The Monkey House

Bored and dipping in the whiskey last night, I decided to engage in a little social investigation. I have long been curious by the human tendency to, once provoked, enter into group-think mentalities and demonize potential outsiders. In civil, civic discourse, this trend is reversed by sophisticated rhetoricians through the disarmament of their opponent, first through finding common ground and then, point for point, countering hostile suggestion with legitimate fact, all the while ignoring the hostile tone of their opponent. Well, sometimes it is nice to return slight for slight, but the skilled debater always returns to the facts that support his or her opinion. Now, in the case of political discussion, there may not be only facts but there are reasons behind the opinion and it is to these which one must turn if one’s position is to be defended.
(more…)

Yesterday’s sitting in the House of Commons to scrap the long-gun registry, which currently documents the whereabouts of over 7 million shotguns and rifles, is absolutely terrifying. Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan stated that “the long-gun registry is very efficient at harassing law-abiding farmers and outdoor enthusiasts, while wasting billions of taxpayer dollars”, while a study by the auditor general in 2006 stated that eliminating the long-gun portion of the registry will only save around $3 million a year. The RCMP also stated that in 2007 the registry was used more than 2.5 million times.
(more…)

The other day on Power and Politics, Evan Solomon discussed sexism in the House of Commons. This was in response to accusations by opposition members that when women stand to speak in the House, they are shouted down even louder than when a man stands up. Shocking! Predictably, the panel discussion didn’t get anywhere as this isn’t a new story – nothing has changed over the years. Ironically, this new CBC political program, discussing sexism, is a replacement show for Don Newman, who everyday for many years, with his dervlish masculinity, opened up his show with the famous lines, “Welcome to the BROADcast”.

I will never forget the episode when Newman had a very animated female MP from Quebec on the show, and for some odd reason the CBC cameraman zoomed in and out on the gap in her front teeth. She was large, wore blue eyeshadow and red lipstick. She was no Madonna. It was obviously no technical accident as a CBC cameraman on that show has as much seniority and skill as Santa does on Christmas.
(more…)