07.23.2011 11:05 AM

“Leftist syndrome?”

I’ve read this a few times, and I don’t get it.

Is he saying they somehow deserved to die?

34 Comments

  1. Robbie says:

    Warren, a slight paraphrase of Mr Coren’s post may provide some perspective and clarity.

    Young people at a socialist NDP youth camp in a provincial park in Southern Ontario were victims of terror. They had demanded Israel remove barriers that had saved any number of innocent, Jewish children from Islamic terror gangs. They also condemned Israel for, well, pretty much everything, and showed no empathy at all for Jewish suffering, and the experience of living with terrorism for more than sixty years. So sad, but so typical.

    I applaud the press’s continued diligence against anti-semitism. However, in light of recent revelations as to what extent media will go to garner attention and get a story, Mr Coren’s original post comes off as a callous attempt to advance his own ideological agenda at the expense of over 80 grieving famlies in Norway.

  2. Africon says:

    Nope, I do not believe that anyone but a whacko could be saying that those kids deserved their treatment yesterday.

    But what I do think he is saying, is that the survivors of that day of terror will forever have a very different perspective about a wide range of things to do with terrorism, security, self defense and how useless it is to call 911 when seconds count. One assumes that their youthful idealism will be gone forever.

    I saw first hand numerous examples of wide eyed “non-racial” white teachers arriving in Africa from UK rapidly become far more “racist” and separate from the Africans than those of us that had lived there for years and understood the language and culture. My own generous attitude toward Arab culture took a big hit after experiencing Morocco for a month starting with watching their border agents beat numerous middle aged women mercilessly for no apparent reason. Traveling with my 2 daughters and being repeatedly offered any number of sheep or camels to buy them just made me feel sorry for the typical clueless, left-wing, Canadian feminist’s attitude towards Israel.

    My girls both literally bent down and kissed the ground upon our return to the paradise that is Canada.

  3. Mulletaur says:

    According to Coren, they were leftists who disagreed with Israeli security policy, so they deserved to die. All very simple, really. Despite the fact that they were very young, some were even children.

    Hey, doesn’t Coren have his own show now on Scum News Network ?

  4. allegra fortissima says:

    I will share Coren’s comment on my fb page – to give my numerous European fb friends an insight into the Canadian media landscape. As far as I am concerned, I will boycott canoe.ca and any other media that will publish cynical and contemptuous comments like Mr. Coren’s.

    “Coren’s Comment is proudly powered by WorldPress MU.” Really?

  5. Mike B says:

    That’s exactly what Coren is saying. I’ve haven’t heard anything so callous and shameful in a long time. Rather then show some sympathy for those who have had their lives cut short he hijacks the event to satisfy his own agenda. The fact that the Sun would provide a venue for his sick words is equally disgraceful. To say Coren is an utter scumbag is being kind.

  6. DL says:

    What I want to know is this. Coren is a rightwing Christian who hates Muslims and the murderer is also a rightwing Christian who hates Muslims. How come Coren has not officially apologized for the massacre on behalf of all rightwing Christian (or even dissociated himself from it)? How come he refuses to take responsibility for this terrorist act?

    I only ask these questions because you can be 100% certain that if the killer had been a Muslim – people like Coren would be writing article after article about how local Muslims have not done enough to take responsibility and condemn the attacks etc…

    So far I have not seen Coren actually condemn the murders in Norway – all we know if that he makes it clear that he thinks the lives of the teenagers murdered by this neo-Nazi are worthless because he suspects they might not have been pro-Israel enough for his taste. Until he actually CONDEMNS this atrocity without reservation, i can only assume that he tacitly approves of it.

  7. Tim says:

    Disgraceful but not surprising.

  8. Wannabeapiper says:

    Good question there Jedi Master. I read it 5 times and I don’t know what the hell he means.
    It does seem however that Coren is suggesting the kids got what they deserved.
    He’s a goof anyway.

    When I am King, he won’t be allowed to write and there will be other changes as well.

