tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052900791482459984.post6057600435716222461..comments2023-08-20T10:40:23.399-04:00Comments on Views from the lake - eh?: Just black and white please. We’re Cons.Canajunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17529505799866207528noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052900791482459984.post-9545693320334635622010-10-21T10:39:04.177-04:002010-10-21T10:39:04.177-04:00Fred - We're straying off topic here but you r...Fred - We're straying off topic here but you raise a few points that are worth comment. I agree that the world has changed in many ways and the likelihood of nations going to war has lessened (but certainly not disappeared). However that doesn't obviate the need for peacemakers/peacekeepers in places where those factions are creating mayhem among the civilian population - Bosnia and Rwanda (disaster though it was) come to mind among others. In fact many, if not most, of Canada's peacekeeping roles have been not between countries at war but between factions within a country.<br /><br />As for "they were never in any danger, and they knew it", that's cold comfort to the families of the 114 Canadian peacekeepers who have lost their lives over the past 50 years. They were always in danger, and I expect if you were to say otherwise to anyone who's been in Croatia (11 dead), Egypt (53 dead), Cyprus (28 dead), Syria (4 dead), or Congo (3 dead) you'd be quickly dissuaded of that notion.<br /><br />Canada does have its own independent foreign policy and that independence was most recently seen in Chretien's refusal to be counted among the "coalition of the willing" sent into Iraq. Chretien should have handled it better (and Harper should have supported him at the time if an independent foreign policy was more important to him than cow-towing to the US), but that's the last time Canada has taken a path that differs from that of the US in any significant way. <br /><br />In the context of the UN Security Council you say you'd "rather have the respect of the civilized democracies than kiss the asses of every third-world thug and tyrant" and here again I agree. But if that was truly the Harper government's position why did they lobby so hard for the seat, kissing lots of "asses" in the process of trying to get a "useless Security Council seat"? I would have had lots more respect for the Harper government if they had come out and said from the get-go that this seat was not that important to Canada, that we weren't going to abrogate our principles to win it, and therefore we would not be standing for election. Now that's a principled position. Instead we get the sore loser ("it wasn't our fault, but we really didn't want it anyway"). In the end the government lobbied hard for the seat and was soundly trounced by those very same "civilized democracies" from whom respect is so important yet also so apparently lacking. In short Canada was left high and dry by those very same governments that we count as friends - including the US - and that says something. <br /><br />And just in case there's any doubt, I too am a proud Canadian, but that doesn't mean I have to be proud of our current government. They are not the same thing. I no more identify my "Canadianness" with the governing party in power (always a temporary thing) than the fact I happen to own a pair of snowshoes.Canajunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17529505799866207528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052900791482459984.post-43499257037344166092010-10-20T00:43:51.862-04:002010-10-20T00:43:51.862-04:00The Progressive Conservatives were the small-l lib...The Progressive Conservatives were the small-l liberals...that's how the Reform Party started. And I have no illusions about how the world works, either. Our past reputation as an "honest broker for peace" is a flowery way of saying we were too afraid to take a stand on anything. Back in the days of the Cold War, the USA and Soviet Union would fight wars by proxy, when it was time for the fighting to end (after certain objectives had been achieved), a ceasefire would be called and the so-called 'peacekeepers' would go in and stand around looking smug (they were never in any danger, and they knew it).<br /><br /> Those days are over. Nations don't go to war any more...'factions' do. And they don't listen to anyone, either. So the old ways no longer apply, and it is long past time for Canada to have its own foreign policy. Stephen Harper has given us a good start on this, and I'd rather have the respect of the civilized democracies than kiss the asses of every third-world thug and tyrant to get a useless Security Council seat. "Soft power" and "punching above our weight" were just Liberal buzzwords to cover up the fact that we were international lightweights. No longer, and I couldn't be prouder to be Canadian...Fred from BChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12914558903316825761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052900791482459984.post-5233715726986057992010-10-17T20:32:21.811-04:002010-10-17T20:32:21.811-04:00Fred - That would be small-l liberal to you. And r...Fred - That would be small-l liberal to you. And rather than simple I would call it simplistic to believe that a bi-polar view of the world does anything but create and foster division and antagonism. I know that's Harper's modus operandi, but it wasn't always the Conservative way - certainly not the Progressive Conservatives - and it does ALL Canadians a disservice.Canajunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17529505799866207528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052900791482459984.post-14839501205364174932010-10-17T19:00:39.943-04:002010-10-17T19:00:39.943-04:00Can you point to any legal case law that would all...Can you point to any legal case law that would allow due process for Khadr in Canada.<br /><br />And even if that was true, then the thousands of Canadians in other foreign slammers would be able to come home on the same plane as Khadr.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052900791482459984.post-28034067722878305692010-10-16T20:18:34.900-04:002010-10-16T20:18:34.900-04:00Funny you should mention this. I was just thinking...Funny you should mention this. I was just thinking how convenient it must be to be Liberal, and never have to acknowledge simple stuff like right and wrong, good and bad, guilty and innocent. To see nothing BUT shades of gray must be so easy for you...Fred from BChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12914558903316825761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052900791482459984.post-29949645107914915422010-10-16T09:57:59.832-04:002010-10-16T09:57:59.832-04:00Some people cannot think for themselves. They conf...Some people cannot think for themselves. They confuse the axiom, "Knowledge is Power" and instead, believe "Power is Knowledge."<br /><br />While I cannot speak for all Canadians (especially the Conservatives) I believe most of us subscribe to the premise that everyone (even refugees who are not Canadian citizens) are entitled to "due process". Regardless of how heinous or objectionable we may personally find a particular action, "due process MUST prevail. To do otherwise, in my view, flies in the face of true Canadian values and we must speak out against that loudly. My 2cents worth.Gary Pickeringnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052900791482459984.post-77611201061193284102010-10-16T08:05:37.892-04:002010-10-16T08:05:37.892-04:00Anon@10:53 - I know. Predictable though.Anon@10:53 - I know. Predictable though.Canajunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17529505799866207528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052900791482459984.post-32478022234030756562010-10-16T04:36:26.560-04:002010-10-16T04:36:26.560-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.hentaihttp://www.animetric.com/Reviews/Hentai-Reviews/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052900791482459984.post-2804290674857160962010-10-15T22:53:07.516-04:002010-10-15T22:53:07.516-04:00How fitting that a redneck imbecile that goes by t...How fitting that a redneck imbecile that goes by the name RAT, shows up and validates your premise! Awesome!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5052900791482459984.post-60836276198395528062010-10-15T21:47:28.502-04:002010-10-15T21:47:28.502-04:00God, I hope you didn't pull a muscle patting y...God, I hope you didn't pull a muscle patting yourself on the back for being so much smarter than us dumb rednecks. Hyuk.The Rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00762317244980526077noreply@blogger.com