Get over the nonsense

Okay. Some people objected to my post concerning Andrew Sullivan's nonsense of it being time for vigils and prayers in the wake of the shootings at V Tech.

My response: Give me a fucking break.

First: I loathe the whole weak 21st century culture of shared "grief" and "empathy." Every time something bad happens, to random strangers on the other side of the country, we have to go through these paroxisms and rituals of showing just how affected we are, and those who don't show it are clearly screwed up. So then we have to have a "vigil" or a prayer meeting or a moment of silence to "remember" those people.

Such goddamn nonsense. These stupid rituals are far more about the individuals participating in them than they are about the people for whom the ritual is intended. It's about showing just how sensitive, how caring, how I'm-so-in-touch-with-my-emotions-and-those-people-and-isn't-it-just-tragic we are. I bet you this: stick any one of the people now intoning "oh it's just so awful we need time to reflect rather than discuss the issues which led to the shootings" on a desert island, with no one watching them, and I bet you they wouldn't be passionately stating the shibboleths of grief. Who in this country bats a single tear-laden eyelash when, oh, say, over 100 people are killed in Baghdad?

So to all those who say no, we shouldn't be talking about guns and why on earth it is that the US lets people have them because it's just not the time and we should be sensitive: nonsense. This is exactly the time. It's right when it makes headlines that we should talk about why on earth it is we allow people to have guns and why on earth we're hostage to the fucking NRA and Texas.

And to all those people who are "grieving" and feeling sad and rending their clothes about the tragedy, even though they don't know a single freakin' person involved: grow the fuck up. Get a spine. People like you have made us a generation of pussies. Our grandparents got through the damn WAR without collapsing into a generation of bloody housewives from Nebraska who are personally affected by every tragedy in the country.

Broken-Record/Cliched/Dead-Horse Beating/Statistically Ignorant Media Who Cried Wolf

Yet another poll claiming a percentage change represents a "narrowing of the lead" or "precipitous drop" or "dramatic fall" or whatever in some party's fortunes, with attendant implications for the mythical spring election, and all of it, ALL OF IT, within the statistical margin of error.

At least no 'unnamed long-time Liberal insiders close to the PMO' were quoted.

Give me a break, Sullivan

Quit with your Christian bullshit, Andrew Sullivan. Apparently, in re the horrific events at Virginia Tech, he has this to say:

"Vigil" seems the right response right now. Praying and watching. Blogging later.

Prayer? What, Sullivan--God's paying attention, and we should pray to him, because, really, even though he's omnipotent, and could have stopped those shootings, he didn't, hosanna?

But better yet: Let's keep in mind that the most steadfast opponents of gun control are Republicans. And let's also keep in mind your rabid support for Republicans.

Yes yes. I know you'll come back with some nonsense of real Republicanism. Nonsense. I don't buy your selfrighteous cafeteria Republicanism. It's dishonest. If you advocate for a party, you can't hold your nose up at portions of their platform. If that were allowed, then we would all be principled, and we no doubt would do so.

But for such the believer you were, and the advocate for them you were, you're guilty of all of their policies, not just the ones that you like.

Stop whining

Okay. About this Imus thing. I completely agree that what he said was awful. Bad. Yes.

But. The girls at Rutgers need to stop whining and being so goddamn sensitive. This whole bullshit culture of "I'm wounded" and "What you said hurt me in my heart" and "I feel demeaned" is just a little too much. What, some shock jock said something awful? Big freakin' deal. You need counseling because of it? You likely need a hell of a lot more, if that sort of thing demeans you.

And please. If every time someone said something bad about gay people, or, say, the leader of the country did, or politicians, or someone tried to pass yet another law banning gay rights, or, say, said that gay people are like suicide bombers destroying society, or that our happiness will lead to bestiality, or major Democratic candidates stopped short of repudiating the head of the army's comments that gay sex is immoral--if every time that happened, I said I was "wounded" and needed to meet with the perp and that I was hurt, well, I'd be a gibbering wreck of sobbing.

Get over it. Grow up. Get a spine. Stop being a fucking victim and start being a leader.

The dog ate my homework

Okay. This whole "we lost all our emails" thing from the White House is just ridiculous. In my practice, we deal with electronic documents all the time. And let me tell you, if we told the company suing us, "We just don't have all the emails that talk about the conduct for which you're suing us because we destroyed and lost them," we would find ourselves in an incredible universe of trouble. The hammer of an issue-preclusive sanction would come swinging down on us and it would take a minor--nay, a major--miracle to escape it. We would find that issue decided against us, no question.

