New (and funny!) from the Babylon Bee

Pride Month is coming to an end. Walt hopes you have learned that LGBTQ2SI+++ people are not bad people. Did you know, for instance, that

This little factoid did not come from the Babylon Bee, your trusted source for Christian news satire. According to a usually reliable expert source, who spoke on background because xe is not authorized to speak to the right-wing media, this is a True Fact.

Walt is HYUGE fan of the Bee. So much so that it's all I can do to keep reposting their biting takes on politics, religion and the sorry state of the world. Today, though, I really must share three of their pieces, which I liked for their clarity, conciseness and wit. [When are you going to learn to write like that? Ed.] Click on the links and laugh with us.

"As Pride Month Ends, Americans Look Forward To 11 More Months Of Still Pandering To LGBTQ Community" Excerpt: "Yeah, I love the LGBTQIA+ community, and I look forward to celebrating it 24/7 for the rest of the year," said one man. "Also, I don't want to get canceled. Please don't cancel me."

"Jan. 6 Committee Says Cassidy Hutchinson Told Them That She Heard Mark Meadows Say That A Secret Service Agent’s Friend’s Cousin’s Husband Once Heard That One Of Trump’s Other Aides Said She Thinks She Heard Him Say He Wanted To 'Do An Insurrection'" Excerpt: "Yes, that's totally what I heard someone say Trump said to someone who told it to them," said Cassidy Hutchinson. "He literally said 'Let's do an insurrection.' And then he threw a plate at the bust of Martin Luther King." Hutchinson then started sobbing uncontrollably.

"No One Else At Vatican Able To Receive Communion After Pelosi Drinks All The Wine" Excerpt: "I'm a bold protector of women's rights! I deserve this!" she yelled out, according to sources. "I'm a practicing Catholic! Good morning! Sunday morning!"

That pretty much covers politics, religion, and the sorry state of the world, for today. Thanks, Bee.

UPDATED: Canada Day has been cancelled

In place of our customary Canada Day greeting to our many Canadian friends and readers, Walt, Poor Len [and Ed.! Ed.] send condolences. We know that, thanks to Just In Trudeau, Emperor of All Canuckistan, this is how most of you feel about the country you used to call "yours".

Here, courtesy of the CBC ("The Voice of the Liberals"), is the news of Canada Day.

Item: The Forks is a historic site and green space located at the confluence of the Red River and Assiniboine Rivers in downtown Winnipeg MB, the city with the largest Indigenous population in Canada. 

This year, in recognition of the "fact" that the land was "stolen" from the First Nations, The Forks recast its Canada Day festivities into "an inclusive celebration of multiculturalism" it's calling "A New Day". Canada Day is cancelled.

Item: Tamara Lich, winner of the George Jonas Freedom Award for 2022, will spend Canada Day in Jail. On Monday, she was arrested in Medicine Hat AB for allegedly breaching bail conditions imposed by a judge (a Liberal appointee) related to charges for her role in the Freedom Convoy.

Ms Lich is charged with one count of failing to comply with her release order in a warrant issued by Ontario authorities, which means she is alleged to have breached her condition in that province. She must appear in court in Ontario within six days, with that time limit conveniently extending just past Canada Day.

Tamara Lich is a political prisoner in Blackie McBlackface's Liberal democracy, which every day looks more and more like the Communist China which Junior so admires.

Item: Even though Ms Lich is being returned (against her will) to Ontario, you can bet she won't be taken to the second-coldest capital city in the world. Ottawa authorities [word carefully chosen. Ed.] are shit-scared that her appearance, even behind bars of an Ottawa gaol, would add fuel to the flames of freedom protests planned for July 1st.

City officials say they are prepared for a "unique" Canada Day, with plans to keep anti-government protests from turning into another occupation. This year the nationally broadcast TV propaganda-fest will originate  from the plaza in front of the Canadian War Museum, because Parliament Hill is closed to Canadians due to "ongoing construction". 

