WHY SHOULD I VOTE FOR JOHN TORY?
Just askin'?I mean is there a conservative bone in his body? I met Tory once briefly after he lost his mayoral bid. He is a very nice man and I told him I voted for him. I still think he would have made a great middle of the road, appeal to everyone but smack down on crime, kinda mayor.
However, as the head of the provincial Progressive Conservatives, he has fallen into the same traps of many of those who have gone before him. Woo the urban white, latte liberal set, talk up the arts, dance at Pride and then just assume the conservative base will follow because who else are they gonna vote for.
Schwarzenegger has done well going to the left, but he has also done many conservative things with the California educational system that go unreported in the mainstream media. At his core, we all know Arnold is more conservative than he lets on. I could vote for him.
Tory I think is the opposite. A blue-blood with
mucho tempo on his hands, so he wants to go to public office a la
Mr. Smith. Except he would be much better running as a Liberal but his connections are with the blue-blood business community so he goes PC (and p.c. for that matter).
Nice man. But if I vote for him in the fall, and right now I am thinking I will not, it will only be after taking two shots of strong whiskey and holding my nose real tight.
I am not in his riding but any
'conservative' that could not get my automatic vote against a radical activist like Kathleen Wynne has got to be left desiring something. The fact that he thinks he can win in a riding currently held by her says a lot.
He is even going to hurt the
LCBO's Food and Drink magazine, which is the only damn thing the Government of Ontario does right.
I remember sitting out a Federal election once in the mid-nineties 'cause I had to work overtime and I
knew Presto! was gonna lose.
Convince me otherwise.
OBAMA DOESN'T KEEP THE FAITH, MAN
Many outlets reported a few days ago how Barack Obama was speaking to a large church convention where he spoke of how the Christian right had 'hijacked' religion in America.
"At every opportunity, they've told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage, school prayer and intelligent design," This is typical rhetoric of the left and perhaps it explains why Obama will in fact not now or even ever be America's first black president.
Obama's comments assume that people of more conservative or orthodox Christian faiths have had positive experiences with the left but have just been brainwashed into voting Republican. In other words, they are stupid and gullible.
No religious group should be beholden to any political party, but it is much easier for Democrats to point the finger at Evangelical leaders than look into themselves as to why Christians do not vote for them.
Obama seems more and more to be just another scion of the hard left who has very little awareness of religion but seeks to exploit it at every turn.
The left lost Christians once the left embraced Marxism and radical feminism as their core philosophies.
Does Obama really think that the left is tolerant of Christians? That the same people who get their views on religion from
The DaVinci Code and
Jesus Camp actually understand people of faith? That people who get their views on human sexuality from
Michel Foucault are tolerant of the view of sexuality most Christians adhere to?
Obama thinks it is just a matter of trading off issues. So if you are opposed to SSM and abortion but want socialized medicine and want to help the environment, then why not just vote Democrat as opposed to Republican?
But it is a question of philosophy. The philosophies of the left, which may brush up on faith based values from time to time, are not rooted in them. They are rooted in other philosophies that are actually quite hostile to them.
The 08 elections will be interesting and I predict a Hillary Clinton win like many others. Unlike other conservatives however I think I would take her over Obama. Hillary is hard left, but she is smart enough to know that she could probably only push so far or risk not being elected again.
In the war against political correctness I'll take a left wing woman over a man any day or the week. Left wing men seem much more insecure and therefore prone to more manipulation and dishonesty.
But then again, she'll have Bill with her won't she?
LIBERAL DOC AGAINST MICHAEL MOORE BLACKLISTED?
Here is an excellent article on liberal Toronto filmmakers, Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine who have made a film criticizing Michael Moore called
Manufacturing Dissent.
Of course, much like Michael Wilson, who made
Michael Moore Hates America in 2004 and even had an endorsement by Roger Ebert, they cannot find distribution.
They tend to think they are being blacklisted.
"Two key U.S. documentary film festivals — Full Frame in Durham, N.C., and Silverdocs, the AFI/Discovery Channel event in Silver Spring, Md. — declined to screen "Dissent," in part because of Michael Moore. Silverdocs hoped to present "Sicko," and Moore was a special guest at Full Frame. A rep for one film buyer told the filmmakers in an e-mail that they were wary of the "political nature" of the film and would distribute "Dissent" on DVD in Canada but not in the U.S. (The filmmakers passed.)"Given my own experiences in and with the industry, I'd have to say that I agree.
AFI TOP 100 FILMS
The American Film Institute has just released its list for the top 100 American films.
The top 10 are:
10. The Wizard of Oz
9. Vertigo
8. Schindler's List
7. Lawrence of Arabia
6. Gone With The Wind
5. Singin' In The Rain
4. Raging Bull
3. Casablanca
2. The Godfather
1. Citizen Kane
Certainly a solid list, although the continual inclusion of Kane at the top seems more out of tradition than anything else.
