October 13, 2003
Toronto mayoral candidate New Democratic Party (NDP) Councillor David Miller ponied up $25,000 to bring Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to town last week. Make that $25,000--American.
Just like his touted American hero, Miller is an activist environmentalist and a lawyer. With his signature wind-tousled locks, Miller looked more Kennedy than Kennedy did in newspaper photos, with Toronto’s famed CN Tower as a backdrop.
When Kennedy Jr. left off name-dropping exercises on his cousin-in-law Arnie Schwarzenegger, (Imagine, being so important in Arnie’s life that the morning after getting in as California governor, he tells you he’s "going to become the best environmental governor in the history of California"). Guess that made for a good intro to tell a strictly Toronto audience that Miller, up to now an obscure NDP Toronto councillor, would make "the best environmental mayor in the history of Toronto."
The main plank in Miller’s mayoral platform is his opposition to the $48 million bridge linking the Toronto Island Airport to the mainland.
Kennedy Jr. held forth on his opinions that the expansion of the Toronto Island Airport will increase environmental damage and depress property values.
A bridge to the airport he said is a "boondoggle" and "scam" on taxpayers.
Miller shares more in common with Kennedy Jr. than the wind-tousled hair featured in all photo ops. Both hard-line environmentalists engage in left wing politics in parties that hypocritically claim--particularly in the case of Miller to represent "the working man". The working man, except for those raising families from jobs in the hog, beef and poultry industries would be a more accurate description.
We don’t know about Arnie, but there is no room for farmers in the Kennedy Jr./Miller Camelot.
It was only a year ago when Kennedy Jr. called Iowa pork farmers "a greater threat than Osama bin Laden."
Pork is verboten on the china plates of Martha’s Vineyard. Peacenik Kennedy Jr. declared unrelenting war on America’s pork producers in 2001, telling National Public Radio listeners that he intends to sue them all out of business. "We have the attorneys now who have money," he boasted, "and they know what they’re doing. They are the best in the country and we are going to put an end to this industry."
No matter that his first lawsuit against the U.S. pork industry was tossed out of court by a federal court judge in Tampa, Florida, Kennedy plans to keep suing until he finds a judge who will see things his way, based on the hope that large-scale corporate pork producers won’t be able to absorb multi-billion-dollar judgments against them.
Kennedy himself has estimated that the right lawsuit could bring "damages" of up to $13 billion. In such a scenario, Kennedy’s own two-partner law office could have a $200 million payday.
Nor are hardworking hog farmers the only ones on Kennedy’s hit list. "I promise you this: We will march across the country and we will bring these kinds of lawsuits against every single pork factory in America if we have to," the deep-pocketed environmentalist told the Los Angeles Times. And referring to beef and poultry producers, he has also warned: "We’re starting with hogs. After the hogs, then we are going after the other ones."
Aside from his obsession against the Toronto Island Airport Bridge, Toronto voters do know what would be considered hogs on candidate for mayor David Miller’s environmental hit list.
But we do know Miller has little sympathy for Kennedy Jr. victims: According to Globe & Mail columnist John Barber, after the Kennedy Jr.-Miller $25,000 press conference,
"Then it was off to a Miller fundraiser, where the campaign hoped to raise $175,000 from citizens who share Mr. Kennedy’s passion--and were willing to pay $250 each to touch the robe."
Kennedy will be back in this country when he joins Hollywood stars on western ski slopes this winter to promote his environmental agency Waterkeeper Alliance.
Canadafreepress.com believes that if there was ever a need to resurrect the ‘Yankee Go Home’ slogan, Robert Kennedy Jr. is it.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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