by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
June 1, 2004
an editiorial on May 9 in the Toronto Star was entitled, "Donald Rumsfeld should resign now" and was the subject of a column by american writer Nicholas Stix. Writing in www.therant.us, Stix criticized the Star for the positions that the paper took in its editorial. For those of us who undoubtedly have more familiarity with Canada’s largest circulation daily than Mr. Stix does, it was just the usual Toronto Star blend of anti-americanism and pro-United Nations multilateralism that appear all the time in that newspaper. Stix called on the Star’s managing editor, Mary Deanne Shears to resign or be fired for the editorial but if her bosses get wind of his column she’ll likely end up with a raise.
Besides the criticism of the content of the editorial, Stix wrote, "I couldn’t recall ever seeing an american newspaper demand that an official of a foreign country resign". That statement raises an interesting point. Is it acceptable for a newspaper to call for the resignation of an official in another country?
as Peter Worthington pointed out in his May 23 column in the Toronto Sun, both the Globe and Mail and the right leaning National Post also took the position editorially that Rumsfeld should go in the wake of the scandal at abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
There is nothing wrong with the media criticizing the policies of a foreign country, especially in the 21st century where those policies can affect events around the world. It is one thing to criticize these policies but it is another to criticize the prerogative of a foreign leader as to who he chooses to carry out these policies. It is up to George W. Bush to decide who will be his Secretary of Defense and if the american people don’t like the choices he makes, they can vote him out of office next November. But Canadians should stay out of it.
Canadians, led by the Toronto Star would be outraged if the american media purported to tell the Canadian prime minister who should or shouldn’t be in his cabinet. That is really none of a foreign country’s business and should be left to the prime minister who will be held accountable to Canadians on election day. To paraphrase FDR, Donald Rumsfeld may be a son of a bitch but he’s their son of a bitch and our media should stay out of it.
Calls for Rumsfeld’s resignation by the Canadian media was over the top.