More items of varying type.
Nov. 11th, 2006 09:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
c9I've been so busy and exhausted that I haven't been commenting on the world. I know some of you have been paralyzed in your opinions, not knowing how to think about issues without my two cents, so here you go:
Ignatieff: smart, but not Liberal leadership material. He can't define "nation", doesn't get that the "nation" debate is quicksand with no actual exit, and the Tories will make mincemeat of him in the next election. The Tories even leaked a memo pretending that Ignatieff scared them, just to increase their odds of working against him. Any contest featuring boring, normal, middle-class Harper* versus stuffy, uptight, academic, practically-a-foreigner** Ignatieff is not a contest. Ignatieff is an intelligent and well-spoken person and I have no personal beef with him. I also can't find enough redeeming qualities in any of the other three, but the Liberals need to be realistic. The same camp that thought politically assassinating Chretien and crowning Martin was a good idea also think that running under Ignatieff is a good idea.
* I know he's actually got an academic background and approach too, but that's not visible in the media and therefore is irrelevant to this discussion.
** He spent something like 28 of the last 32 years living in the US and teaching at Harvard, and has been basically absent for all major Canadian historical events which he now speaks on, such as constitutional crises and Quebec's constantly shifting situation/appearance.
US Midterm Elections: I regret not holding a party for this one (the prep work for selling the condo won out) because the results were far more enjoyable than those of the last three election parties I've held. I don't expect a huge sea change in the US, though: the Democrats are only marginally different from the Republicans in many important areas right now, and they've spent 8-10 years reducing the differences. Additionally, the new "normal" in the US of wiretapping, Guantanamo, and Presidential Fiat has already taken hold. They'll want that power for President Obama or Clinton in a few years. Still, awesome work by the Democrats. It's about freakin' time: checks and balances are not optional.
Remembrance Day: I was proud to see a HUGE crowd in Ottawa at the National War Memorial today when I watched the ceremonies on tv. As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zedinbed said, there are inherent challenges in honouring wars which empowered and/or maintained a lot of imperial / colonial empires. But recasting Remembrance Day as being about honouring individual sacrifice in the service of freedom, and promoting the importance of that freedom for all, makes the day most honourable and worthy. Wearing a poppy (an ironic symbol wrt Afghanistan if ever there was one) is not agreeing with imperialist adventures, and actually serves to keep Canadians thinking about what freedom means.
Clean Air Act: sadly, while the bill is largely toothless, it's no worse than what the Liberals were doing. It will be interesting to see what comes out of committee, now that Jack Layton and the NDP have gotten it in there (good work!). It's incredibly frustrating that there is still so much media debate on such a scientifically-decided issue. It drives me batty as well that my father is a little more convinced of the "scam" angle than the "actually happening" angle on Global Warming. I read a comment somewhere saying that the term "global warming" should be replaced with a new phrase without so much political baggage, like "climate crisis". Makes sense to me.
NDP stand on Afghanistan: I disagree with the "troops out now" policy of the NDP. It will not help to just walk away. While it's unusual for Canadians to see their members of the Forces killed in action, never mind seeing them in action at all, the work in Afghanistan is no longer just some US folly, but a United Nations-sanctioned rebuild/clean-up effort. It's not nice to see the death on both sides that is involved, but the UN force is making progress and just walking out would leave others doing the same thing, and possibly doing it less... appropriately, let's say. Not all countries approach war in the same way (see Guantanamo BayCanCon.
...and there's nothing else important happening anywhere in the world, so I'm done now. :)
Ignatieff: smart, but not Liberal leadership material. He can't define "nation", doesn't get that the "nation" debate is quicksand with no actual exit, and the Tories will make mincemeat of him in the next election. The Tories even leaked a memo pretending that Ignatieff scared them, just to increase their odds of working against him. Any contest featuring boring, normal, middle-class Harper* versus stuffy, uptight, academic, practically-a-foreigner** Ignatieff is not a contest. Ignatieff is an intelligent and well-spoken person and I have no personal beef with him. I also can't find enough redeeming qualities in any of the other three, but the Liberals need to be realistic. The same camp that thought politically assassinating Chretien and crowning Martin was a good idea also think that running under Ignatieff is a good idea.
* I know he's actually got an academic background and approach too, but that's not visible in the media and therefore is irrelevant to this discussion.
** He spent something like 28 of the last 32 years living in the US and teaching at Harvard, and has been basically absent for all major Canadian historical events which he now speaks on, such as constitutional crises and Quebec's constantly shifting situation/appearance.
US Midterm Elections: I regret not holding a party for this one (the prep work for selling the condo won out) because the results were far more enjoyable than those of the last three election parties I've held. I don't expect a huge sea change in the US, though: the Democrats are only marginally different from the Republicans in many important areas right now, and they've spent 8-10 years reducing the differences. Additionally, the new "normal" in the US of wiretapping, Guantanamo, and Presidential Fiat has already taken hold. They'll want that power for President Obama or Clinton in a few years. Still, awesome work by the Democrats. It's about freakin' time: checks and balances are not optional.
Remembrance Day: I was proud to see a HUGE crowd in Ottawa at the National War Memorial today when I watched the ceremonies on tv. As
zedinbed said, there are inherent challenges in honouring wars which empowered and/or maintained a lot of imperial / colonial empires. But recasting Remembrance Day as being about honouring individual sacrifice in the service of freedom, and promoting the importance of that freedom for all, makes the day most honourable and worthy. Wearing a poppy (an ironic symbol wrt Afghanistan if ever there was one) is not agreeing with imperialist adventures, and actually serves to keep Canadians thinking about what freedom means.Clean Air Act: sadly, while the bill is largely toothless, it's no worse than what the Liberals were doing. It will be interesting to see what comes out of committee, now that Jack Layton and the NDP have gotten it in there (good work!). It's incredibly frustrating that there is still so much media debate on such a scientifically-decided issue. It drives me batty as well that my father is a little more convinced of the "scam" angle than the "actually happening" angle on Global Warming. I read a comment somewhere saying that the term "global warming" should be replaced with a new phrase without so much political baggage, like "climate crisis". Makes sense to me.
NDP stand on Afghanistan: I disagree with the "troops out now" policy of the NDP. It will not help to just walk away. While it's unusual for Canadians to see their members of the Forces killed in action, never mind seeing them in action at all, the work in Afghanistan is no longer just some US folly, but a United Nations-sanctioned rebuild/clean-up effort. It's not nice to see the death on both sides that is involved, but the UN force is making progress and just walking out would leave others doing the same thing, and possibly doing it less... appropriately, let's say. Not all countries approach war in the same way (see Guantanamo BayCanCon.
...and there's nothing else important happening anywhere in the world, so I'm done now. :)
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no subject
Date: 2006-11-12 08:10 pm (UTC)