Well, that's the party line. Fact is, Ottawa police are bracing themselves for more protests and larger crowds than usual, as groups "related to the Freedom Convoy" are planning demonstrations. They have called in reinforcements from the Mounties -- look out for those horses! -- and the Ontario Provincial Police.

On Tuesday morning, the cops published a stern warning that they will be on the lookout for "racist, homophobic, misogynistic signs or speech during this year’s Canada Day celebrations." A spokesperson with the force [another carefully chosen word. Ed.] said that "communicating any such messaging either verbally or in another fashion could lead to criminal charges."

Such is that state of Canada on this Day Formerly Known As Canada Day. There is no more pride in Canada. Pride in homosexuality, fine. Ethnic pride within immigrant communities, perfectly acceptable. Even pride in French-Canadian culture, as shown on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day is permitted. But pride in Canada's Anglophone heritage? Unacceptable!

Under the Trudeaus, father and son, Canadians are encouraged to disremember that it was largely  "old stock Canadians" from the so-called British Isles who were responsible for the things Canadians take for granted: parliamentary democracy, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, common law jurisprudence, habeas corpus, the court system, Charter rights, personal freedoms and many more foundational aspects of Canadian society. 

If the police and their political masters are worried -- and well they might be -- about the possibility of angry demonstrations in Canada's capital... if they wonder why ordinary Canadians are so incensed, and what's causing the protests... they should look in the mirror.

The protesters would not be gathering in Ottawa or anywhere else in the Not-so-great Not-so-white North if not for the policies and actions of M Trudeau and the liberal elites. Millions of Canadians want a return of the personal freedoms taken away by the Liberal nanny state. In spite of all that "true North, strong and free" bullshit, Canadian society is divided, make that fragmented, as never before. And Just In Trudeau is to blame. Never forget.

UPDATE ADDED 1/7/22: Homosexuality is filthy, and homosexual acts warrant the death penalty. Christian Arabs who protect Jews from murderers are traitors. A man should be permitted to beat his wife. 

These are among the ideas promoted by several of the individuals who will be featured speakers at a national three-day conference of the Muslim Association of Canada, beginning today in Toronto. Good thing they're not meeting in Ottawa where (see above) the cops are on the lookout for hate speech, homophobia, etc etc. 

The Liberal government of Canuck Prime Minister Blackie McBlackface has provided the MAC with more than $3 million in federal "anti-hate", youth engagement and security funding over the past three years. Never forget.

Get woke, go broke! Ron MacLean cancelled!

Our National Sports (As Long As It's Hockey) Editor, Poor Len Canayen, has some excellent breaking news! 

Canadian hockey fans are rejoicing today at the announcement by Sportsnet that they will see less of Ron MacLean next season. Hometown Hockey, the much-unloved show featuring the biggest woke3st pussy in sportscasting, has been cancelled!

For those who never saw the show, it was what marketers called a line extension of the popular "Coach's Corner" segment of Hockey Night in Canada, which featured MacLean as straight man to Don Cherry, the real star of the little between-periods show. For eight seasons, Hometown Hockey travelled to a different part of Canada each week. It originally aired on Sundays but was eventually moved to the graveyard of Monday night, where it died.

The official reason given for the cancellation is that the weekly production was "an expensive line on the corporate ledger" and became tough to justify in a time where the sports media industry is undergoing change and cuts. Yah, shure.

What really happened was that Canuck hockey-lovers were incensed by MacLean's betrayal of Don Cherry after he (Cherry) got busted by the PC police for calling out, just before Remembrance Day of 2019, "you people" who ought to be wearing poppies to honour those who gave their lives for freedom, but aren't doing so. Click here to see the video.

The snowflakes, SJW's and pro-immigration lobby dropped the shithammer, and the CBC (the propaganda arm of Canada's Liberal government) put pressure on Sportsnet to get rid of Cherry. Which they did. On Remembrance Day itself. See: "The Hockey Guy comments on Don Cherry's firing" (includes video), WWW 11/11/19. 

