Mother of God, the burning stupid.

Like his Blogging Tory colleagues, "Alberta Ardvark" is entirely unashamed to demonstrate his ignorance to the world. First, here's a simple screenshot:



It looks impressive, doesn't it? Link after link after link of devastating rebuttal ... until you actually check it out to learn that that entire list of points represents a single hyperlink. Here.

Yeah. That useful idiot.

If Ardvark had just linked to Kate McMillan, he could have saved everyone the trouble of wondering if he had anything useful to say.

Is that your final answer, Pete?

I know nuthink! OK, I lied:

Tories heard Afghan prison concerns soon after taking office in '06: MacKay

By Bruce Cheadle (CP) – 2 days ago

OTTAWA — The Conservative government now says it was aware of "concerns about the state of prisons" in Afghanistan almost from the day it took office and eventually rewrote a prisoner transfer agreement as those concerns mounted.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay offered a dramatically different Tory narrative on the Afghan torture issue on Friday. This capped a week in which the government went from lampooning as Taliban "dupes" anyone who alleged prisoner abuse to claiming the government took such reports seriously from the start.

Join us tomorrow when Peter MacKay ... oh, fuck it, he's just going to make up some new shit.

Of Conservatives and other monsters.

One good link deserves another.

Dear Privy Council Office: You're welcome.

How interesting ...



I'm curious ... why is someone from the Privy Council Office interested in the demented ravings of a perpetual troll? Seriously, what's the connection?

P.S. For both barrels of Sassylassie's brand of dementia, check out the comments section here, where even Adrian "Raphael Alexander" MacNair has to ask her to get a grip.

P.P.S. No, seriously, why is the Privy Council Office interested in a screeching, ignorant racist like Sassylassie? That's not rhetorical -- I'm genuinely curious. Someone there clearly has way too much time on their hands. (Or, of course, that search has nothing to do with the aforementioned racist dingbat, but it's more interesting to not consider that possibility, don't you think? :-)

Bye bye, Mikey.

No 2012 presidential campaign for you, Mike.

Still waiting for that first snowfall.

In 13 hours, this will be the first snow-less November in history around here. But don't draw any conclusions from that. That would be irresponsible.

It's an ugly pattern is what it is.

From only a couple weeks back:

Saskatchewan Party Government Registers Whopping Huge $1 Billion Deficit!

"The release of the government’s mid-year financial report Thursday shows it now projecting it will take in only $109 million from potash royalties and taxes – $1.8 billion below what it forecast in its spring budget...

... on a summary basis – which includes all of the operations of government including the Crowns – a deficit projected at $25 million at budget is now pegged at $1.05 billion."

So it's true ... people from Saskatchewan really can't count.

ENOUGH with the bad faith arguments already!

If there's one thing that characterizes the modern conservative, it's their utter inability to argue honestly or in good faith. Instead, every rebuttal is some sleazy variation of the form, "So what you're saying is ...", followed by precisely what the other party wasn't saying. I call it the "Twatsification" of discourse, and here's the latest disgusting example from Canadian PM Stephen Waste-of-skin:

“Let me just say this: living as we do, in a time when some in the political arena do not hesitate before throwing the most serious of allegations at our men and women in uniform, based on the most flimsy of evidence, remember that Canadians from coast to coast to coast are proud of you and stand behind you, and I am proud of you, and I stand beside you.”

How noble. How patriotic. And how totally, totally dishonest since Harper knows full well that the outrage he's hearing is not directed at the troops. It is, in fact, directed at him. And his flunkies. However, he simply chooses to misinterpret what he hears and responds to accusations that no one's ever made. And with these people, it's a pattern.

Recall Conservative MP Shelly Glover and her attempt to saturate a Manitoba school division with Conservative propaganda:

St. Boniface riding Tory MP Shelly Glover recently offered students free water bottles in Manitoba's Louis Riel school division, but trustees turned Glover down when they learned the bottles would bear the Conservatives' logo.

"The bottles were personalized and had her name and the Conservative logo," Louis Riel school board chairwoman Marilyn Seguire said Thursday, referring to Glover. "It was clear it was an issue in terms of our own policy."

That policy bans any political materials in classrooms that promote a single individual or party.

This would seem to be cut-and-dried -- thanks, but no propaganda, a policy that would be applied to any political party. And how did Glover respond? Unsurprisingly, in bad faith:

"It's really disappointing to see a media outlet exploit that and turn it into a story where it wasn't a positive story, but it should have been a positive story," she said. "I'm still going to work with the school division to try to make sure that we give those kids incentives and rewards when they speak French." ...

"Whether or not the Conservative logo is on paraphernalia . . . I believe the issue should be that we are encouraging our children to do better."

And yes, Shelly, that's very noble but no one was protesting the idea of encouraging students to do better. They were protesting the propaganda, but Shelly is much happier distorting reality and bitching about a complaint that no one was making.

Then there was Federal Science Minister and scientific illiterate Gary Goodyear, who thoroughly stepped in it when he waffled on the subject of biological evolution, then played the whiny martyr card:

"I'm not going to answer that question," Goodyear, federal minister of state for science and technology, told the Globe and Mail in an article published Tuesday. "I am a Christian, and I don't think anybody asking a question about my religion is appropriate."

But Gary, you weaselly little shit, no one was taking you to task for your religious beliefs. They were pounding on you because, for being the federal Science Minister, you were appallingly ignorant about science. Once again, one of Harper's sleazy cronies, arguing in bad faith.

It's relentless. You simply can't have an honest discussion with these people. Every position is mangled, misrepresented and distorted beyond recognition. It's the perpetual comeback of, "So what you're saying is ..." followed by rubbish and lies.

It is the Twatsification of public discourse. And regular readers here will know exactly of what I speak. Feel free to supply your own examples in the comments section.

P.S. Some people call it "conflation." Eh, douchebagitude by any other name ...

Stupid, mean leftards.

And the intellectual meltdown over at BloggingTory-Ville continues, with Brenda/"Hunter" getting just ... weird:

Get A Life Lefties! You Sick Little Trolls!

Because of the filthy language used by Liberal progressives, I have had to put my blog on comment moderation, again.

You know, if I was the "Liberal" Party of Canada, I might be giving Brenda a phone call right about now. Or having my lawyer do it for me. But I digress. The entertainment value starts to climb:

CAUTION! Profane language for one time only, to prove a point about lefties and their oh so progressive ideas about female Conservative bloggers.

So there's Brenda, a relentless censor of her own comments section, now violating her own principles and publishing alleged profanity to make a point. And here's where you should swallow your coffee and void your bladder first, to avoid any potential accidents:

Question is, should I be calling the police on this?

Yes, Brenda, you should, and please tape that call because I'm guessing it would go viral on YouTube within seconds:

"So, let me get this straight, ma'am. You have a blog. And you have a comments section on that blog. And you have complete and total control over who's allowed to comment there? And you want to report, um, anonymous people who left rude comments that you deliberately and explicitly allowed to be published? Do I have that right?"

Yeah, I'd want to hear that conversation. But, sadly (and almost unbelievably), Brenda gets even stupider:

When I put comment moderation on, the trolls yell about "freedom of speech" and how I am denying them their rights.

We have done no such thing. We have never denied Brenda's freedom to moderate or censor her blog any way she wishes. As she and so many of her other cowardly hypocritical BT colleagues like to say all the time, "My blog, my rules." Which is entirely true -- it's Brenda's blog and she can run it any way she wants, and no one I recall has ever denied that.

We do, however, have the right to accuse her of gross hypocrisy, as she ruthlessly quashes any dissent while bleating on about her love of "free speech." We have every right to make that accusation, and we have.

The rest of that post is similarly worthless, self-pitying tripe, capped by Justin "Raging Roids" Hoffer's comment concerning his intellectual superiority. Must be read to be believed.

P.S. Just in case you were curious, this is what happens when you try to engage Brenda in legitimate, intellectual discourse. It's not pretty.

The Dodo-ification of the Twatsitude.

Yes, it's cruel but here's a recent snap from Blogging Tory Maria Nunes' House of Dumbth, ruthlessly stripped of its context because, really, it stands alone:



I have to ask, how spectacularly far down the food chain do you have to fall before you start praising Maria "Dodo Can Spell" Nunes for her overpowering intellectual acumen?

Whatever keeps you off the streets and the neighbours' children safe, dear.

"Dodo" has a new project, which will see her responding to everyone's "Happy Holidays" with a "Piss off, you dirty Muslim!"


The delicious irony is that she calls out Zellers by name while, down in the lower right, she has a Google ad promoting -- you guessed it -- Zellers.

What do you call someone who is incapable of seeing even the most painfully obvious consequences of their ideas? A conservative.

AFTERSNARK: I'm sure Maria's friends are relieved that there's a good chance she won't be shopping at FoodBasics for her Christmas gifts. Maybe they'll get something classier than a 5-pack of 50% discount "Best before yesterday" Johnsonville Brats this year.

THE STUPID THAT KEEPS ON STUPIDING: It's hilarious that Maria is ready to go full-metal boycott harpy on Wal-Mart's ass when, only two days ago:



I'd point out the howling hypocrisy to Maria, but I'm guessing her only response would be a puzzled, "I don't get it. What's your point?"

I am CC, the great and powerful.

As a followup to that last post, I would be remiss if I didn't send readers (once again) to one of the funniest Kathy Shaidle beatdowns in bloggydom here. What I had never noticed until now was a comment over there by the blogger himself:

... Shaidle implied that some Mark Steyn fansite sent a lot of traffic this way ... but it only sent a few hits and was completely swamped by visitors from eye, Kinsella and Canadian cynic.

Yeah. I rock. Never forget that.

Sitemeter is always good for some entertainment.

Every so often, I'm reminded that Kathy Shaidle is a whiny little runt.

What? I said "runt."

We have a name for people who still haven't come to grips with biological evolution.

We call them "Blogging Tories."

And by "Christie Blatchford," I mean "useful idiot."

Via Mike Watkins, we learn that the Globe's Christie Blatchford is just another kind of whore.

Wow, Terry Glavin is a complete asshole.

Just listening to Rex Murphy interview Terry Glavin WRT the Afghan detainee fiasco. I thought no one could be a bigger asshole than Mark Steyn. I was wrong.

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

Oh, right ... you have.

Sunday afternoon Low.

Drip drip drip ...

No matter what you do, the details are going to come out.

Go!

The Steve Jankification of the Twatsy.

You just can't sneak anything by Mullet Boy:



Or it could be that I published the original article, let it sit for a while, went back, thought, "You know, that could be snarkier, I can do better than that." And changed it.

It's actually painful when you have to explain something that trivial. Check back later when I might have come up with a better punchline to this post.

AFTERSNARK: It's entertaining to hear Twatsy whinging on about a punchline quietly changing when his mentor, idol and role model Richard "NAMBLA" Evans, some months ago, vanished his entire blog. The whole thing. In its entirety. All of it. Without a trace. Racism, creepy child rape obsession, soft core porn and all.

No, I refuse to link over there; those of you who have less than fond memories of NAMBLA Dick know where his blog was, and if you've popped by there any time over the last several months, you know that it's been "Under Construction" this whole time.

So before Twatsy starts whinging on about memory holes, he might want to check in with his hero and sensei NAMBLA Dick and see whassup over there. It's just a thought. Then he can go give Sandy Crux the spanking she deserves.

When stupid wingnuts write stupidly.

Shorter Mark Steyn: "Thank God he was a Muslim; otherwise, I'd have nothing to write about."

Who reads the "Christian Science Monitor?"

Apparently, I do.

None dare call it "anti-Semitism."

I await the swift and savage condemnation of Ezra Levant by the Blogging Tories with bated breath.

GOOGLE LOVES ME, this I know:

"And then whats-her-name said, well, you know! It was awesome!"

Shorter psychotically-deranged Maria "Dodo" Nunes: "Oh, man, first there was this, uh, female, and she said this mean thing about CC and then she left the Blogging Tories -- no, not her, someone else -- but she's got all these juicy "tit-bits" about some other people who hang out at this place and who have names -- well, not really names, they're just ones I made up. Is that awesome or what!?"

Then I popped over to read JJ, LC and Impolitical. There's a difference between chicks in the right and left bloggyspheres. Have you noticed that? I've noticed that.

P.S. The best part of Maria's cringe-inducing rant:

She is revolted by CC's attacks on the females at Blogging Tories ...

Maria has a point and, henceforth, I promise to be more polite and genteel to the fragile wallflowers that are Adrian MacNair, Justin "Raging Roids" Hoffer, "Neo 'Dead Blacks Amuse Me' Conservative", Jonathan Strong, Wayne, Jonathan Narvey, "The Iceman," Dick Ball, ChuckerCanuck, Jabba the Roy and the rest of the delicate ladies over there. I understand they're very sensitive.

And Stephen Taylor. I'll be nicer to her, too.

A day late and a turkey short.

Oh, wait ... there she is.

BONUS RETARDITUDE: Who else?



I am ashamed of my ignorance. Oh, wait ... I'm not. It really is hard to believe that Stephen Taylor is proud of that collection of drooling whackjobs but, well, there you go.

When useless hacks write.

Shorter Christie Blatchford: "Apparently, Richard Colvin is a big fibber, and if only you could see the stuff I have that I can't share with you, well, you'd agree."

It helps if you're a somebody. Like Stephen Taylor.

Via Bob Broughton, we have a short video involving Amy Goodman's detention at the border:



But here's the part that made my antenna stalks perk up:

"The Canada Border Services Agency didn't respond to our request for an interview."

Really? Because they certainly seemed happy enough to chat with Stephen Taylor:

I contacted a spokeswoman for CBSA and they explained that while they cannot comment on specific cases, “all persons seeking entry into Canada must meet all requirements” set out by the CBSA. Applicants for entry must not have a record of criminality, for example...

The CBSA spokeswoman also told me that criminality is certainly a red flag when it comes to determining a person’s fitness for admissibility.

And while the CBSA's spokesweasel clearly didn't get into details, it's just as clear that there was an interview involving Taylor and someone from the CBSA. I find that fascinating, and when it comes time to figure out whose ass should be on the line for this blatant violation of Goodman's rights, I'd like someone to ask why Taylor was gifted with a chat when everyone else was told to take a hike.

Call me curious.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Quitbull!

In terms of international law, what could possibly go wrong?

Oh, this should be amusing. My favourite part:

A review board, which examines prisoner's cases, will sit at the new jail as well as provide resources for prisoners to challenge their detention through legal means.

So ... after years of Guantanamo, they're going to try something completely different, then?

We only mock her because we love her.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Yeah, let me know how that works out.

"LK" probably wants a do-over on that post.

Blogging Tory "LK" cavalierly reveals just how much he cares about fiscal responsibility:

The announcement of next summer's visit came after she met Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Commonwealth summit in Trinidad and Tobago on Friday.

"The Crown endures as a symbol of our unique Canadian identity, uniting Canadians of every background and every region," Harper said. "Canadians hold Her Majesty and the royal family in deep affection and high regard, a sentiment which is clearly mutual."

The Canadian government will have a $50 billion deficit this year and people are going on about Prince Charles and Camila's visit costing $2.6 million?

That's. Just. Awesome. Here, let me tighten that up a bit:

"Geez, people, my hero Stephen Harper has so brutally and savagely fucked up the economy that, at this point, $2.6 million is just a rounding error. Let it go."

Seriously. Awesome.

And here's where we juxtapose ...

• Blogging Tory Maria "Dodo" Nunes on climate denialist and deranged, narcissistic whackjob Lord Christopher Monckton.


• Not crazy people on the same topic.

I trust you can appreciate the difference.

P.S. There's some seriously selective thinking going on when someone will categorically reject the findings of the entire IPCC while simultaneously fawning over the blitherings of a total quack.

Quickly, Craig, into the Smearmobile!

Blogging Tory co-founder Captain Canada Stephen "I'm all about the democracy, law and order and free speech!" Taylor temporarily stuffs his ethics and principles into his sock drawer in order to smear Amy Goodman:

Amy Goodman sort of inadmissible to Canada?

... I contacted a spokeswoman for CBSA and they explained that while they cannot comment on specific cases, “all persons seeking entry into Canada must meet all requirements” set out by the CBSA. Applicants for entry must not have a record of criminality, for example.

Really, Steve? Is that the new standard for denial? A nebulous, ill-defined "record of criminality" which makes someone "sort of" inadmissible? Let's keep reading:

I’d wondered if Amy Goodman had ever been arrested since I’ve known her to be something of an activist on issues. A quick Google search revealed that she had been arrested at the Republican National Convention in 2008 for “conspiracy to riot”.

Steve has a point. Oh, wait, he doesn't:

The charges were eventually dropped against Goodman as the St. Paul City Attorney’s office refused to prosecute.

But an actual lack of criminal conviction is just an annoying detail for Law-and-Order Boy:

However, it is unclear as to whether charges without conviction is enough to create a “lookout” in the CBSA database. The CBSA spokeswoman also told me that criminality is certainly a red flag when it comes to determining a person’s fitness for admissibility.

Given the unprecedented security that is being put in place for the 2010 games, a less than perfect history with law enforcement may have given agents more pause when considering Goodman.

"Criminality": What a delightfully fungible word, right, Steve? Hey, I know -- Ann Coulter was never actually, you know, convicted of anything, but she did suggest murdering a Justice of the U.S Supreme Court. Would that count? And I've never heard Stephen object to the occasional visit of serial criminal George W. Bush.

Stephen Taylor: A man of principles. And if you don't like his principles, well, he's got others.

P.S. You do have to be amused by someone who is completely indifferent to potential Geneva Conventions war crimes being committed by his beloved Stephen Harper Party of Canada being terribly, terribly concerned about the temporary and unjustified detention of a reporter at a political convention in another country.

If the cognitive dissonance were any worse, I swear it would cause some of Stephen's internal organs to just start shutting down.

AFTERSNARK: Just for fun, let's re-examine that earlier passage from Captain Canada:

I contacted a spokeswoman for CBSA and they explained that while they cannot comment on specific cases, “all persons seeking entry into Canada must meet all requirements” set out by the CBSA. Applicants for entry must not have a record of criminality, for example.

Really, Stephen? They must meet all requirements? They must not have a "record of criminality?" This would seem to be an open-and-shut case, wouldn't it, Steve?

Either Goodman had a "record of criminality," whereupon she should have immediately been sent packing. Or she didn't have such a record. By your own words, Steve, and based on what you claim the CBSA told you, the fact that they (finally) allowed Goodman entry means that she could not possibly have had a "record of criminality." Your words, Steve -- your position.

And yet, Steve, you seem perfectly fine with a prominent journalist being detained at the border based on what you openly admit could not possibly have been a valid reason. See, Steve, that's what happens when you try to use logic and reason when you're just not used to it. Bad things happen.

Peter MacKay: Trying to keep his lies in order.

What did Belinda Stronach see in that pathological liar?

Hey, Stephen Taylor really IS proud.

Oh, man, this is adorable:



Yes, Stephen, your "brain child" that is the Blogging Tories. Who are you most proud of? White supremacist and rancid bigot Kate McMillan? The racist, violent death-obsessed "Neo Conservative?" Shrieky dingbats "Hunter" and "Dodo?" The rancid "Dr. Roy" Eappen? Raging weightlifter and mentally-unbalanced Justin Hoffer? The pudding-headed Christianity of Dick Ball? Pathologically dishonest Adrian "Raphael Alexander" MacNair? The excitable illiterates at The Politic? The creepy, gynecologically-obsessed Steve "Inspector Gadget" Janke? The Canadian Sentinel? JoJo?

Then there's your BTs' collective attitude of total cowardice when it comes to actual intellectual discourse. You know, the ruthless and relentless censorship of their comments sections whenever someone has the nerve to disagree with them.

Yes, Steve, there's a great deal there to be proud of. Especially, I think, "Neo Conservative." The next time you get the chance, I really think you should regale the crowd with hilarious, knee-slapping stories of black people getting murdered and how wickedly funny that is. I'm sure that would go over well.

I'd first make sure there were no black people in the audience, though. I've heard they have no sense of humour.

Mike makes a good point.

Peter MacKay shouldn't have to resign. He should go to prison. Or the Hague. Either one works for me.

So ... how's that "no deficit" thing working out?

Uh oh:

Federal deficit grew $5B in September
Heading toward biggest shortfall in country's history

Ottawa added another $5 billion to its 2009-10 budget deficit in September, the Finance Department reported Friday.

Spending has outpaced revenue for the fiscal year that started in April by $28.6 billion.

That means the government is on track to meet Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's latest prediction that the deficit will reach $56.2-billion for the full fiscal year.

That would be the biggest deficit in the country's history.

Truly stupid people would be embarrassed, if they had any shame.

Dear Balby: You're an idiot.

Yes, Balby, why don't you give The Politic the benefit of the doubt? Let me know how that works out.

Heh.

This is just begging for a "FakeEdStelmach" Twitter account.

Oh, dear, ...

... someone's nose is out of joint:

Charles said...

Balanced news coverage would have included a Jewish station, in addition to Al Jazeera. This error of omission creates only one perspective.

Quite so, Charles, since I can't begin to imagine where I'd find a pro-Israeli media outlet to even things out. I stand corrected.

Feel free to disembowel the rest of Charles' pathetic whining. Be polite. Or not. Whatever works.

Canada's "Democracy Watch": Still looking for some democracy to watch.

Back here, Democracy Watch's Duff Conacher draws our attention to Stephen Harper's record on whistleblower protection, where Big Steve's relationship to actual democracy is, well, Steve is a "power top" and democracy is Arnie Lemaire, but without the ball gag.

Please don't make me explain that.

It doesn't get any funnier than this.

Canada's Blogging Tories: Because when news hits, it's important to ... hey, bright shiny thing!

I have no words.

Well, actually, I do. Over at the Blogging Fundamentalist Christians Tories, lead preacher Dick Ball reports back from The Big Easy, and lets us secular naturalists know why we suck:

The focus on scientific naturalism has resulted in the emergence of a new personality type: "the Empty Self"
* inordinately individualistic
* infantile
* passively addicted to entertainment and consumption
* can't give themselves to something bigger -- no one would know what that would be

Yes, that would be a Blogging Tory, accusing scientific naturalists of being "infantile." It doesn't get any funnier unless it's "Hunter" or "Dodo" accusing others of being stupid.

Your free speech warriors in action.

Shameful ... positively shameful:

U.S. journalist grilled at Canada border crossing
Officials demanded to know what she would say publicly about 2010 Olympics

U.S. journalist Amy Goodman said she was stopped at a Canadian border crossing south of Vancouver on Wednesday and questioned for 90 minutes by authorities concerned she was coming to Canada to speak against the Olympics.

Goodman says Canadian Border Services Agency officials ultimately allowed her to enter Canada but returned her passport with a document demanding she leave the country within 48 hours.

At which point Canada's free speech warriors leapt from their bassinets and onto their Big Wheels and ... and ...



I'm getting depressingly predictable, aren't I?

I have no words.

Seriously.

Some people never stop whining.

Fresh off of bitching and moaning that the CBC was ignoring the recent climate change "scandal," Blogging Tory JoJo shifts gears to bitch and moan that they are finally covering it, just not the way she would like.

Bitch, bitch, bitch. Also usable as a verb.

Canada's Littlest Racist redux.

Red Tory takes the invariably-justified swipe at Kathy "Buy my books!!!!!" Shaidle. How he could do that and not toss in references to this and this is beyond me.

BONUS TRACK: Like talent, sewage also inevitably finds its own level.

And in other non-news this morning, ...

I could do this every day. Maybe I will.

Uh oh ... the honeymoon's over ...

... now it's time to put that uppity broad in her place.

Dear CBC: About the execrable Mary Hynes ...

Once again, CBC's "Tapestry" program flushes an hour down the crapper, this time gifting it to the vapid and useless "theologian" Karen Armstrong. I'd waste a few minutes intellectually gutting her like a mackerel but, luckily for me, that's already been done. Over here, PZ Myers systematically feeds Armstrong's philosophy through the meat grinder while, here, Richard Dawkins exposes Armstrong's embarrassing lack of anything resembling meaningful content, particularly in his scathing conclusion:

Now, there is a certain class of sophisticated modern theologian who will say something like this: "Good heavens, of course we are not so naive or simplistic as to care whether God exists. Existence is such a 19th-century preoccupation! It doesn't matter whether God exists in a scientific sense. What matters is whether he exists for you or for me. If God is real for you, who cares whether science has made him redundant? Such arrogance! Such elitism."

Well, if that's what floats your canoe, you'll be paddling it up a very lonely creek. The mainstream belief of the world's peoples is very clear. They believe in God, and that means they believe he exists in objective reality, just as surely as the Rock of Gibraltar exists. If sophisticated theologians or postmodern relativists think they are rescuing God from the redundancy scrap-heap by downplaying the importance of existence, they should think again. Tell the congregation of a church or mosque that existence is too vulgar an attribute to fasten onto their God, and they will brand you an atheist. They'll be right.

Put more concisely, if the best defense you have for your particular deity is that, it doesn't matter if he really exists as long as he exists for you, well, that's what modern medications and therapy sessions were pretty much invented for, wouldn't you say?

Cool.

I Love xkcd from NoamR on Vimeo.

No, way, Iceman! Get outta town!

I have a saying that conservatives will eventually figure out what we progressives already know, it will just take them several more days. Or weeks. Or months. Possibly years.

Behold (emphasis tail-waggingly added):

Is Sarah Palin a Trojan Horse?