I also think you can make real argument for taking
Dr. Stranglove, Nashville, Mash, The Graduate, Pulp Fiction, Titanic, The Silence of the Lambs and
All About Eve off of the (top 100) list entirely.
You could also make a case for
Cool Hand Luke,
Dirty Harry, The Untouchables and
The Country Girl being on the (top 100) list.
PS.
Those of you partaking in the
Facebook Great Canadian Wishlist; don't sweat it.
I have not partaken in it but when I read about it the first thing I did was think, if it looks like the pro-life side is gonna win...there's no way in
Gaia's reincarnation that the CBC will let them win.
Period. Finito. There is a better chance of Michael Moore endorsing a Republican in '08, than the Mothercorp going into Canada Day producing a documentary on the pro-life movement in the great C'da with a positive spin. Ain't gonna happen. Ever. Zip. Zippo. Zilch chancerino.
Not that I alledge any sort of conspiracy at the CBC. I just know how television works and these decisions are usually made by very small groups of people in very high places. Kind of like that Robert Redford movie
Quiz Show. It was never in cards. The winner most likely has already been determined by a small group of programmers, producers, flunkies and flacks.
Alls I'm sayin' is don't sweat it when you lose. You were never supposed to get this far.
And that's how these things go.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY
My Father passed away when I was 17 years old, on March the 5th 1988.
Through my father I came to have the love of film and culture that I have today.
My father (along with my mother) helped teach me right from wrong.
He helped fortify in me the notion that facts and truth are two completely different concepts.
My father used to take me on long drives around my hometown where we would talk about music and life.
My father died of a heart failure after a long struggle with it for the better part of the 1980's. He never lived to see me graduate from high school or university; he never saw me get my first job or met my first date.
He never got to meet my beautiful and lovely young wife.
But I believe he is out there and is aware.
Today, I 'll pray for my dad. I'll pray for all dads in the hope that they see the responsibility that is enshrined unto them if they have children.
I'll also pray that society comes to recognize and respect the important role that fathers must play in the lives of their children whether they be boys or girls.
Happy Father's Day Dad!
PS. Please note that after long consideration, it has been determined that for now and the foreseeable future, all comments on this blog will be moderated.As usual, I welcome any and all comments from the entire breadth of the political spectrum.What are not welcome are vulgarity, threats, trolls, or links to material that are extremely questionable (or illegal) in nature.Those who have read me for the few years I have been doing this know that I always welcome dissent and differing views. But when that gets taken for granted, I have to remember that this blog is ultimately about my freedom of expression - being able to get out my views without feeling like I am being threatened, harrassed or compromised.Best.
MICHAEL MOORE'S SICKO PIRATED ON NET
Many websites are now reporting that Michael Moore's
Sicko is easily available for download over the net.
This was an issue for
Hostel Part II last week when presentable workprint quality versions were found on sale as bootlegs in Seattle. They soon flooded the net and many think that this is at least a partial reason as to why the film disappointed at the box-office.
With
Sicko however, the piracy comes two weeks before the film's release. It is also made interesting by Moore himself and Harvey Weinstein's socialist politics. Two weeks on the net is a hell of a lot of downloads.
If Moore really believes the Bush administration is on the verge of confiscating his masters of
Sicko and this isn't all a publicity stunt, then should he not be happy that the people are able to access his work?
Shouldn't the
'man of the people' be elated that the people can see his film and spread it around?
I do not advocate piracy or theft of intellectual copyright, but Moore's sanctimonious hypocrisy is slowly coming back to bite him in the ass.
He is the equivalent of an 80's televangalist for his generation. Jim and Tammy Faye Baker in denims and a baseball cap.
He is losing credibility by the minute and as of now, still has not acknowledged the piracy on his website. I am actually not convinced he didn't leak the print himself- (
It was my only chance before the feds took the flick away from me, see what all the controversy was about!) - but having said that, I will be curious as to what spin he and Harvey Weinstein put on this.
Let the three ring circus begin!
DUKE LACROSSE : FRAMED FROM THE START
Here is a video of one of the Duke University Lacrosse Players breaking down on the stand during the trial of the Duke prosecutor.
I can't articulate how I feel about this case powerfully enough.
All I can say, is that when the case first broke well over a year ago, I was up watching MSNBC. They were interviewing (I believe) one of the top members of the school's student council.
She was shaking and very passionate on camera. She went on to tell the interviewer that the next day her and many other students would be protesting the Duke players by going on campus and banging the drums of oppression like they do in the third world to expose how the white patriarchy of the capitalist first world exploits personhoods of colour...or something like that. The typical left-wing rhetorical drill.
