Categories for Musings

My friend Coderre is an amazing politician, and will succeed at whatever he does. Hes also the best-known Liberal in French Quebec. Hands down.

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I knew him at different phases. Before was an MPP, and before we had received the privilege of governing. He was full of promise, then. Destined for great things. You could see it.

Later, when he became the Minister of Justice, and I was on the executive of Ontario’s bar association, it changed. I felt he had become a bit of a bullshitter, around that time. A bit too glib, maybe. I felt like he was hiding something.

And then, after everything that happened that Summer, I only knew him from a distance. Like all political people, I have a built-in compass for danger avoidance. Michael Bryant had become dangerous, so I did what all political people do: I avoided him.

Two things. One, his willingness to tell the whole story, as he knows it, takes more guts than are possessed by 99 per cent of the people you will ever know. It takes a lot of courage to put your name to all of that. I hope to do that, too, one day. There’s a story I want to tell.

Two, my sister-in-law, who (along with my little brother) I desperately want to return to Ontario because I miss them very much, worked for Michael Bryant. Like everyone else who worked for him, she remains fiercely loyal to, and protective of, her former boss. Even after everything that happened. In politics, I can assure you that means a lot.

Anyway. On the beach in Maine, reading. This story is worth a read. I like that she spoke to that young man’s father, to give him a voice, too. Like how she wrote it.

Last night, Michael sent me a note, right out of the blue. It was a funny note. I said we should have a showy lunch somewhere, as authors. He thought that was a good idea.

Closing thought, before I get the kids fed.

Life is unimaginable pain, for many people. Michael Bryant’s life seemed like that, but I hope it’s better, now.

God bless him, and God bless Darcy Sheppard, too.

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…by a British MP. As he notes, the Russian regime has no idea what it has done.

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It is far easier to get into a war than to get out of one. As the civilized world reflects on what to do about Syria, that truism bears remembering.

The grim statistics, however, continue to shock us all: Tens of thousands of Syrians dead, in excess of two million wounded or displaced. Most, civilians — women and children. Atrocities are commonplace, with new horrors being perpetrated by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad every day.

The usual measures — condemnations, diplomatic censures, embargoes — have done nothing to stop the killing of innocents. With the complicity of China and Russia, and with the military support of Iran, Syria’s little Hitler has survived far longer than anyone predicted he would.

Meanwhile, the pogroms continue apace. At some point, we aid and abet the bloodshed. Armenia, the Ukraine, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, the Sudan, and of course the Holocaust. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil, as Edmund Burke famously observed, is for good people to do nothing. History shows us that much.

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@CTVNews: #BREAKING Members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot sentenced to 2 years in jail

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A Canadian blogger is a “catspaw of Putin” for pointing out a member of Pussy Riot is a Canadian permanent resident?

What a frigging idiot.

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Still reading sentence in court… Guilty, but what’s punishment? Crowd tense.

Okay, my source just outed himself on Twitter, so I can too. It’s Darrell Bricker.

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@euronews: Russian Judge says three women from punk band #PussyRiot guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred (Reuters)

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My source:

Opinion here very divided. Lots upset with what PR did. Immature, disrespectful. Don’t appreciate foreign busy bodies showing off.

While PR act condemned, think govt over-reacting. Sympathy for young girls, especially those with kids.

Rolls together with overall sense of Putin becoming imperial, plus general crack down on free expression. Although, press here very candid.

While lots of bar chatter about this, talkers are cautious. Want to know where you stand before they talk.

In the car. Lots of streets blocked by police.

Heavy police presence, chanting crowd (free pussy riot), lots of media.

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