This is awesome -- the Post isn't even pretending to have minimal journalistic principles anymore. You will search that page in vain for the name "Arnie Lemaire." Or "Mr. Kathy Shaidle." Or "Five Feet of Strap-On."
It's cool, though; the National Post as just another right-wing blogging aggregator. Somehow, that just seems ... right.
AFTERSNARK: At least one commenter over at the National Disgrace seems to get it:
Erm. I suppose I'll have to go and check out "Blazing Cat Fur"'s blog to find out what this person's name is... and it appears that "Blazing Cat Fur" doesn't post anything but a gmail address there to identify them. Newp, anonymous blogger...
Honestly, wtf, National Post? Fine, you like to have Bloggers posting on your site, on a more official section like Full Comment. But normally your bloggers have real names, and aren't anonymous. (unless Blazing Cat Fur is the legal name of this blogger?) But this? This is embarrassingly juvenile. "The Bitch Nurse", the amount of sarcasm, the glorification of vandalizing property, this is all stuff I'd expect to see in the "Comments" section only. But not as an actual article, sandwiched between articles from two actual journalists.
If it's going to be treated like it's actually on a level as articles written by Kelly McParland and L. Ian MacDonald, then it should be held up to the same standards as would be required of them, which includes identifying the author beyond a blog handle, and expecting some sort of journalistic integrity.
Some good points, after which -- unsurprisingly -- terminally stupid people show up:
What the hell does it matter who the author is. Take it at face value. Who is Richard Bachman or Samuel Clemens? If you knew his/her real name does that change anything for you? Why, because it is written by a "Doctor of Journalism"?
If his/her's writing interests you, I'm sure you can find out more about the author with due diligence.
Just exactly who is "Kelly McParland", beside a writer and editor at the Post? You know this guy?
Please define "journalistic integrity"
Here's a thought -- "journalistic integrity" might involve identifying that Post Full Comment blogger "Raphael Alexander" is actually Adrian MacNair, a long-time member of the Conservative Party of Canada's official blogging aggregator the Blogging Tories. Don't you think that sort of thing might be informative to one's readers?
And when it comes to Arnie "Blazing Cat Fur" Lemaire, might it not be useful to know that, while he's harping on about the deficiencies in Canada's health care system, he's married to one Kathy Shaidle, a driving force behind Canada's recent "teabagging" movement bitching about government over-spending and an appalling hypocrite in her own right:
The punchline is that Kathy Shaidle suffers from severe lupus and, thus, had to rely on the Canadian health care system for four years to, basically, stay alive. She still benefits from the system, which is apparently why she doesn’t up and move to the U.S. So not only is she a horrible human being, she’s a flaming hypocrite.
So, yeah, that's the sort of thing I always figured fell under the label of "disclosure." It's certainly something I'd want to know.
SOME REALLY WICKED FUCKING IRONY: Back at "Sadly, No," we have the boys poking fun at this bit of despicable cruelty by Canada's Littlest Racist:
Are there even a thousand really poor people in all of America? Really poor. Dying-on-the-sidewalks-with-open-sores poor?
Take it away, Arnie:
At 8:30 pm, in order to release the paramedics, my mother was officially admitted to TGH. Admission consisted of moving her from the ambulance gurney to a hospital gurney and pushing her 20 yards down the corridor, next to the homeless guy with the festering sores on his legs.
Really, does it get much funnier than that?
P.S. Pathologically dishonest wanks accusing me of suggesting that homeless people with open sores is "funny" in three ... two ... one ...
9 comments:
It doesn't seem to bother anyone over at the NatPo that their "writers" are incognito. I posted on Ralph's last editorial about his name being Adrian, and no one seems to care. I guess it only works for the right wingers...
Numberlady
Best line in your quote from the indignant Natpo respondent:
"What the hell does it matter who the author is. Take it at face value. Who is Richard Bachman or Samuel Clemens?"
Err..Samuel Clemens was Samuel Clemens. Do you supposed our semiliterate friend meant to ask "who was Mark Twain?"
When I was a staff writer for the local free weekly I discussed doing a column of snark with the editor. I wanted to create a character complete with a ridiculous name but nope, there was no way. Something about ethics, integrity and accountability. I was getting paid mind you, perhaps there's some ethical drop off point when a national paper solicits free bilge. I can't imagine even the Post is desperate enough to pay for the crap they publish from these yobs.
Those rightwingnutters do like to CAPITALIZE stuff, don't they?
Long story short, the healthcare system works; however, improvements are needed to the triage system.
I don't take anything that little he-bitch says at face value. Two years ago, my mother (who doesn't smoke, drink or eat fatty foods...as an aside, I do believe a life of consuming transfats is probably what brought it on) had a heart attack and had to be treated at TDH. She doesn't describe any of her experience like he does. Although she's not the type of person who is incensed to discover that they're a lot of people in crisis at a hospital.
So shove your anecdote up your fat arse, Mr. Shaidle.
Well, there's the outright lying, too - you're quite right.
Mr. Shaidle's just angry he didn't think of putting his chronically-ill civil marriage partner on the Shona Holmes circuit before that gravy-train left the station. And she has substantive health issues (physical and psychological), not just a brain pimple.
You know, I'd say that commenter isn't all that far off. It looks to me like Mr Fur is indeed on par with anything McParland ever wrote or edited.
No worries, soon the Laregly Irrelevant Post will be nothing more than budgie-cage-liner and a vanishing memory.
WV= "farchsti"
Which is only a couple of letters removed from "Post readership.
"
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