I called my wife into the room immediately and said...They're being framed. It's all an ideological set-up.
I never waivered from that position because a similar incident happened to another student when I was at Queen's, as I have written about.
I'll end with a quote from Abraham Lincoln:
"The philosophy of the classroom today will be the philosophy of government tomorrow."Do you like the philosophy of today's classroom?
THE WHITE STRIPES : PRO LIFE?
New York Magazine seems to think so. Apparently a version of their new album was leaked and the song in question is called "Effect and Cause". A portion of the review:
"..."Effect and Cause," a country number that would seem to definitively out White as a social conservative. Luckily, in between are a few of the rudest, most amplifier-melting blues explosions the band has ever committed to tape. The White Stripes: wrong on abortion, right on rocking. "
The official album and lyrics are not out until June 19, but they performed the song, a mid-tempo country-blues track,
in Britain on Jools Hollands' show.A sampling of the lyrics based on that performance indicates that the song is definitely about taking responsibility in life for one's own actions.
The reference to abortion would seem to be the line:
"You can't blame a baby for her pregnant ma".Is that pro-life? Digging a little deeper, it seemes Jack White,
aka John Gillis, was raised as part of a large Irish-Catholic family and was very involved in his parish growning up as an altar boy. He once considered being a priest. Both his parents worked at their local parish and he has mentioned meeting Pope John Paul II as a boy.
In addition, other interviews and
articles mention his Catholic upbringing and his ongoing studying of the philosophies of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine. Other songs on the upcoming album reference St. Andrew and martyrs.
Taken into account, the pro-life angle seems to have more validity.
I have always loved
The White Stripes regardless of politics. One should obviously not limit oneself to only consuming art that agrees with their worldview. That is silly. But if one can find art that agrees with their worldview and is quality, one should definitely endorse it.
I have always suspected there were more of
us, in the entertainment industry than people would like to admit, but were afraid to
come out, as it were.
The White Stripes play The Molson Amphitheatre on July 5. I look forward to it.
VIOLENCE OF LEFT-WING BLOGGERS
I have spoken long of the blatant intolerance of the progressive left. Whether it's sending bullets to a bishop in Italy or framing kids for rape on a university campus such as in the Duke case, the New Left movement seems to be coming into its own with a Stalinesque mind-set that is proving very damaging to Western Culture.
But when other, more mild progressives start to take notice...this is when things get interesting.
Joe Klein, from Time magazine, and a liberal, had
an interesting observation about his encounters with left-wing bloggers.
"But the smart stuff is being drowned out by a fierce, bullying, often witless tone of intolerance that has overtaken the left-wing sector of the blogosphere. Anyone who doesn't move in lockstep with the most extreme voices is savaged and ridiculed—especially people like me who often agree with the liberal position but sometimes disagree and are therefore considered traitorously unreliable."Now, Joe is not right on every count; he blames people such as Rush Limbaugh for making the discourse more harsh. Quite the opposite, the harshness of the disourse can be traced back to the parents of the contemporary progressive movement, the liberal baby boomers of the 60's and 70's. They prided themselves on riots, vulgarity and overturning any civility in our culture.
Now, many of their own are encountering it and not liking what they see. But the level of violence in their language has also been ratched up. Some of us on BT had some encounters recently with left-wing bloggers and the language is vile. The violence of tone is decrepit.
Some recent comments on this blog reflect this and a quick trip to rabble or any number of progressive bloggers or lib blog sites will illustrate this.
Now the overwhelming majority of these people are just blowing hot air because they know they will never have to be held accountable. But violence in thought usually comes before violence in action and one can see how many of the New Left, devoid of ration, logic, reason or even a common sense or morality can easily devolve into mob tactics and thuggery.
Wanna see some good ol'fashioned American street violence? Go to a peace rally.
This sort of mentality usually takes root when people can sense they are losing a battle. When you know that you do not have
truth on your side. It's one thing to pass a law through judicial fiat, it is quite another thing to win people's hearts and minds in a culture.
Most people live as conservatives, even if they do not acknowledge it.
They crave stability, family, tradition, security and health.
They do not crave promiscuity, broken homes, moral relativism, drugs and a nanny state.
The New Left is winning many battles in the courts, but not as many in the hearts and minds of people's day to day actions.
I remember when women received the "right" to walk around topless in Toronto it was hailed as a great day of liberation for women. Feminists hoped all of the young women would be walking around topless as a show of independence. But it didn't happen.
The New Left knows this and are coming unhinged.
Churches still exist. Women still want to have children. Children would rather play with a Transformer than a condom. Communism has failed. No one wants another terrorist attack. Hollywood revenues are shrinking.
There is not much I take solace in with regards to the left these days. I do take some solace that even liberal journos like Joe Klein are slowly starting to see a bigger picture.
