Okay, okay, that was immature, a cheap laugh and untrue; I admit it. Stephen Harper is not a venemous mammal. But given some of the stuff that we see passing for debate these days, I think I’m entitled to one such moment now and again. That’s mine for this month. Now back to our regularly scheduled blog.
The Mental Maturity of Four Year Olds
Okay, let’s recap.
Charles McVety, a man so terrified by same sex marriage and the “homosexual agenda” decides to further his cause by the “brilliant” tactic of buying up domain names of various Liberal MPs, including donboudria.ca. I’m not entirely sure what Mr. McVety’s brilliant plan was, except that it strongly suggests a personal form of harrassment, however lame and childish.
Don Boudria objects. Maybe he’s making a mountain out of a molehill, but really, if you were the target of something that personal, wouldn’t you speak up? But as others start to agree that Mr. McVety’s actions are snide, immature and possibly unethical, Conservative MP Jason Kenney stands up and says that Mr. McVety’s acts are Mr. Boudria’s own fault for being “stupefiedly ignorant” in the ways of the Internet.
So, Rick Mercer is listening to CPAC during this exchange while Mr. Kenney inadvertantly insults the intelligence of the majority of the Canadian population who don’t own their own domain names, and decides to check out if Mr. Kenney actually practises what he preaches. Sure enough, although www.jasonkenney.com exists, www.jasonkenney.org is available. Or, rather, it was.
So, a cheap laugh at Mr. Kenney’s expense, then; one that would be largely forgotten by the next day, had not some Blogging Tories taken offense at one of their guys being caught out (despite the fact that they’re happy to chuckle when Liberal MPs are on the receiving end).
There’s suggestions that people should try to buy up Rick Mercer’s name online to see how he likes it — ignoring the fact that, by backing Kenney, they’re saying there’s nothing wrong with the practise, but by attacking Rick Mercer in the same way, they’re now exposing their hypocrisy and using that practise as a weapon. Then one Blogging Tory suggests that supporters Google bomb Rick Mercer (this links to Calgary Observer’s post criticizing the campaign) by trying to link his site to the search term “Bloodthirsty Capitalist”.
Have I summarized this right? Is this the quality of the opposition the Liberal government faces? Are supporters of the so-called government-in-waiting composed of people who like practical jokes unless they’re performed on them? Are they people who rush to the defence of a Conservative MP because of a minor joke made on him after he shot off his mouth accusing Mr. Boudria of stupidity for failing to do what most Canadians fail to do? Are they people who ultimately side with Charles McVety who so fears homosexuals, he’ll stoop to whatever level it takes to further his agenda, including personal, lame and unethical Internet attacks?
As tired as the Liberals are, as corrupt as they’ve become, it’s becoming obvious just why they are retaining their lead.
Despite the fact that he was a separatist, I’ve always respected former Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard, because he had his head on his shoulders. I can’t find the quote, but when he quit the Conservative party in 1990, he expressed his frustration with the failure of the Meech Lake Accord (which had been nibbled to death by otters) by saying: “Stupid people killed the Meech Lake Accord. Stupid people are dividing this country. If Canada falls apart, it will be because of stupid people.”
And, frankly, he’s right. Maybe the blame doesn’t rest solely on people of low intelligence, but as great as Canada is, it will ultimately be destroyed by its people. People who fail to see other Canadians as human beings worthy of at least a modicum of respect. People who see no need to conduct themselves as rational, mature adults. If Canada falls apart, it will be because immature people failed to look beyond the end of their noses, and failed to conduct themselves as Canadians should.