I don't doubt that there are Conservatives who like Sarah Palin. I like her as a person, and I agree with some of her opinions. But being down in the United States, I have been listening to some Michael Savage, a right wing talk show host who hardly toes the Conservative Party line. His theory is that a lot of the people who are advocating a Palin Presidency are in fact far left Liberals. People who want Palin on a Presidential ticket, because they know that she can't win the center. The left wants Palin to win the nomination for 2012, because she is grossly inexperienced and is polarizing in the center where most of the votes are.

Crap. Our cover's been blown. Iceman has ferreted out our closely-held, diabolical, super-duper, top secret, fingers-crossed conspiracy to get Palin on the Republican ticket in 2012, only because we know she'd get obliterated like a mouse under a rotary mower. That Iceman. He's so clever. You just can't sneak anything by him, can you?

Tune in next week when Iceman excitedly blogs that he's heard Barack Obama might not have been born in the U.S. and therefore -- ZOMG!!1!!111!! -- might not be constitutionally eligible to serve as President but he's going to look into that and he'll get back to us. He's heard that some lawyer named Orly Taitz has some dynamite information on that score.

SOMETIMES, the stupid just writes itself:

The_Iceman said...

Canadian Cynic, where did your exit links go? Why aren't you sending your hoards [sic] to read this?

If you listen closely, you'll hear me rolling my eyes and moving on.

Fair and balanced. And Jewish.

First, there's the setup:

Al-Jazeera English gets CRTC approval

Al-Jazeera English, the English-language service of the Qatar-based broadcaster, has been approved for distribution via satellite in Canada.

Of course, you first have to assuage the concerns of the right people:

Jewish concerns

The Canadian Jewish Congress and B'nai Brith Canada had expressed concerns about how balanced Al-Jazeera's reporting would be, but they neither opposed nor supported the application. The Jewish organizations instead urged vigilance in case the news service engages in Holocaust denial or other anti-Semitic statements.

The CJC also urged the CRTC to ensure Al-Jazeera English remains independent from its Arabic-language counterpart.

Good thinking. It's important to let the CRTC know that you're not a big fan of people saying things you don't like. That's getting dangerously close to free speech and journalistic independence and, God knows, we can't have that setting an ugly trend.

And who's this?

A group called Honest Reporting Canada cited two examples of Al-Jazeera English's journalism that it said did not meet Canadian standards of accuracy and balance, but it did not officially oppose the application.

"Honest Reporting Canada?" What's that all about? Oh:



Yeah, they're going to be a fountain of unbiased, objective information.

In other news, Canada's Blogging Tories vowed to tear themselves away from Fox News every so often to make sure Al-Jazeera isn't pulling anything funny.

Stephen Harper ...

... unleashed. I'm thinking of a "FakePatrickRoss" Twitter account. It would be like a real Patrick Ross Twitter account, except that every tweet would begin with "So what you're saying is, ...", followed by something incredibly fucking stupid and dishonest.

Oh, wait ... that would be the same.

It occurs to me ...

... that Blogging Tories who relentlessly quash dissenting views really don't have the moral high ground to bitch and whine about others quashing dissenting views.

"You wanna go beat up a cat, Spike? Huh, Spike?"

When Obama wasn't going to Copenhagen, Stephen Harper wasn't going to Copenhagen. As soon as Obama decides to go to Copenhagen, Li'l Stevie is right there.

Atta boy, Chester.

Sometimes, I love me some Intertoobz.

Probably not how Steve Janke wanted to introduce himself to America.

Awwwwwwwwwkward.

Oh, dear.

Sometimes, they can only aspire to be childish.

There's something truly pathetic about moderating, deleting and banning your critics, then mocking them because they're nowhere to be seen.

I'm just sayin'.

Hey, kids ... remember when the batshit crazy residents of Wingnutville thought that illegally hacking into someone else's e-mail was a bad thing?

I'm just sayin'.

P.S. And, apparently, hacking into someone's e-mail proves only how much you're scared of them. That's pretty entertaining coming from Brenda.

BONUS TRACK: You know, the howling and screeching of the Wingnut Right over e-mails that none of them even remotely understand seems vaguely familiar. Where have I seen that before? Oh, right ...



Yeah, kind of like that. Except without the vague stirring of sentience at the end.

If the irony were any thicker ...

Over at Dr. Dawg's, Jay Currie toddles over with his diaper sagging around his ankles, and gets all uppity and sanctimonious:

Lord Lawson has the right of it: for both sides the best course of action is a full judicial inquiry looking at all the emails and all the data and all the code from and to CRU.

Yes, Jay ... as a Canadian wingnut, why don't you lecture the rest of us on how the best way to learn the truth is a methodical and comprehensive inquiry to get to the bottom of this?

The mind reels. Seriously, it just fucking reels.

Let me put this in simple terms that even Steve Janke could understand.

Shorter Stephen Harper: "Having classified everything we possibly could regarding Afghanistan detainess and torture in order to prevent Richard Colvin from being able to produce any supporting documentation for his claims, we can now dismiss Richard Colvin as having no supporting documentation for his claims."

The CC idiot wanker climate change e-mail challenge.

Over at Brenda's, commenter John Cross asks a delightfully civil question of Brenda's regular readers, who are -- the lot of them -- as insufferably retarded as she is:

As someone interested in the science, I keep asking what science does this change. I can find nothing about the radiation physics or CO2 concentrations in the e-mails.

Thanks,
John

Unsurprisingly, no one rises to the intellectual challenge so, a few hours later, John tries again:

Bec: If the science has been questioned, please point to the specific e-mails that discuss radiation physics in regards to CO2.

Thanks,
John

at which point, commenter "Blame Crash" has had quite enough of this smarmy, high-falutin', academic book larnin':

And tell us John, would any answer, or any truth, result in anything except a repeat of your amateur diversionary comment? I think not.

which we can all safely assume means that BC is a moron and has no idea what the answer is. But all this suggests a simple challenge.

If Canada's intellectually-crippled dingbats, yahoos and whackjobs seriously think that the recently hacked e-mails represent some sort of "smoking gun" with respect to the fraud of climate change, then I propose that they post what represents, in all of those e-mails, what they consider to be the smokingest gun of all.

To no one's surprise, these scientifically illiterate yahoos have been creaming themselves over the thousands and thousands of lines of hacked e-mail, without actually pointing to any specific passage that proves their point. So here's their chance.

