

 .... I always turned to trusted sources for perspective and commentary - editorial cartoonists. My favourite by far is Theo Moudakis: