I am in shock. What a towering genius he was. I literally can’t believe it.
For us misfits at Bishop Carroll in Calgary – for our Room 531 gang of punks, poets, artists, musicians, dancers, gays, lesbians, outcasts and drama types – this LP changed everything.
Low was it. And low is what I am, right now. I can’t believe David Bowie is dead.
Sure. In the 2016 GOP presidential nominee race, it’s certainly that. So too the 2010 Toronto mayoralty race. The obnoxious jerk is the winner. Sure.
But what the author doesn’t answer, so much, is this: why isn’t there a similarly-obnoxious progressive standard-bearer? Is there one? (There isn’t. There hasn’t been.)
“At some point, we have to deal with the fact that there are at least two candidates who could utterly destroy the Republican bench for a generation if they became the nominee,” Josh Holmes, a former chief of staff to the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, told Politico’s Alex Isenstadt recently.
Being LOUD and MEAN and HATEFUL is certainly the best way to get noticed in the Internet Era, true. Conservatives are good at that – they are better at peddling emotion and resentments. I’ve written about that for years. And it’s why scum of the Earth like Five Feet of Hate and Amazingly Fat Cur somehow survive, too: they traffic in hate, online, 24/7.
If they want to survive, however, real conservatives need to wrestle the controls away from the extremists who want to hijack their operation and pilot it into a mirror. They need to reassert the notion that conservatism is actually about continuity, not trying to stop history.
Will they? Beats me. I’m not a conservative. And I’m precisely (and proudly) the kind of progressive that Mesrrs. Trump/Cruz/Ford hate.
But something is clearly happening within the body of the modern conservative movement. And it less resembles catharsis, and much more cancer.
After watching the video embedded in the tweet below, however, one thing conservatives used make fun of – in particular – should perhaps be accorded a bit more respect. It certainly changed my perspective, big time.
It’s from someone who is claiming to be him – and Ezra doesn’t ever swear, in my experience, and we have now put aside several decades of, er, disagreements. That said, this letter is a really nice one. Really friendly.
Here’s an extract from the latest issue of Your Ward News, distributed this week by Canada Post to tens of thousands of homes in East Toronto and beyond:
Holocaust denial and aggressive promotion of white supremacy and neo-Naziism, right here in Toronto.
Where is the Toronto Police Service on this? Where are our local MPs and MPPs and councillors? Where is the Crown? Where is the Trudeau government? Where is Toronto’s mayor? Where is the outrage?
Well, as I told my friend Bernie Farber over the holidays, me and mine are outraged. And if the powerful people referred to above don’t start taking concrete action, now, they are going to be named and shamed.
A talented Globe reporter contacted me about my friend Laura Miller.
He asked why I was supporting her. Here’s what I said:
“Why am I supporting her? Four reasons.
One, she’s a friend, and I know her very well. As such, I know that she is a fundamentally decent and honest person, and wholly undeserving of this baseless attack.
Two, political people – of all stripes – too often are held to a different standard. They are too often seen as guilty until proven innocent. It’s noteworthy that political people, of all stripes, are now coming forward publicly as friends and supporters of Laura.
Three, these charges only happened after Laura successfully won an important legal battle against the OPP. They are an out of control, highly politicized police force that decided to pay her back. It is disgusting. It is like something you would see in Putin’s Russia.
Four, no bloody emails were deleted. They can’t be. They are all still on the Ontario government servers in Guelph. The entire basis of the prosecution is predicated on a lie.
Strong words, but I feel strongly about this one. Hope it helps.”
Listening to the CBC news on the way in with Son Three this morning – and with the world seeming palpably (more) dangerous, here and here and here – we switched to Sirius XM and this came on.
Told my son to listen to the words. Still a tonic for the times.
What are we gonna do now?
Taking off his turban, they said, is this man a Jew? ‘Cause they’re working for the clampdown They put up a poster saying we earn more than you! When we’re working for the clampdown We will teach our twisted speech To the young believers We will train our blue-eyed men To be young believers
The judge said five to ten – but I say double that again I’m not working for the clampdown No man born with a living soul Can be working for the clampdown Kick over the wall, ’cause government’s to fall How can you refuse it? Let fury have the hour, anger can be power D’you know that you can use it?
The voices in your head are calling Stop wasting your time, there’s nothing coming Only a fool would think someone could save you The men at the factory are old and cunning You don’t owe nothing, so boy get runnin’ It’s the best years of your life they want to steal
You grow up and you calm down You’re working for the clampdown You start wearing the blue and brown You’re working for the clampdown So you got someone to boss around It makes you feel big now You drift until you brutalize Make your first kill now
In these days of evil Presidentes Working for the clampdown But lately one or two has fully paid their due For working for the clampdown Ha! Gitalong! Gitalong! (working for the clampdown) Ha! Gitalong! Gitalong! (working for the clampdown)
Yeah I’m working hard in Harrisburg Working hard in Petersburg (working for the clampdown, working for the clampdown) Ha! Gitalong! Gitalong! Beggin’ to be melted down
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