Let's have them take their time, peruse the e-mails in question and, out of all of that, select the single line/passage/paragraph/excerpt that they think represents an absolutely devastating refutation of climate change. Since they all seem so giddy with victory, surely it won't be hard to produce a single piece of evidence to bolster their spittle-flecked screeching. That's fair, isn't it? But there are going to be a few conditions.

First, I'm after one example. I'm not interested in the "shotgun" approach, during which you fling about pointers at countless pieces of text, hoping to inundate the poor reader with sheer quantity. If your case is as strong as you claim, then it should be easy for you to find what you think is the absolutely best piece of evidence there is.

Second, you will not be allowed to annotate or interpret your example. What you provide should be capable of standing on its own, without any help from you. The text you quote should be clear and unambiguous. You will not be allowed to reinterpret, redefine, mangle or sodomize the English language in order to have it mean what you want it to mean. In short, you will not be allowed to pull a "Patrick Ross."

And, finally, once you've taken all the time you want to select your favourite smoking gun, and you publish it, and we here in Not-Crazy-Ville demonstrate that it is utter shash, you will accept your defeat gracefully, and not run off shrieking, "Oh, yeah ... well there's this other example that's even better." No. You can have as much time as you want to make your choice, but once you've made it, you don't get to start moving goalposts and being a sore loser.

So ... howzabout? Hunter? Dodo? Kate? All of you have been creaming yourselves over these e-mails as if you actually understood the science (and we all know that that's pure bollocks). So, let's see it. Take your time. And choose carefully. And when you're done, drop your pick in the comments section, at which point my regular commenters will be happy to go to town on it.

And now ... we wait.

Here at CC Labs, ...

... PSA and I have been hard at work:



As soon as we overlay that baby with a harmonica track, the release party should be imminent.

When Conservatives get ahold of the edumacashun system.

Via some guy named "Chris," we find Blogging Tory "Hunter" (or possibly "Dodo" or SUZANNE) getting all tinfoilhatty conspirazoid:



Actually, is that Delisle?

I would have looked like a genius.

Crap. It was only a couple of days ago that I read this:

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper moved Tuesday to calm the political storm surrounding the handover of Afghan prisoners, vowing to release all "legally available" documents related to the matter.

And the instant I read that carefully-qualified promise, I said to myself, "All Harper's going to do now is frantically classify anything he doesn't want public, which will -- by definition -- make them no longer 'legally available.' Problem solved."

I should have predicted that publicly when it occurred to me, 'cuz I would have looked like a freakin' genius:

Feds bar whistleblower diplomat from handing over torture documents to MPs

By Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - The federal government is blocking whistleblowing diplomat Richard Colvin from giving documents to a special House of Commons committee investigating Afghan torture.

The revelation Wednesday came one day after Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged that the committee would get "all legally-available" documents in order to carry out its investigation.

Justice Department lawyers have told Colvin - through the Foreign Affairs Department - that they do not accept the view that testimony before Parliament is exempt from national security provisions of the Canada Evidence Act.

As a result, Colvin's lawyer has written to the committee advising that Colvin won't be able to provide documents to Parliament as he was instructed to do last week...

Violating Section 38 of the Canada Evidence Act can be punishable by five years in prison.

Did anyone not see this coming? Oh, and here's your bonus at no extra charge:

Federal Accountability Act Becomes Law
...
Provide real protection for whistleblowers

* A Public Sector Integrity Commissioner with the power to enforce the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act.
* A new, independent tribunal with the power to order remedies and discipline.
* Expanded whistleblower protection for all Canadians who report government wrongdoing.
* More public information on wrongdoing.

I take it you can appreciate the unintentional hilarity.

Ah, the Alberto Gonzales defense.

Quelle surprise:

OTTAWA — Three generals declared Wednesday that there was no mention of the word "torture" in reports from a senior diplomat who asserts that he repeatedly warned the government against surrendering Afghan detainees to local authorities because they would almost certainly be abused.

Take it away, Gonzo:



AFTERSNARK: Now that the Prime Minister, his immediate underlings and all three of those generals have disavowed any knowledge of this bad craziness, it's clear that the blame is simply being pushed further down the food chain until someone of little consequence is going to be thrown under a bus. Yes, someone's ass is going to be grass.

And here's where we juxtapose ...

Over at the Stephen Taylor Wanker Day Care and Droolatorium, we find:



We also find:



Stephen Taylor: Because democracy and human rights are simply too important to, you know, write about.

Turducken!

Apparently, I will be in London (Ont) tomorrow, eating turducken. Life is perpetually exciting.

Wolverines! Turducken!



DETAILS: On this turducken thing, we will need details.

As one phony "scientist" to another ...

Over at Special Ed Central, Captain Canada and self-described "scientist" Stephen Taylor drags out the old argument from authority and proceeds to give long-discredited hack Ross McKitrick the fellating he so richly deserves.

That would be this Ross McKitrick.

The prosecution rests.

And don't get me started on those Down Syndrome kids.

CC NEWS -- Under increasing pressure, Conservative MP Gerald Keddy has now apologized for describing the unemployed in Halifax as "no-good bastards."

There is no word on whether or not Keddy plans to apologize to paraplegics and quadraplegics after characterizing them as "too fucking lazy to get out of their wheelchairs and get a job."

Guess that Blogging Tory!

Good morning, boys and girls, and here's your skill-testing question for the day: Which Blogging Tory, rationalizing his long-time use of a pseudonym to protect his identity, recently wrote the following:

... I decided to use [a pseudonym] when I was confronted with a rather disturbing decision involving a Neo-Nazi and a threat on my life.

Hint: This would be the same Blogging Tory who, not that long ago, was absolutely gleeful in publishing your humble scribe's picture, as well as links to address, phone number and other personal information, despite his being well aware of his Blogging Tory colleagues' unnerving obsession with threats and physical violence.

Give it time ... I'm sure it will come to you.

When spectacularly stupid people blog.

"OHMIGOD OHMIGOD OHMIGOD *yank* *yank* *yank* SHRIEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKK!!1!1!11!! Pant, pant, pant ..."

Yawn.

There's a reason we refer to the Blogging Tories as "Canada's Special Ed Class with an Aggregator." Give it time ... it'll come to you.

Stephen Harper: Bending democracy over a kitchen table yet again.

And here's Stephen Harper, looking to fuck over democracy, accountability and transparency one more time. First, there's the setup:

David Mulroney was a senior adviser on Afghanistan at the time Colvin said he was sending his crucial reports and when he was told by superiors to stop producing written material on the issue.

Mulroney, now ambassador to China, said he wants to testify, because of the "very serious" allegations made last week.

