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Blame the media

by Arthur Weinreb

April 7, 2003

The vitriolic anti-American utterances that were made by some members of the Liberal Party seem to have been taking a toll on them. It’s not their fault of course--the devil made them do it. The "devil" in this case is the media.

Backbencher Carolyn (Damn Americans, I hate those bastards) Parrish said in a letter to a colleague that she’s suffering from "extreme emotional distress" over the controversy about her remarks. "The recent ‘disaster’ was a terrible blow to me and my family," whined the self-absorbed Mississauga MP. "The relentless, extreme emotional pressure, was, at times intolerable."

Poor baby.

While she obviously didn’t intend for her remarks to be picked up by a boom microphone, it doesn’t appear that anyone forced her to go on alleged comedian Mike Bullard’s show, where she joked and received applause when she played to the anti-Americanism of the audience. Parrish seems to be upset over the fact that there was a backlash by some of the more sensible members of the National Governing Party when they opposed her re-election as chairman of the NATO Canadian Parliamentary Association. But none of this is her fault, of course. Parrish blamed the media "vultures."

Then there was Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal’s statement that George Bush was not a statesman. Dhaliwal was the only member of the Liberal’s anti-American squad to be named by U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci during his speech in which he criticized Canada’s anti-American posturing. A week after Dhaliwal made his offending remarks, he too, blamed the media. He then went on to give an "Americans are my best friends" speech. At least Carolyn Parrish should get credit for not going down that route. But then Herb’s no stranger to hypocrisy. He’s a pro-Kyoto, anti-global warming advocate who owns 3 SUV’s. But then, he has a good reason. He has to take his kids to hockey games.

These poor pathetic excuses for honourable members probably think that the media is making them look like idiots. The media is powerful, but not that powerful. The truth is that Parrish and Dhaliwal are idiots--the media just writes about it.

Celebrity pundits

A recent editorial in the Maryland Daily Times was entitled, "Celebrities no experts on war". After stating that filmmaker Michael Moore’s thoughts on the war would have been more appropriate if they were made in a conversation among friends, or in someone’s living room, rather than at the Oscar ceremonies, the editorial went on to say that many of the star pundits have less formal education than their audiences, and are not privy to inside government information. The piece then goes on to caution readers that comments made by entertainers such as the Dixie Chicks should be taken with a grain of salt. "They are not qualified to act as political pundits."

And now you know.

It was only a matter of time

With the worldwide outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) being centered in Asia, and having been brought to Canada by a Canadian returning from Hong Kong, it was only a matter of time before the "R" word surfaced in the media. In her March 30 Toronto Sun column, Michele Mandel wrote: "Friends advise me not to eat in Chinese restaurants or order in. It smacks to me of alarmism, if not a tad of racism…."

Chinese. Anything to even hint that Canadians are racist seems to be a good thing.

Canada’s not participating in the war, eh!

There are advantages in having the Canadian media in Iraq. Reports out of the war zone say that two Iraqi soldiers have surrendered to the CBC’s Paul Workman and Geoff York of The Globe and Mail. Keep up the good work guys--we’re depending on you to contribute to the coalition’s effort..