  9. Nuna D. Above says:

    There were many, including PM Chretien, who said the Americans brought the Sept 11. attacks upon themselves. When a TV evangelist said the WTC attacks were because of homosexuality in America, that is the same mentality as saying it was American imperialism that caused the attacks. Different beliefs, same mentality. Many people look at tragedies and make them be about their own political or religious beliefs, it’s not a right or left thing.

  10. JH says:

    Yep – that HAS to be what he’s saying. No other possible explanation. After all he’s on the right and a christian – 2 strikes right there. Oh yeah and he works for Sun – out!

  11. TDotRome says:

    I’m pretty sure this is a fireable offence. If Rogers Corp has the guts & smarts to turf Damien Goddard over his nonsense, then it’s a no-brainer for Sun Media to cast off Coren. The pathetic excuse for a human being that he is.

    What’s fantastic is that almost every comment after his blog on a Sun Media website is slamming him. Not even their own audience can defend that crap.

  12. James Bow says:

    “PM Chretien, who said the Americans brought the Sept 11. attacks upon themselves”

    Quote, please.

    I’m actually pretty familiar with what Chretien said, and it nowhere near approaches this “they had it coming” vibe that Cohen’s quote resembles.

    And, on a related matter, I do acknowledge that there are examples out there of people said awful things about 9/11 victims. Case in point, Jerry Falwell said the following a few days after the September 11 attacks:

    “The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way — all of them who have tried to secularize America — I point the finger in their face and say ‘you helped this happen.'”

    He was, of course, rightly condemned for his language, as were all who engaged in similar rhetoric. Rational people, whether they are on the left, the centre or the right, abhor this sort of thinking, regardless of where it comes. If you can’t see this, it’s only because you’re not listening.

    Indeed, I would suggest that you’re not interested in listening, because if you did, you would have a much more difficult time excusing what Michael Coren said.

  13. Lipman says:

    The pompous, arrogant tone to this guy’s writing masks his always narrow, ineffectual argument. He’s also the guy who told Ontarians that the folks at the fly-by-night Auto Depot were “good people.”

  14. Ted (not the other one) says:

    I read that a few times and don’t see him suggesting that they deserved it. But I find it disturbing that he he can see the “irony” of it all, because I can’t see past the magnitude of this horrific tragedy. I don’t care what the victims’ politics were, or what declarations they signed. They were young and totally innocent. I can’t see how anyone would have the mind to draw attention away from that fact, especially at this time.

  15. WildGuesser says:

    Wow, it is repulsive of Coren to post that. Not really impressed with your phrasing either though Warren. Coren’s cesspool of thought speaks for itself. You do not need to further infer a bias beyond what is clear. What is written is bad enough and being unnecessarily oppositional to something, by using inflammatory language, will only predispose those who tend to have a non-revolting opposition to some of your opinions to think that there is some valid basis to be pro-Coren and anti-you in a comparison of ‘principles’.

    • Bruce from Etobicoke says:

      Well played Sir! Well played!

    • WildGuesser says:

      Ah yes, strategic and righteous obstinance on both sides of every issue. Warren Kinsella and foes, helping to turn Canada into America. I shall wait patiently for the next Hudak is a demon posting which is no doubt already in the pipeline and which will advance the political discourse.

      And people wonder why youth have abandoned the LPC for the NDP.

      • Attack! says:

        Don’t be such an a-hole…

        the NDP have had plenty of polarizing spokespersons, too, from Brad Lavigne to Pat Martin; and,

        youth have increasingly been abandoning — or, rather, simply never supporting or being engaged by — ALL the political parties for quite some time, now (over the last several generations, in fact); and,

        it’s not at ALL clear that that has ANYTHING to do with what partisan bloggers, columnists, or TV pundits have to say, since, um, they’re simply not tuning in to hear or see what they have to say.

        And if you don’t like partisan discourse (and BTW, there was nothing inflammatory or extreme in the language that WK used in this post), there’s a simple solution… follow their lead, and zone out.

        • WildGuesser says:

          Anything that draws the eyeballs and sells the newspapers. Rupe would be proud.

        • Attack! says:

          whatever.

          Note, both sets of posts on this are on blogs, not paid media.