"Some touched directly upon my work, that of my colleagues and of the government of Canada. I would welcome the opportunity to address these allegations and set the record straight."

Awesome. David Mulroney wants to testify. That's just super. And the committee seems more than happy to hear him, as long as they get a chance to prepare properly:

Some MPs have said Mulroney's appearance should be put off until they get ocuments from the government and can ask informed questions.

A perfectly reasonable proposal, unless you're the fecal smear that walks like a man, Stephen Harper:

But Harper dismissed that as "petty political games."

"I hope the committee, if it's serious, will hear testimony from all who want to testify," he said.

Not to be indelicate, but the committee should tell David Mulroney that they appreciate his co-operation and will be slotting him in as soon as it's convenient, and they should tell Stephen Harper that he can fuck off, go get a motel room with Dean Del Mastro, two albino trampolinists, a diseased goat and a case of Astroglide, and they'll call him if they need him.

I'm sorry ... you didn't really need that imagery, did you?

When stupid people blog ... yadda yadda yadda ... Blogging Tory.

Here's Blogging Tory and hysterically credulous Christian apologist Richard Ball, practically squeezing out a load due to the sheer excitement of it all:

NEVER call someone a vegetable

... This comes to [sic] late to help Terry [sic] Schiavo who was, effectively, murdered (or something very close to it) with the support of a substantial percentage of American society.

I know ... let's do something very un-Dick Ball-like, follow that link and, you know, read what we find:

'I screamed, but there was nothing to hear': Man trapped in 23-year 'coma' reveals horror of being unable to tell doctors he was conscious

Yes, that is awesomely impressive. However, unlike Mr. Ball, we will not stop at the title. We will continue reading because, well, we here at CC HQ are not irresponsible, scientifically illiterate idiots. Onward:

A car crash victim has spoken of the horror he endured for 23 years after he was misdiagnosed as being in a coma when he was conscious the whole time.

Rom Houben, trapped in his paralysed body after a car crash, described his real-life nightmare as he screamed to doctors that he could hear them - but could make no sound.

'I screamed, but there was nothing to hear,' said Mr Houben, now 46, who doctors thought was in a persistent vegatative state.

Wait for it ... wait for it ... wait for it ... ah, there it is:

'I dreamed myself away,' he added, tapping his tale out with the aid of a computer.

I could lovingly eviscerate this obvious example of facilitated communication but I'll just give props to long-time CC HQ commenter Stimpson who starts us off here, then pop over to PZ's take on it here, then (as PZ suggests) go watch the video here which makes it disgustingly obvious what a load of bollocks this is, then (if you want) pop back to the Daily Mail article, where the commenters have clearly had enough of this farce:

I am glad people are pointing out that this is hoax. The real question is how can media be so easily duped? All you have to do is watch a video and you can see the helper is really the one doing the typing. How can we force the media produces to think a little before they publish or broadcast nonsense? ...

I have seen a whole room full of profoundly Austistic people apparently using facilitated communication to spout advanced poetry. These people were not even looking at the keyboards they were 'using'. Carers were directing the hand (whether knowingly or not) to type out complicated messages to the outside world. This is sick and a terrible abuse of the persons human rights. How dare they put words in someone's mouth. In some cases it may be a totally appropriate tool ( I know people with cerebral palsy who have physical disabilities only and benefit greatly from similar ideas - but with much less facilitation! - if the hand needs total guiding we should be very suspicious of who the message is coming from...

This IS a hoax. Please stop. It's called "facilitated communication" and was debunked YEARS ago. Many other have beaten me to it but I am repeating to make sure these terrible false hope stories of him communicating keep spreading through the media. It's not true. There IS brain activity similar to a fully conscious person but there ISN'T communication via a keyboard. ...

This is a hoax, as are most cases of so-called facilitated communication. I can't believe mainstream media is buying this story. ...

In other news, Blogging Tory Dick Ball finally wrote something coherent and intelligent but, curiously, it required the use of a computer and a facilitator who wasn't a moron.

BY THE WAY, there is a trivially simple way to verify all of this one way or the other. Note, from the Daily Mail article, the utterly vapid, Hallmarkian content of Houben's "statements":

" ... I dreamed myself away ... All that time I just literally dreamed of a better life. Frustration is too small a word to describe what I felt."

Generic, content-free rubbish. Instead, why not ask Houben to tap out the answers to some simple questions that only he (but not the assisting facilitator) would know. What were his parents and grandparents names? What were the names of his pets? What dojo did he attend for his martial arts training? Questions that would resolve this in a matter of seconds.

Instead, what we get is Oprah-style pap, designed specifically to gull the rubes. And, by George, it did work, didn't it? At least for a day or two.

P.S. PZ also reminds me of an even easier way to debunk this idiocy: Ask Houben to identify objects that are visible only to him and not the facilitator. As I said, this could all be settled in, literally, seconds.

This cannot get any funnier.

You have, of course, been following the recent misadventures of Patrick "Mullet Boy" Ross, including his savage intellectual beatdown at the hands of one David Climenhaga in the comments section there (in which he gets slapped around as "Patrick Ross," then reappears under a new identity of "Sparky" in order to give the impression that he has friends or something). But just when you thought he couldn't self-immolate any further, well, a little birdie sends me the following screencap of the links at the bottom of an article that Twatsy himself wrote about Janine Krieber over at the "Nexus of Dumbassitude":



Pause to truly drink in the hilarity of Twatsy writing a post about Krieber and (unintentionally, I'm sure) accompanying that post with a link to the very article at which he got wickedly spanked only two days ago.

You can't make this up. Seriously, you can't. As intellectually creative as I am, even I couldn't have dreamed up something that made Twatsy look like more of a drooling buffoon than that.

Can it get any funnier? We'll just have to see.

Happy day after your birthday, badass.

Yes, I suck for missing the actual day.

In my defence, I spent a total of 12 hours yesterday in proposal review and pricing meetings and was more than a little squirrelly by the time I got out. But I can totally make it up to my favourite ape cuz I’m in the process of getting the bestest present evah.

What is it you may ask? Why, just a little series called "Farscape" -- yes, that would be the entire box set.

Kisses,
LuLu

If the AP loosened up a little bit, ...

... they'd look like this.

Cool.

We're going to have to do this more often. I'll let you know when I need you.

HUH. We're weirdly popular these days. Go figure.

Nice career you got there.

Be a shame if someone put a bullet in it.

The night the aliens came to Delisle.

Close Encounters of the Redneck Kind from Marc Bullard on Vimeo.

