Alternative Ulster!

— 03.17.2016 08:21 AM

So, St. Patrick’s Day.

As teenagers, and as charter members of the Non-Conformist News Agency, we always had a slightly different take on today.  One of my best friends at Calgary’s Bishop Carroll was Jim Keelaghan, and the two us – who were Irish all the way back, on both sides – held the view that St. Patrick hadn’t expelled every snake from Ireland.  We’d wear black armbands on this day. (What can I say: we were young.)

Anyhow, punk came along in April 1976 and changed everything (for me, not Jim, who is now an international folk music star).  Irish punk wisely steered clear of The Troubles: the Undertones wrote songs about chocolate and girls, and the Outcasts sang about being a self-conscious teenager.  The Clash went to Belfast, to be sure, but they said precious little about that subject when they were there.

Stiff Little Fingers (who, bizarrely, took their name from a Vibrators song) chose a different course: they (bravely) confronted The Troubles head-on – and (even more bravely) they condemned both sides.

I loved them for that; I adored them.  I thought they were what the Clash was supposed to be, before the Clash became a wannabe rockabilly act in 1979.  I bought Suspect Device on a trip to Vancouver to see the Clash, and it so electrified me, I persuaded the Hot Nasties to cover it.  We played the song when we opened for 999 at the U of C on St. Patrick’s Day in 1980, and it nearly caused a riot (it also led to my decades-long involvement in anti-racism, but that’s a story for another day).

Suspect Device was angry and political. It was extraordinary and anthemic. But the SLF song that would send me, us, over the edge was Alternative Ulster.  It was about being a bored teenager, it was about the future and hope. We’d hear Jake Burns play those opening chords, and we’d just go nuts.  Two dozen leather-jacketed boys, leaping about, crashing into each other.  Good times.

Here, then – after a very long and nostalgic introduction, apologies – is Alternative Ulster, played back when we were all young and acned and skinny, and when we didn’t think we’d make it to 20.  It is perfect, and perfect for this day.

Nothin’ for us in Belfast
The Pound so old it’s a pity
OK, there’s the Trident in Bangor
Then walk back to the city
We ain’t got nothin’ but they don’t really care
They don’t even know you know
They just want money
They can take it or leave it
What we need is

(Chorus)
An Alternative Ulster
Grab it, change it, it’s yours
Get an Alternative Ulster
Ignore the bores and their laws
Get an Alternative Ulster
Be an anti-security force
Alter your native Ulster
Alter your native land

Take a look where you’re livin’
You got the Army on the street
And the RUC dog of repression
Is barking at your feet
Is this the kind of place you wanna live?
Is this were you wanna be?
Is this the only life we’re gonna have?
What we need is

(Chorus)

They say they’re a part of you
But that’s not true you know
They say they’ve got control of you
And that’s a lie you know
They say you will never be

Free free free

Alternative Ulster
Alternative Ulster
Alternative Ulster

Pull it together now.


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CITY-TV story on neo-Nazi rag

— 03.16.2016 10:23 PM

Quote:

“Kinsella, who is skewered in the latest edition of Your Ward News, has previously pushed to stop the publication. 

 “My main concern is it’s racist, it’s homophobic, it’s misogynistic, it denies the Holocaust, it’s anti-Semitic,” Kinsella said. “It’s all of these terrible things and it’s landing in people’s mailboxes. And the people who are receiving it are not paying for it.”

Want to help fight it? Email me.


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On the @CTVNews set…

— 03.15.2016 08:08 PM

…with Scott Laurie as my candidate Hillary Clinton speaks! (Yes, that’s my Daisy Group binder prepared by my colleague Arti. Thanks Arti.)

  


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How will Trudeau react to the first domestic terrorist attack during his tenure? (updated)

— 03.15.2016 08:30 AM

And so:

TORONTO – A brazen knife attack that sent two Canadian soldiers to hospital was disturbing enough, but police sources say it was the attacker uttering the word “Allah” that prompted Toronto Police to call in terror experts.

Chief Mark Saunders told reporters outside of the federal building at 4900 Yonge St., north of Sheppard Ave., Monday that the male suspect used “certain comments” that were as concerning as the violent attack.

He did not elaborate, but several police sources say witnesses told them “Allah” was used.“Some heard him say, ‘Praise Allah’ and others heard ‘Allah’ or ‘Aly,’” a police source told the Sun.

“Several heard the man use this terminology. It’s not something you take a chance on and this is why the call was made to the police agencies who handle terror issues.”

The RCMP, CSIS and OPP are now involved in the investigation.

Ironically, the elder Trudeau was pretty good on this terrorist stuff. He didn’t screw around.