          And far from condoning or celebrating it, WK was calling Coren out on it: even though he’s a colleague, of sorts, AT Sun Media.

          And the commentary on it wasn’t confined to paid media commenters, either: see, e.g., these various citizen blogger / tweeters at:
          http://hashonomy.com/link/leftist-syndrome-corenrs-comment-74237/

          What I don’t get, is you:

          using harsh language to, um, scold others for using harsh language;

          and repeatedly coming to a partisan blog to do that.

          It’s like listening to a rap station and calling in to complain about the lyrics.

          Who /what are you: Tipper Gore?

  16. Attack! says:

    it appears to be his sanctimonious v. of, “Karma’s a bitch,”

    but it’s really just:

    “Coren’s a bitch.”

  17. Coren’s comments were revolting. It didn’t matter if the young party activists had lot of sympathy or no sympathy for Israel. The young people plus the people in Oslo didn’t deserve to die.

  18. W.B. says:

    What’s disturbing is to think: “where did Coren’s thoughts go the instant he heard of the attacks”. What kind of christian mind and soul is that?

    • Attack! says:

      actually, I’d bet his mind only went there the instants after he heard about the all too copasetic (too him) politics of the attack_er_.

      • Attack! says:

        as I suspected, there was an (d)evolution in his thought as he watched the news over the last 48 hours or so, and he’s been busily documenting it:

        his first (public) thoughts were that it was, naturally, a Muslim attack

        (“Norway, Peace Be Upon It,” currently at http://blogs.canoe.ca/corenscomment/page/2/

        specifically: http://blogs.canoe.ca/corenscomment/consider-this/norway-peace-be-upon-it/

        then, as reports about the Nordic perp started to surface, that, poppycock, the Muslims still had to be behind it
        (“Denial. Not a river in Egypt”)

        then, even if it was a white guy, the descriptions of his politics couldn’t possibly be true cuz they’re too contradictory, and anyway, so what, that’s just 1 white terrorists compared to the thousands of Muslim attacks
        (Jihadists 16,000; Norwegians 1)

        then the cognitive dissonance & rationalizations kick in: he quotes with approval Kathy Shaidle’s contortions explaining how a similar supposedly right-wing bomber of the DC Holocaust museum actually held more left-wing views (“Brilliant!”)

        then it was the one under review (“Leftist Syndrome”) that, in an Alanis Morissette type-sense, it was “ironic” that these deluded young people who didn’t comprehend how the separation fence protects Jewish children from Islamic terror gangs ended up getting killed by a terrorist

        then it was justifying his initial hasty conclusion by reminding people that there ARE Muslims in Norway, re: those Prophet Mohammad cartoons (“No Muslims Here”)

        then responding to his critics by observing that he’s not in fact Gay and IS willing to help some Muslims (starving ones, albeit children, specifically, in Somalia)

        then, a couple detours, to Amy Winehouse, and the Gaza Strip, and he’s back on topic,

        singling out a few serial commenter on his posts as pro-Islamists (“I Can Write Good, And I Have Computer”

        casting aspersions on white Norwegians by alluding to the rate they’re being implicate rapes (“Norway is Great”)

        trying to dissociate himself from the attacker’s views (“The Oddest Christian Fundamentalist in the World”)

        and in the two most recent ones, arguing he’s not racist by pointing out (or at least submitting) that the Muslim terrorists he’s so opposed to rape and kill browns as well as whites (“Liberal Racism” & “More Non-Attacks”)

        http://blogs.canoe.ca/corenscomment/

  19. T.J. says:

    “…scot says: July 24, 2011 at 7:56 am
    Right wing douchebags like Coren will self implode the whole conservative movement in time…”

    I doubt that’ll happen, Scott. I think that Canada’s Conservatives have already learned not to do that.

    Today, in awe, we continue to watch the as yet unfinished show of “imploding” of the longest-running example of seamless, continuous”douchebaggery.” Who dat, you ask?

    I’ll give you a hint. The initials of the current batch of long-nosed douches start with Slippery Macliar, and includes his gang of ever-diminishing enablers.

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