MacLean's grovelling apology -- "I should have caught that sooner" -- the following Saturday was enough to gag a maggot. But what followed in the 2 1/2 years since was even worse. 

"Coach's Corner" was cancelled, of course, since it was impossible to find anyone (not even the perpetually over-refreshed Brian Burke), who could call BS when he saw it as could Don Cherry. Ron MacLean now hosts a between-periods panel, as well as the rest of the show, and devotes himself assiduously to promoting inclusivity, diversity, women's hockey, the contribution to the sport of those wonderful BIPOCs, etc etc. 

HNIC is just as woke as all get out, and that same wokeness pervaded Hometown Hockey, where there were no real hockey guys like Kelly Hrudey or Kevin Bieksa to tell MacLean how full of politically correct shit he is. 

So Hometown Hokey [misspelling intentional. Ed.] is gone. Get woke, go broke! But the malady lingers on. MacLean will still be a fixture on Saturday nights, at Hockey Night in Canada. He says a new contract has not been finalized but has been agreed to "in principal". 

Yah, shure! Don't stay tuned.I predict that, as sponsors wake up to the fact that more and more viewers take a 15-minute beer-and-bathroom break during the intermissions, they'll start putting pressure on Sportsnet to "revamp" HNIC PDQ. As Sam Goldwyn said, "If you want to send a message, go to Western Union." 

True Facts Dept.: Canuckistan's apology bureaucracy

Before being crowned as leader of Canada's Natural Governing Party (read: Liberal Party), Just In Trudeau had a rather checkered career including a brief stint as a drama teacher. 

A self-identified thespian, he is very fond of producing and appearing in theatricals, including wearing blackface and colourful costumes, and has carried this fondness for dramatic gestures into his conduct as Prime Minister of All Canuckistan.

In particular, Blackie McBlackface has perfected the role of the penitent, apologizing profusely and crying on cue for the sins of white Canadians, living and dead, excepting (of course) himself.

The list of his misgovernment's official apologies is a long one, including (but not limited to):

- Indian residential schools

- the Komagata Maru incident

- Canada’s rejection of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and

- the 1864 Chilcotin War. (He's done that one twice.)

This week, the National Post revealed that there are apparently so many apologies on the docket that Mr Socks' Liberal government maintains a National Apology Advisory Committee to manage them all. Really. You couldn't make this stuff up.

The next apology that the committee is advising? An apology for the racism faced by the No. 2 Construction Battalion, an all-black First World War military unit. Apparently they couldn't get it together for "Juneteenth", so it's scheduled for July.

"Allahu akbar!" - "Norwegian man" charged after mass shootings

The Canadian Broadcorping Castration identifies a "Norwegian man" as the "suspected terrorist" who killed two people and wounded 21 others in three consecutive shootings in Oslo, the capital of peaceful and tolerant Norway.

One of the "incidents" occurred in a gay bar where rave in celebration of Pride Month was underway. All Pride events have been now been cancelled, and  the Norwegian security service, PST, has now raised its terrorism alert to the highest level.

What the CBC and other lamestream media are keeping quiet about is that the "Norwegian man" isn't ethnically Norwegian, but a 42-year-old Iranian, who was "known to police" but for some reason cannot be named. Hint: try "Mohammed".

The state prosecutor, Christian Hatlo [any relation to Jimmy? Ed.], told the meeja on Saturday that ten people had been seriously injured in the shootings and 11 more were slightly wounded. Two weapons, a pistol and an automatic rifle, were seized.

Mr Hatlo said the Mohammedan man was "suspected of murder, attempted murder and terrorist acts. There is reason to think that this concerns a hate crime. That is one of the hypotheses." Good work there, Hatlo! Police said they were investigating "whether Pride was a target in itself, or whether there were other motives." A witness said the suspect, who was arrested within five minutes of the shootings, had looked "very determined about where he was aiming." The attack is also being investigated as "a possible act of terrorism." No kidding.