The son – as we saw have seen for years, now – finds it challenging. My sense is that he fundamentally believes that the usual response to terror – the one, ironically again, favoured by his own father – isn’t the right one.  He may be right about that, but public opinion is not on his side.

Anyway. We are all grateful that the injured soldiers will be okay.

We would also be grateful, equally, for a government response on terror that is clear and coherent.

Like we always got from Pierre Trudeau.

UPDATE: And here is the accused.  So, has anyone questioned the Prime Minister yet? There’s not much he can say, of course, but I suspect the Canadian Armed Forces personnel – who take their orders from him – would like to hear from him.

UPDATED AGAIN: Trudeau responds, here. Good. Would be no different with Harper. 
 


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In this week’s Hill Times: selfies, state dinners and West Wing 

— 03.15.2016 12:00 AM

A meal, some speeches, and some selfies.

That’s what State Dinners are, mostly. They’re supper, basically, except you have to wear your best clothes and be on your best behaviour.

When Jean Chretien was still running things, I was lucky enough to be invited to some State Dinners. At one of them, the best-ever Prime Minister was hosting Russian president Vladimir Putin. Unlike Stephen Harper would do, much later on, I shook Putin’s hand.

I tried to exchange a few words with Putin, too, via a translator. I distinctly remember an ominous grin playing across the Russian strongman’s face as he looked up at me (he’s really short, or I’m really tall). I recall thinking he had the look and comportment of a guy who would run you over with a tank if he didn’t like what you had to say. Which, as historians will agree, is exactly the case.

Anyway. That’s State Dinners. Most of the time, they’re genteel affairs, with lots of politesse, and everyone doing their utmost to avoid sounding like Donald Trump.

But was anything actually accomplished, at last week’s much-written-about Trudeau-Obama bromance banquet? Probably not. But fans of The West Wing – which famously did a whole episode about State Dinners, way back in 1999 – will know that they can be an occasion for important things to be said. To wit:

Sam Seaborn: Toby, do you really think it’s a good idea to invite people to dinner and then to tell them exactly what they’re doing wrong with their lives?


Toby Ziegler: Absolutely, otherwise it’s just a waste of food.

Exactly. (And don’t you wish Josiah Bartlet was running for president in 2016? Me, too.)

The point, here, is that Justin Trudeau was having duck for dinner duck – as in, a lame duck. The guy he was breaking bread with will be at a Wall Street law firm a year from now, making a bajillion dollars for speeches to Rotarians. He won’t be spending two minutes thinking about Trudeau or Canada.

The people Trudeau needs to be focused on, instead, weren’t even at the dinner: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz or (God forbid) the aforementioned Donald Trump. They were chasing delegates in the mid-West.

Per The West Wing, Canada’s newly-minted Prime Minister should consider using State Dinners, and the like, to pass along a few hard truths to Washington audiences. These are found below, helpfully typed up as talking points.

· My American friends, I’m from Canada. Head to Buffalo, then turn left. You can’t miss us.
· I know the primaries probably convinced all of you that the path to power lies in tearing up trade agreements with countries like mine. That’s why Bernie shocked everyone, and beat Hillary in various Rust Belt states. That’s why Donald won everywhere – he peddles anti-free trade xenophobia.
· But don’t do it. With the world economy starting show the faintest glimmers of hope, don’t embrace protectionism. Don’t become (even more) insular. Don’t succumb to the siren song of solipsism. It doesn’t work.
· While we’re on the subject, consider a couple things Canada is good at. Our banking system, for starters. Yours, a few years back, plunged everyone into a global recession. We Canadians did pretty well, in that sad era, because we don’t ever let bankers do whatever their tiny black hearts desire. You need to similarly restrain them, before they conjure up yet another mess.
· Guns, too. Proportionately, we have as many crazy people as you do. But we don’t like our crazy people get their hands on assault rifles. You should do likewise. You’ll thank us one day.
· Health care, as well. We’re not bad at it, and you stink at it. When candidates for president start promising to give U.S. citizens less health care, not more – when they want to let poor, sick people get poorer and sicker – well, there’s something wrong in your culture, folks. Needs fixing.
· Refugees, immigrants, newcomers: we welcome them. You should, too. They become citizens, they get jobs, they pay taxes. It’s a good thing. 
· Canada has some useful tips for you to consider. Thanks for dinner.

Would Justin Trudeau ever say any of those things to a well-heeled American audience? Of course not. We Canadians are way too polite.

But these State Dinners don’t come along every week, PMO. The next time one happens, consider delivering a few cautionary messages.

After all, if President Josiah Bartlet thought it was okay to do so, it’s always okay to do so.


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