What do David Menzies and "Canada Company" have in common with Sheila Gunn Reid and Sarah Miller?

I'm glad you asked.

While I have a shit-ton of stuff to do today, I really need to get this out there as it represents a bunch of predictions I am going to make related to Gunn Reid's and Miller's grifty and disingenuous European vacation, and I really want to know how good I am at this predicting thingy, and this is going to be done very James Joyce stream-of-consciousness so strap yourself in and try to keep up.

It was a few years ago when inveterate Rebel News mouthpiece and blowhard David Menzies ... well, I wrote about it at the time, and I'll give you the links and you can read them and you can come back and I'll summarize as best as I can because this is important. So start here:

• Part 1
• Part 2

Let me, as best I can, summarize what pathological sleazebucket David Menzies and his handlers from Rebel News did here.

• As is their annual custom, CFB Borden ran a Christmas hamper program called the Seasonal Sharing Basket Campaign, a campaign driven solely by the base itself and surrounding communities to help military families who might have had a tough year and needed specific items.
• Having been alerted to this campaign, the higher-uppers at Der Rebel seized on this program to publicize that this was clear evidence how Justin Trudeau hated the troops and paid them so little that they needed charity to even buy food for Christmas.
• Without the knowledge or permission of CFB Borden, Rebel News registered a sleazy, demeaning Indiegogo fundraiser, specifically accusing Justin Trudeau of starving the troops; the campaign raised over $15,000. And this is when things got really sleazy.

Given the proceeds from the fundraiser, Rebel could have just mailed the money to CFB Borden but, no, that would have had no political value, so Menzies was dispatched to the base, cheque in hand and with a videographer, to hand over the money in person and get video of someone taking it while Menzies relentlessly bad-mouthed Trudeau and the Liberals on camera, purely for the political value. (This was never about the soldiers or even the slightest interest in their well-being; it was all political propaganda. Onward.)

Long story short: a number of confused people at the base weren't sure who the fuck Menzies was or what to do with his money, as he was told 1) the campaign was never meant to be advertised to the general public, it was a local community thing, and 2) they already collected all they needed and the campaign was closed. (Remember, Rebel News did all this without once consulting anyone at the base, who would have told them their politically-driven interference was not welcome.)

Cut to David Menzies, unable to donate the money and now railing on camera against those meddling Liberals, who clearly had ordered the base to not take Rebel's money (remember, this was the base who had no idea Rebel even existed). And this is where it gets phenomenally sleazy, so brace yourself.

Unable to convince CFB Borden to take over $15K, the opportunistic sleazebags at Rebel News cast around for another military charity who could be convinced to be part of the Trudeau-bashing propaganda, and found something called "Canada Company" and .... oh, fuck it, you need to watch the video where Menzies is giving the money to two reps from Canada Company, wherein the ceremony goes completely off the rails before even three minutes, when Menzies begins slagging Justin Trudeau and accusing him of being more interested in giving money to Omar Khadr than to Canada's military.

LATE ADDITION: A longer edition of that video is here, which includes David Menzies' pathetic whining, and the letter from Canada Company making it absolutely clear they realized they were being used for political gamesmanship and wanted no part of it.

It's adorable, it really is ... even from the beginning, the two Canada Company reps seem slightly confused about what is happening but seem happy to take money, that is; until "The Menzoid" goes batshit fucking nuts and starts demeaning the federal government on camera, at which time you can clearly see the expressions as the two reps start to wonder what the hell they've gotten into, and wondering how they can delicately extract themselves. And here's where it gets truly funny as, once the ceremony is over, even before Menzies gets back to Rebel HQ, there is an email from Canada Company making it clear they realize they'd been played, and they want nothing to do with this shameless political hatchet job, and they are returning the money, and they want the video destroyed. And, of course, this is presented by Rebel News as only more evidence as to how the federal government is tracking Rebel and ordering people not to co-operate with them, and so on, and so on.

So, are you with me so far? And what does this have to do with inveterate grifters Sheila Gunn Reid and Sarah Miller? I suspect you're starting to see the similarities.

Note well how Rebel Media's CFB Borden grift had nothing to do with concern about soldiers, and was solely about collecting video that could be used for political hackery. Which brings us to Gunn Reid and Miller, and how I -- based on the pattern from the Menzies debacle -- will now predict in some detail how the Rebel's totally unnecessary European vacation will play out. So, here goes.

We already know that that there was no need for anyone to fly to Geneva so the obvious question is -- why? But that's not the correct question. The correct question is: Even if one person wanted to deliver that ridiculous complaint in person, why did two people go? And the answer is, for the video. All of this is for the record, which is why it was absolutely essential that there be two hacks -- one to pimp and preen for the camera, while the other records the Kabuki theatre for the rubes back home. And based on the Menzies' choreography, here's how I predict it's going to go down.

First, Gunn Reid and Miller will arrive at UN HQ, where one of them (Gunn Reid, I suspect) will launch into a pompous diatribe about how those two brave freedom fighters have now arrived at the UN, in order to file a complaint against Justin Trudeau about the appalling treatment of political protesters back home, and how Canada is descending into a fascist state, and Charter rights and repression and yadda yadda yadda ... rubbish like that. (Gunn Reid will mention Trudeau's name incessantly.)

Cut to next scene showing those two dingbats wandering into the building, assuring everyone that they have arrived to strike a blow for freedom of speech and so on, and so on, until they finally reach a first-stage receptionist, who will undoubtedly be slightly confused as to what they are doing here.

At this point, I suspect that it will be Miller on camera, who will pompously announce that she is an accomplished human rights lawyer from Canada (she isn't), here to deliver personally a human rights complaint to the UNHRC regarding the current appalling situation in Canada involving numerous people who were, um, arrested for minor violations but I'm betting that last part won't come out; Miller will simply go on and on about the horrific human rights situation back in Canada, and ask as to how she can speak to someone who will personally accept this complaint.

The receptionist, still confused as shit, might simply say that, sure, she can pass this on and will take the complaint and thank them for coming and if they would be so kind as to fuck off because there is real business happening here, that would be great, thanks.

On the other hand, said receptionist might not want to have anything to do with these two loons and will ask someone else to come to the desk, at which time Miller will once again launch into her canned speech about how she is a very important civil liberties attorney from Canada (she isn't) and blah blah blah, and this next person, just as confused, will accept the complaint from the two dingbats and thank them for their concern, and if they could now fuck off, the UN is actually trying to get some real work done involving, you know, genocide and not, you know, provincial bail hearings.

Eventually, both Gunn Reid and Miller will end up on the sidewalk outside UN HQ, at which time the real misdirection will happen as Gunn Reid will now bloviate on and on as to how they are so proud that the UN accepted their complaint and will now consider it (despite the fact that all that happened is that someone took their envelope). And Gunn Reid will pat herself on the back relentlessly, and will thank everyone back home for their emotional and financial support, and explain that it is only through the staunch support of Rebel Nation that we can all fight back the fascist hordes of Justin Trudeau and insist that the trip was an unqualified success (despite nothing having happened other than a confused UN employee taking their envelope).

That's how I see it going down, so now I guess we're going to see how well I understand the naked hackery and dishonesty of the rubes at Rebel News. So if someone starts to see reports of Gunn Reid and Miller yammering on from Geneva about the enormous political significance of this farce, leave a comment. And be prepared for me to say, "I told you so."

I love saying that.

OH, DEAR ... this would be Sheila Gunn Reid, equating the people who hid Anne Frank from the Nazis with people who erected hot tubs and bouncy castles in the middle of Ottawa:

I will admit, I had never noticed the similarities.

P.S. I still have a standing invitation for both Gunn Reid and Miller to post the actual costs of their economy class, round-trip tickets, so they can justify their claim that this trip is costing them over $15,000.

BONUS TRACK: While it's just piling on, it's worth understanding how unserious is Sheila Gunn Reid, given her current pinned tweet:

Take whatever time you need to appreciate that, in the midst of actual problems and crises and issues all of us are dealing with, Gunn Reid's pinned tweet -- the tweet she thinks represents the single most important issue for her readership -- is Justin Trudeau's haircut.

If Gunn Reid had any friends, they might think about an intervention. For her own good. Mental health is not a laughing matter.