SSM ACTIVISTS DEMONSTRATE TOLERANCE BY SENDING BULLET TO ARCHBISHOP
Some wonderful, enlightened, kind and compassionate supporters of same-sex marriage in Italy have demonstrated their tolerance for the pro-traditional marriage, Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa, Italy by
sending him bullets in the mail.
That's right.
Tolerance and
love now seems to be measured by...bullets.
The story has been reported in
Lifesite News, but was originated by The Associated Press and has been reported by countless
other websites and news organizations.
I know, I know what you're thinking;
"...but, Nicol, you ol' dinosaur, stick in the mud, troglodyte; bullets have been redefined to mean love, tolerance and compassion. Get with the times."But
waitaminute; didn't the King of Ontario, his Royal Progressive Highnessnessness, Dalton McGuinty say:
"Handguns are designed for one purpose only – to shoot people..."See, now I am confused. His Royal Progressive Highnessnessness says guns are only meant to shoot people. The inference being that is bad.
But...but...pro-SSM activists are sending
bullets, those things used to load guns, which we have established kill people, to an Archbishop.
And we know pro-SSM activists are
all encompassing goodness, love and ten different flavours of Ben and Jerry's, cause of the week ice cream on a sunshiny day.And we
know the Archbishop is bad, cause, well....he's an Archbishop. They're bad. I know they're bad because the denizens of
The Globe and Mail,
Toronto Star,
CBC and Tom Hanks tell me so.
I'm confused. Is the bullet to the archbishop good or bad?
Is it representative of hate and bigotry or love and compassion?
I'm thinkin' it's bad, hateful and bigoted but...hey...I'm just one of the dinosaur, troglodyte un-enlightened, peon class.
Can a progressive out there set me straight?
SICKO MICHAEL "PT" MOORE SEEKS REFUGE IN CANADA
Gotta give it to Michael Moore. The man truly has become the PT Barnum of the new millenium. Now he claims he is so persecuted by George Bush that he had to hide one of the 'master copies' of his
'big, boisterous, summer comedy' Sicko in Canada.
This is chicanery of the highest order. Hyperbole designed to titillate and drum up support for his film. And it will work for many.
I have already encountered otherwise bright people who genuinely think he is being investigated because he was trying to do good. This is what happens when a culture loses sight of the philosophical concept of
truth. It is why Moore always says his facts are right. He never refers to truth.
The facts are that Michael Moore is being investigated because he tried to get health care for Ground Zero workers in Cuba.
Sounds sympathetic.
The
truth is that he and Harvey Weinstein concocted an elaborate stunt that ensured Moore would get investigated by the government which has had a trade embargo against Cuba since 1962.
He comandeered a boat to take the ill folk to Guantanamo Bay, where some pencil pusher obviously would have no choice but to turn him down. Off to Communist Cuba he goes.
Then, just as likely as a molotov cocktail going off at a peace rally, he gets investigated; as he had planned all along. Just in time for the release of his
barn-burnin', Jack Chick Haw Hawin' , summer release.
The workers are exploited and he makes millions.
Now, after Cannes, he pulls out the horn again and says he is so
terrified of the American government that he had to stash a master copy of his
zany, wacky, blockbuster summer knee-slapper Sicko in the big C'da.
I am glad more and more people on the left are seeing through Mickey's schtick, and he is entertaining as a filmmaker. However the notion that his gimmicks, which have gotten so obvious, are still believed by so many is troubling.
But then again, these people still believe Jordan Manners was killed by a gun collector in Richmond Hill.
DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO DIE?
Of course many Canadians think so. It's about choice, they say.
But is it?
Should a depressed teenager girl who has just been dumped by her boyfriend and no longer wants to live have the 'choice' to doctor assisted suicide?
Most would say no.
Then the issue no longer is one of choice. It's about an empirical standard of what good quality of life is. Hence, pop culture agrees that a sick elderly person does not have a good standard or quality of life and should be 'allowed' to terminate their own life.
But once society has an empirical standard of what a good 'quality of life' is and we establish choice is not really the issue, how long is it to when elderly people who society believes have a poor quality of life but who want to live should have pressure on them to die?
What if they do not want to die but are a strain on the socialist medical system?
What if they are no longer productive and are deemed a burden on their families?
What then of people who have Down's Syndrome, the blind or infirmed?
Once we establish that the issue is not one of choice but one of society trying to establish who has a desirable 'quality of life' we can quickly see where the rabbit hole leads.
I am not surprised these beliefs are held most strongly among people with university degrees.
And much like every 'progressive' idea modern secular society chooses because
'Thursday is better than Wednesday 'cause it comes next', this will come to fruition.
But do not worry. When the time comes...you'll most likely be for it too.
