Werner Patels: The horror continues ...

I thought my earlier post on the Big Weiner was enough to demonstrate what an utter waste of skin he was as a human being. Sadly, I underestimated his capacity for utter and unadulterated loathsomeness. Follow along in the comments section, if you dare, as Weiner first denies that referring to Eastern Europeans as "people like that" is racist:

When someone acts like an animal, he has to expect that others will stop him, one way or another. Besides, the officers had to act because he could have hurt other people there (throwing heavy equipment around, including a computer). In the good old days, they would have shot him; with Tasers, you at least get a chance it's not lethal.

Dan, I am not saying that all of them must be shot. But if it does happen, I, knowing what I do first-hand, certainly won't shed a tear, but side with our decent officers.

Oh, and Dan, it's not racism, because they're the same race as we are. And, finally, it has nothing to do with race, etc. I believe that anyone who acts like this should be taken down -- if he dies in the process, it's his own fault. If he had acted like a human being, instead of an animal, he wouldn't have been put down.

Yeaahhhh ... Weiner's already got this "animal" thing going, and just to make sure you don't think it was a slip of the tongue, well, he's happy to disabuse you of that notion:

Exactly. The Taser is the best approach available. The public needs to be protected from such animals. In the (good) old days, he would have been shot; with a Taser, death is not the most common outcome at all. But as I also said, if you act like an animal, you have to be prepared to face the consequences, including death.

OK, Weiner, we get it -- people like that are animals. Really, we get it. But that's when the Weiner train truly jumps the rails:

He was not a regular traveller or tourist: he had come here as an immigrant. As such, it was his duty to learn English before coming to Canada.

Act like a fool, die like a fool.

Um ... wha? Immigrants are required to learn English before immigrating? When exactly did that happen? I imagine you need to prove some proficiency in one of Canada's two official languages if you're immigrating as a skilled worker. But if you're immigrating simply under the "Family Class" category?

A class of immigrants to Canada made up of close relatives of a sponsor in Canada, including a spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner; dependent children; parents and grandparents; children under age 18 whom the sponsor intends to adopt in Canada; children of whom the sponsor is the guardian; brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces and grandchildren who are orphans under age 18; and any other relative, if the sponsor has no relative as described above, either abroad or in Canada.

I don't see anything there regarding proficiency in English but, in any event, I'm thinking that a lack of English shouldn't equate to a death sentence. And if Weiner's got this wrong, that's a fairly damning indictment of someone who whinges on about being a "leading political pundit," if you catch my drift. And just in case you think Weiner might have misspoke, well, here he is again:

But generally speaking, you're wrong, Dorothy: he was not a visitor but an immigrant, and according to the letter of our immigration rules and laws, speaking at least one of the two official languages is actually a requirement for immigrating to Canada (it's only because of the morons working at Immigration Canada who don't enforce the law -- in fact, they break it on a regular basis -- that we keep receiving immigrants who don't even meet the most fundamental of all requirements).

So, perhaps someone in the know would like to clear this up for us. Does an immigrant to Canada already need to be proficient in either English or French? Really, this is important because Weiner's credibility as a pundit is on the line. And I'd hate to end up describing him as an ignorant, racist dumbass for no good reason.

'Cuz that's just the kind of guy I am.

YOUR MISSION, SHOULD YOU DECIDE TO ACCEPT IT ... It strikes me that what we have here is the opportunity for some serious entertainment. Assuming that someone immigrating to Canada on a "Family Class" visa does not in fact need to be proficient in English (and commenter "thwap" seems fairly confident that that's the case), this gives us the chance to measure Weiner's level of journalistic integrity and punditry.

Perhaps someone would like to pop by Weiner's place, and leave a polite comment to the effect above. That might not sound significant but, given that that claim of Weiner's is absolutely crucial to his case, for it to be simply false would normally be a devastating blow to his entire position, don't you think? And it would be amusing to see how Weiner responds (if he even allows that sort of comment to appear).

Would he, as a self-described journalist and political pundit, take responsibility for his horrific fuck-up and apologize profusely? Or would he (if history is any guide) dodge, weave, tap dance and, in general, put the blame on everyone but himself? Oh, yes, this has some real entertainment value, wouldn't you say?

OH, LOOK: This is going to be such fun:

Tedf:

I'm all for forcing people to accept responsibility. That's the biggest problem in our society today: no one wants to accept responsibility anymore.

Posted by: Werner Patels | November 16, 2007 at 02:47 PM

Let the responsibility-related tap dancing begin.