The same magazine also published articles urging government to “spend less money on war.” There was another story urging compassion for the poor.

There was also one applauding young Mennonites advancing the tenets of their faith through involvement in politics.

For those sins, some faceless thugs at the Canadian Revenue Agency sent a letter to the Mennonites. The letter warned them they were going to lose their charitable status if they published “editorials and/or articles that appear to promote opposition to a political party, or to candidates for public office,” and that under the Income Tax Act, charities are “prohibited from engaging in partisan political activities.”

The letter blandly described itself as a “reminder,” but Canadian Mennonites knew what it was. It was yet another government telling them what to think — and threatening to punish them if they didn’t.

The Mennonites quietly noted that they’d once been critical of Toews. Maybe that’s what it was all about. They’d been critical of a powerful man.

The Star threw everything it had against Ford — and everything it had behind Smitherman. The Star — which still has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the Greater Toronto Area, and therefore some degree of clout — laboriously chronicled every one of Rob Ford’s misdeeds.

His mug shot from a Florida bust (a Sun scoop, by the by). His drunk-driving record. His drug possession charge. Even unsubstantiated suggestions that he had gotten too physical with others.

Most infamously, real estate developer Donald Trump lost his pea-sized mind on Twitter. Before President Obama won, Trump declared that the election had been a “total sham and a travesty.”

After the results were announced, Trump tweeted that “the world is laughing at us,” and went on to encourage “revolution.” Presumably against the duly re-elected president.

If a liberal had done that, of course, they’d be facing calls for a prosecution for treason right about now. But Trump — who later deleted his online musings — wasn’t alone.

All over the web, all over the dial, conservatives stated that the election had been stolen, that voters were fools, the vast left-wing media conspiracy was against them, or some combination of all three. Oh, yes, and that Obama was a socialist, African-born, and that America was damned to a lake of hellfire.

An Ohio Tea Party group issued a statement: “Socialists, welfare and unions took over this country yesterday. Today (we) wear black. The day America died.”

Rightist commentator John McCain (no relation) proclaimed that America was “Doomed Beyond All Hope of Redemption,” including inappropriate use of capitalization. Breitbart’s Ben Shapiro, who was on Sun News Network for much of the night, actually said: “The war begins now.”

The Wall Street Journal sniffed that Obama had “won ugly.” Mark Steyn, occasional commentator on Canada’s shortcomings and full-time country club bigot, wrote that “America wants to go off the cliff,” and “so be it.” Rock star and Republican Ted Nugent pointed at “pimps, whores and welfare brats” for the loss. Former funnywoman Victoria Jackson unfunnily attacked Christians: “Thanks a lot Christians, for not showing up. You disgust me.”