The same standard should be held to the Bushies. They used secret email accounts to do government work and now they can't find the documents. There is an outright presumption of wrongdoing here--their inability to prove otherwise should be held completely against them.

And if they did it for this one issue, who doubts that they've been emailing on the sly for other things too?

Pomp and Circumstance

I really hope we never lose that leftover part of our Imperial legacy that manifests itself in all our national ceremonies and institutions. While I'm a big fan of leaving a lot of history where it belongs--firmly in the past--there are some rituals whose continuity, and whose difference from our day to day life, is wonderful. Perhaps it's the romantic in me.

Just some examples: The ritual of the Governor General disolving, calling elections, and summoning Parliament in the name of the Queen, the idea that lawsuits are always by "Her Majesty the Queen in Right of . . ." (leading to the fun situation of the Queen suing herself, such as H.M. The Queen i/r/o Canada v. H.M. The Queen i/r/o Ontario), calling Judges "My Lord" or "My Lady." "God Save the Queen" at the end of proclamations, even though no one really thinks that. Our wonderful gothic parliament. Our red ceremonial colours. The Mace, which can't be touched. Our solemn military ceremonies. I could go on and on.

In an era where we increasingly try to make things more accessible and politicians try for the common touch, a slightly mysterious hold-over to the past is comforting.

Confession

I have a total crush on Sam Harris. Only he's not as cute in that picture. I saw an interview of him in the documentary "The God Who Wasn't There," and he was, well, scrummy.

And that he thinks that religion is just plain stupid is just the icing on the cake.

What's good for the goose. . .

I really can't wait to hear the gnashing of teeth from everyone in the West about how bad it is that those British sailors were blindfolded, kept in solitary confinement, and subjected to psychological pressures.

I call bullshit to any complaints. For years, the US and it's UK lackey have kept secret prisons, subjected detainees to all sorts of mental and physical tortures (sleep deprivation, humiliation, waterboarding come to mind), kept individuals in isolation (the Aussie Hicks, for example), and kept them blindfolded and earmuffed (how about that Jose Padilla, eh?)--and maintained the entire time that what they were doing was legitimate and permissible.

I'm sure some wacko will say, well, we're doing it to terrorists, they did it to innocent sailors, but let's get something straight: the objection is to the method, not the target. A way of treating someone is legitimate and permissible (and, er, legal), or it isn't.

So for anyone--any single person who at any point has thought that any of the outrageous and obscene things that have been done in the West's name was permissible--anyone who now stands up and berates Iran for its treatment of the Brits, I say to you: this is what you've wrought. Five years of disregard of international norms and common human decency give you no ground to stand on. Your conduct and support legitimized Iran's conduct (not that I'm defending it, of course.)

Oh, and in case any moron is reading this and thinks these are pictures of what the Iranians did to the Brits, get a fucking life.

Most shocking line in a brief, ever

It astonishes me that people with seven years of post-secondary education can end up being, well, stupid. Stupid is the wrong word, because there are plenty of really bad lawyers out there. However, it takes an entierly new depth of moron-ness to write the following, which I saw in a brief today:

"Homosexuals are like suidice bombers, destroying themselves while they murder others."

And no, this isn't a case about the intentional transmission of HIV, or about gay demonstraters, or gay suicide bombers in Kraplakistan. It's a sad case involving persecution and outrageous cruelty. And yet, the usual battalion of organizations are lined up against us, all named "American society for constitutional liberty" or "American Foundation for the protection of civil rights" or "Foundation for liberty and justice." Right.

What group of people do you think would sit at a table and say "Oh yes, let's put that line in their. After all, it will be very persuasive to the judges; after all with the war on terror, it will surely resonate."

Danny Williams

Will you please just shut the fuck up?

Honestly, grow the fuck up. You're like some pathetic little child, throwing tantrums and throwing your toys around the moment you think someone did something wrong.

Get over it and grow up. You're the premier of a province with fewer people than most Toronto suburbs. This really highlights the whole silliness of the pathetic lip service we all have to pay that Canada is made up of 10 provinces of equal status all of whose opinions are of equal weight and deserve equal time.