Thank God!

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States Supreme Court finally issued its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, upholding Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban, overturning Roe v. Wade, and delivering the pro-life cause its most transformative victory since Roe unleashed nationwide abortion-on-demand nearly half a century ago. 

Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the draft mischievously leaked by the pro-abortion lobby in early May, delivered the opinion of the Court, with Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett joining. 

The ruling declares Roe "egregiously wrong from the start." Wrote Justice Alito, "It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives."

This is indeed a great victory for the pro-life movement. It is also a victory for states rights, and for President Trump and all the others who fought for the return of laws made in according with the Constitution -- the fundamental law of the land -- not according to the whims of judges choosing the political correctness (read: popularity) over justice.

More than that, the Dobbs decision comes as an answer to prayer. In the 49 years since Roe v. Wade, thousands of petitions have been signed, and billions -- literally billions -- of Rosaries and other prayers have been sent to Heaven, to protect innocent unborn babies from those who would wish to kill them.

Thanks be to God, and to the Blessed Mother of God, for hearing and answering our prayers. Te Deum laudamus!

 

Aux canadien(ne)s "pure laine", BONNE FÊTE NATIONALE

Walt Whiteman, Ed., et surtout "Poor Len" Canayen, vous souhaitent

MUSIC VIDEO: New(ish) release from Tuba Skinny

It is summer, traditionally the slow news season. Good weather for gardening or the beach. [Seriously? Ed.] Having been at this (blog) for nearly 13 years, I feel entitled to a few days off every now and then, and this week there's nothing going on that will be made any better by my customary carping and complaining. 

So, dear readers, here's a musical interude from my favourite Dixieland New Orleans jazz band, Tuba Skinny. "Too Much Competition" was recorded at The Maison during French Quarter Festival week, this past April.

When I have something worth saying, I shall say it. Cheers n beers....

June 2022 - the month of pride and pox

In case you haven't noticed -- perhaps you've been vacationing on Mars -- it's Gay Pride Month. 

Private residences and public buildings, including "Catholic" schools and the American embassy in the Vatican, are gayly decorated with flags striped with all the colours of the rainbow, plus black and white and pastels. Politicians of every stripe [geddit? Ed.] and their bespoke media are pushing the pro-queer agenda, and corporate America is on the bandwagon, with Disney in the van of the Pride Parade.

And the people. Lord, the people! Not just guys (?) like this one, crying "We want to be treated just like everyone else!", but the drag queens, who now shimmy and simper on whole TV shows, and are invited to preach their "new normal" lifestyle to our children in woke libraries and schools. 

If you, as a concerned parent, should dare to object to having your kids exposed to this kind of grooming, well, you're homophobic, and shame on you!

I hope I'm not the only one who sees a certain irony or (dare I say it?) justice in the fact that Pride Month 2022 has seen an unprecedented outbreak of monkeypox, a loathsome disease transmitted by intimate contact between male homosexuals.   

The lamestream media are downplaying the queer connection. In places like San Francisco and Toronto, vaccination clinics are being organized, they tell us, for "at-risk populations". We are left to guess what kind of people are covered by that phrase. 

As I wrote almost a month ago, this is not the first punishment God has visited on people who break His commandments. (Follow the "Further reading" link below.) His punishment of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah is recounted in the Old Testament (Genesis 19) and the Qu'ran. 

Traditionally, Sodom and Gomorrah have been associated with homosexual acts. The mob of men that accosts the angels had demanded of Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may know them." (Genesis 19:5). This has long been interpreted as "carnal knowledge" and many believe that it is the widespread homosexuality of the inhabitants that earns their obliteration. 

Other Biblical references to Sodom and Gomorrah, including Jude 1:7, which mentions sexual immorality and "unnatural lust", and the "abominable things" of Ezekiel 16:50, are seen as support for this view. Laws against unnatural acts -- almost all repealed or forgotten in the Great Reset -- use terms such as "sodomy", "abomination", and "sins against nature".