(Wag of the tail to the delightful Miss Cellania.)

Fox News: News for stupid people.

It's like the Three Stooges meets The Lucy Show ... or some analogy equally demeaning:

Fox News Threatens Pink Slips For On-Screen Errors

After a rash of mistakes and apologies over the past weeks, Fox News has sent a memo to employees announcing a new "zero tolerance" policy for on-screen errors...

Fox has had three much-noticed errors in the past few weeks. First, Sean Hannity used misleading footage to beef up attendance numbers at a Capitol Hill tea party rally -- an incident that caught the attention of the Daily Show's Jon Stewart, forcing Hannity to apologize on air.

Then, last week, one of the midday news shows aired footage of an old Sarah Palin campaign rally to show the "crowds" at her current book tour. An anchor apologized a day later, and Fox blamed a "production error."

Finally, in another segment about Palin's book, the network showed the cover of a satire book called "Going Rouge" instead of her actual memoir, "Going Rogue."

Tune in next week when Fox once again dishonestly inflates the attendance at another wingnut gathering. That will be due to a "production error." You read it here first.

Snark, St. Albert-style.

I'm rather enjoying the irreverence here -- might have to make that a regular read. And, yes, Mr. Climenhaga has been suitably cautioned about the pathological dishonesty and lack of ethics that is Patrick "Twatsy" Ross, so he'll be on the lookout for any comments from "Sparky" or "mahmood" and deal with them accordingly.

Wait for it ... wait for it ... wait for it ...

On the one hand, there's the howling, screeching, panty-yanking, full-metal masturbatory baying-at-the-moon squealing in celebration of Canada's perpetually crazed, scientifically illiterate yokels, yahoos and dingbats.

And then there's reality.

Who could have guessed that all you had to do was sit patiently for a day or two for the truth to out? Who, indeed?

You know, it's tough for all of us here at CC HQ to be right about absolutely everything absolutely all of the time. But it's a burden we're willing to bear. Because we love you guys.

*Sniff*.

To arms, my pretties, to arms!

Normally, I'd just be amused by this, but what say we go all PZ on that voting and crank my article up to keep it at the top.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

OHMIGODOHMIGODOHMIGOD ... the terrorists!

Oh, wait ... he's white. That would explain the deafening silence from Canada's wingnuts.

Carry on, then.

The subterfuginess of the Twatsy.

You're going to love this. No, seriously. Over here, Audrey II points out how pathological liar and fan of violent assault Patrick Ross has taken to impersonating other commenters -- particularly long-time CC commenter "Sparky."

As Audrey explains, there are two "Sparky" commenters:

• the real one


• the sleazy fraud and Internet stalker that is Patrick Ross

And here's the payoff. That's right, kids ... that's Patrick, going after David Climenhaga, getting his panties yanked down in public and spanked soundly, then returning under his "Sparky" persona to resume the attack. This is apparently how honest, intellectual discourse works in Twatsy's world -- passing himself off as other people.

Stay classy, Twatsy. We wouldn't expect any less.

P.S. If Twatsy gets tired of passing himself off as Sparky, I suspect he will simply go back to being "mahmood."

OHMIGODOHMIGODOHMIGOD, this is priceless!!1!11!11! Now that he's been busted as the sleazy, dishonest twerp that he is, Ross has frantically edited the profile of that bogus account and changed the name on it from "Sparky" to "Patrick Ross," undoubtedly in the hope that he can now claim that it said "Patrick Ross" all along and that no one will notice.

Truly, the douchebaggery that keeps on giving. And giving. And giving ...

The unbearable lightness of groupies.

I actually stopped watching at 1:43. Someone else can tell me if I missed the really good stuff.

Support the troops? I don't think so.

For quite some time, numerous progressives have made the argument that, even if you don't support Canada's mission in Afghanistan, you can still support the troops themselves. There was -- quite correctly -- a careful distinction made between supporting Canada's military men and women, versus supporting the idiotic and ill-defined clusterfuck that is Afghanistan. And I was one of those people. I'm now here to tell you that I no longer support Canada's military. No, wait, hear me out.

At this point, it is beyond question that some members of Canada's military are guilty of war crimes. The testimony of one Richard Colvin, increasingly corroborated by many others, is simply irrefutable. Some members of the Canadian military -- in handing over Afghani detainees that they suspected full well were going to be tortured -- are undeniably guilty of war crimes. There's simply no question anymore, and it's pointless denying it.

But are all of Canada's military guilty of those same war crimes? Of course not, don't be silly, what a ridiculous thing to say. Unfortunately, here's the sticking point.

Canada's military has now had its reputation smeared in a particularly ugly way, and the only way to restore it is with a fair and thorough investigation, to ferret out the criminals who are responsible. That sounds simple enough -- find and punish the culprits and, in the process, clear everyone else who didn't have anything to do with it. Ah, but there's the rub.

Because the Stephen Harper Party of Canada has no interest in an investigation. Or a public inquiry. And in refusing to figure who is responsible, Canada's Conservatives have implicitly condemned everyone in uniform to being a war criminal.

Is that fair? Probably not. But there are lots of occasions where guilt has to be a collective thing. If you can't punish the actual lawbreaker, sadly, everyone's going to pay the price. And if the Harperistas insist on covering for the crooks and refusing to hold anyone accountable, then everyone is going down with that particular ship.

Again, is that fair? No, not really. But it's the only option left to us. Either we learn who's really responsible for obvious war crimes and punish them, or the entire military takes it on the chin. And it's painfully clear that Stephen Harper, rather than try to get to the bottom of this, is more than happy to hang Canada's entire military out to dry.

So, not to put to fine a point on it, but if no one's interested in identifying the specific people who broke the laws we're discussing here, then Canada's entire military can piss off. I have no illusions about what effect my public disapproval will have. Precisely none, of course. It's not as if anyone in a position of power gives a crap about what I think, and I'm fairly sure my loss of confidence will increase the danger to our soldiers overseas in no measurable way whatsoever. But unless someone is held accountable, I have no choice but to hold everyone accountable. Because that's the only choice Stephen Harper has left me with.

The right-wing, idiot outrage based on this post will, of course, be swift and savage, coming from precisely those people who have vowed to defend "free speech" to the death, but where does that CC get off saying stuff like that? ("free speech" being generally reserved for their opinions but no one else's). But I don't see any option here. Either the rot in Canada's military is located and removed, or it's all rot. There is no door number three.

And given how moderately pissed I am at the moment, we'll give A. Whitney Brown the last word. Just because.