God loves us, but God is just, and tells us plainly that He will punish those who transgress His laws. He gave us the example of Sodom and Gomorrah, and we didn't learn the lesson. Thousands of years later, God visited the plague of HIV/AIDs on our increasingly decadent and depraved society. Still, we didn't learn. And now we have monkeypox, just in time for Pride Month. 

Our scientists tell us they are smarter than God (in whom they don't believe anyway) and can cure, or at least reduce the effects of such diseases. Wouldn't it be better to obey God's rules for living -- rules that He has made for our own good -- than suffer the consequences of disobedience? 

I give you that thought since you're not likely to hear it in the woke media or even at your woke church. Pretending that homosexuality, transgenderism etc etc are "normal" in our new woke society is the message of Pride Month. That message is wrong! Even if you don't believe in God, there is such a thing as natural law, which cannot be disregarded with impunity. Thus endeth the lesson.  

Further reading: "Homosexuality condemned in the Word of God", WWW 9/7/09.

Happy Father's Day!

Does anyone else think it's weird to be celebrating Father's Day

in the middle of Pride Month?

Message from Walt

Ed. here (again). I've sent Walt another message asking when he's going to "return" to this space. In reply, I have received only this Dilbert comic strip.

It's hard for me to resist reposting Dilbert strips every day. I imagine if I'd did so I'd be hearing from attorneys for Andrews & McMeel right sharpish. If you like them, here's where you can subscribe, so you can get a new one in your in-box every day.

Footnote: Andrews & McMeel have for decades been syndicating comic strips and similar material, and publishing them in book form. One of the strips they handled -- not sure if they still do -- was (is?) Doonesbury. If you have a good collection of the Doonesbury books, look through it until you find the sequence in which Uncle Duke is recruited by Big Oil's Jim Andrews to take out Saddam Hussein. In one of those strips you'll find Andrews relaying orders from "Mr McMeel". Inside joke!

True Stuff Dept: Funny business names

Ed. here. Walt has been perched on a window ledge on the third floor of the Sawtooth National Bank building in beautiful downtown Fort Mudge since Thursday afternoon. He threatened to jump if there wasn't a stock market rally on Friday, but didn't do so. Officer Pup of the Fort Mudge PD said we should stop watching, and maybe he'll come down on his own. So....

Here are two entries to our ongoing True Stuff contest, both submitted by Agent 3, who is disqualified from winning any prize, but we're going to run them anyway, in our "funny business" section.

Seen in Port Hope ON

Antique store, seen in Bloomfield ON

Keep those cards and letters emails coming in. 

Stay tuned

Once again, the nanny state delivers us from evil

Here's one for the True Facts Department, as reported this weekend by AP via NPR. NPR is to the Paranoid States of America as the CBC is to Canada, except that they don't get funded directly by a leftist government. But their political stance is just the same as if they'd been paid. They sure do love Emperor Trudeau and all  his works, including this latest bit of statist nonsense.

Canada is poised to become the first country in the world to require that a warning be printed on every cigarette. 

The move builds on Canada's mandate to include graphic photo warnings on tobacco products' packaging, a policy that started an international trend when it was introduced two decades ago. 

"We need to address the concern that these messages may have lost their novelty, and to an extent we worry that they may have lost their impact as well," Minister of Mental Health and Addictions [Seriously. That's her title. Ed.] Carolyn Bennett said at a news conference Friday.

"Adding health warnings on individual tobacco products will help ensure that these essential messages reach people, including the youth who often access cigarettes one at a time in social situations, sidestepping the information printed on a package."

A consultation period for the proposed change is set to begin Saturday, and the government anticipates the changes coming into force in the latter half of 2023. While the exact messaging printed on cigarettes could change, Bennett said the current proposal is: "Poison in every puff." 

Bennett also revealed expanded warnings for cigarette packages that include a longer list of smoking's health effects, including stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, diabetes, and peripheral vascular disease. Canada has required the photo warnings since the turn of the millennium, but the images haven't been updated in a decade. 

Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society, said he hopes the warnings printed directly on cigarettes become popular internationally, just like the package warnings did. "This is going to set a world precedent," Cunningham said, adding no other country has implemented such regulations. He's hopeful that the warning will make a real difference. "It's a warning that you simply cannot ignore," Cunningham said. "It's going to reach every smoker, with every puff."

Smoking rates have been steadily falling over the years. The latest data from Statistics Canada, released last month, shows 10% of Canadians reported smoking regularly. The government is seeking to cut that rate in half by 2035. StatCan noted that roughly 11% Canadians 20 and older reported being current smokers, compared to just 4% of people aged 15 to 19.

This is a true story, not something made up by the Babylon Bee. Carolyn Bennett is a medical doctor by training, but apparently doesn't practice her profession very much, having given it up for politics in 1995. Such is her charisma and confidence that she has been shuffled through three (and counting) cabinet posts in Liberal governments, including Minister of State for Public Health, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, and now Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

Walt notes that Ms Bennett's annoouncement was made while Mr Socks was in California, engaging in acts of mutual admiration with Gov. Gavin Newsom. They agreed, inter alia, to work together to stop wildfires, although exactly how they would do so wasn't made clear. If Canucks were wondering where Mr Socks gets his nutbar ideas, now they know.

Woke Toronto moves forward on segregated schools

Toronto, aka the Wormy Apple, aka The City Canadians Love to Hate, aspires to be not just a "world-class" but, under Mayor John Jelly, the Wokest City in the World. Facing stiff competition from London (the other one) and San Francisco, it has had to settle for Wokest City in Canuckistan. But it's trying to improve. 

Today (Agent 3 reports)The Toronto District School Board is unveiling a "Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement". In politically incorrect English (archaic language no longer spoken in Canada), that's a segregated school For Blacks Only.

Unable to justify the cost of building a full-sized standard school building for the few dozen students expected to attend, the TDSB, after a year of delays and "virtual learning" has settled for a wing [left or right? Ed.] in Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute in the dreary but integrated Scarborough district, some distance from North York and Etobicoke, where many schools are already segregated, being located in predominantly black neighbourhoods.

According to CBC News, the centre, which the TDSB says is the first of its kind in Canada, "is part of its plan to dismantle anti-Black racism after years of complaints from staff, students and families. It reached a tipping point last year when the board said in its annual report that it had a 'serious racism problem' and anti-Black racism exceeded all other hate incidents by far....

"The ultimate goal is to educate staff and students on anti-Black racism, help affirm the identity of Black students and give them the tools to advocate for themselves when instances of racism do happen, so 'they know how to engage and be responsive'."

Agent 3 questions the boards claim that the new school is the first of its kind.  A short-lived "Afro-Caribbean alternative high school" operated in the mid-1980s. In 1995, a royal commission Report on Learning recommended "black-focused" schools. Some critics it, errr, "segregation", but others said such a school was needed to tackle the 40% dropout rate amongst Toronto’s black yoofs.

The idea of separate schools for blacks and others was even more divisive by the mid-2000s, but the TDSB, dominated by leftist politicos, voted in 2008 to move ahead with a small "Africentric" school. It opened for students in JK to Grade 5 in September of 2009, with 128 kids from across the so-called Greater Toronto Area enrolled. 

Like the new Centre for Excellence &c, the Africentric school had to share a building, and some spaces, with an integrated public school. The Toronto Red Star reports that the library was divided by an imaginary line, with a poster of Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews on one side, and a picture of Nelson Mandela on the other. The latter has books clearly focused on the black experience, while the former is filled with typical children's books. 

Teachers at the Africentric school, most of whom are black, incorporate black history, experiences and contributions into the curriculum. While curriculum from the alternative school was available online following the closure of schools due to the Wuhan flu, Africentric teaching was discontinued.

Agent 3 could not say whether the Africentric school will reopen in September, or whether the new Centre for Excellence &c is intended as a "new and improved" replacement. The Africentric school had challenges right from the get-go. There was no school bus service. Test scores were shaky and enrolment declined to a few dozen in the last year it was open.

The TDSB, "Canada's largest and most diverse school board", has 582 schools, serving 246,000 students, 11% of whom are Black. Statistics show black students have historically performed below average. They're more likely to be labelled as having "special education" needs, suspended and expelled, and streamed into programmes that don’t lead to university or college. Whether they'll do better, now that they don't have to compete with white and (especially) Asian kids, remains to be seen.

UPDATED: "Coup"? Who said "coup"?

"Coup" is the Democrats' word! So is "insurrection". Attempted coup" and "insurrection" are the Democrats' characterizations of the mostly peaceful protest at the Capitol on January 6th. 

The purpose of the demonstration was to stop or at least delay the confirmation of the result of the fake election. Was it organized? Evidently not! Did President Trump order it? Evidently not. If the Dumbocrats had even a scintilla of hard evidence -- e.g. a surreptitious recording of Mr Trump using the word "coup" or anything like it -- last night would have been the time to produce it. But there was nothing except allegations by never-Trumpers and the lickspittle media that "he was at the centre of it."

Of course President Trump was at the centre of things. He was still president, remember, and was in the White House as the events of 1/6 unfolded. He may have been as surprised as most others when the protest got out of hand. But the most he was accused of last night was not acting quickly or firmly enough to put a stop to the "riot". And that's old news.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Vice-chair of the January 6th Committee, said in her opening statement they had hard evidence that President Trump had a "sophisticated seven-part plan" to overturn the results of the 2020 election. And she averred that the Committee had obtained evidence that the White House had prior information of planned violence. 

All Ms Cheney could produce, though, was a clip of Steve Bannon saying on his January 5th podcast that "all hell is going to break loose" at the Capitol the next day. Mr Bannon's prediction -- accurate enough, as it turned out -- is not evidence of prior knowledge of violence. 

If Ms Cheney is telling the truth and has the goods, let's see what they've got! It is crucial that there be hard evidence, something more than the characterization of Ms Cheney or another committee member. The entire credibility of this committee comes down to that point.

After Ms Cheney wrapped up her very lengthy opening remarks, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), introduced a video package that he said contained footage "mostly" never seen before. It turned out to be a video of protesters breaching the Capitol, with an overlay of President Trump's voice. 

NewsMax anchor Greg Kelly tweeted: "Now they're just running POLITICAL COMMERCIALS. I mean, putting Trump's voice over this video -- it's FAKE. It's HOLLYWOOD. LUDICROUS!" Even NBC News' Lester Holt had to concede that "a lot of these shots will seem familiar to people."

Rep. Cheney's introduction was mostly a preview of  future hearings. She said that the committee’s investigation is "ongoing" and that the Justice Department has only publicly revealed some of its work, and more may come out, errr, later.

Rep. Thompson, closing the two-hour-long piece of "resistance theater", said that the committee will reconvene next week and "examine the lies that convinced those men and others to storm the Capitol, to try to stop the transfer of power, he said, adding "We’re going to take a close look at the first part of Trump's attack on the rule of law, when he hit the fuse that ultimately resulted in the violence of January 6."

Walt sez, don't stay tuned. There was nothing new to see last night, and there will be nothing new later... or ever. Lifetime pct .990.

CORRECTION and update added 12/6. Agent 17 points out that there was more than one casualty connected with the events of January 6th. However, 35-year-old Ashli Babbitt, a veterean of the USAF, was the only one shot and killed by a cop. Rosanne Boyland, 34, of Kennesaw GA, Kevin Greeson, 55, of Athens AL, and Benjamin Phillips, 50 of Ringtown PA, died from other forms of trauma.

Further reading: "History Tells Us That What Happened on Januaryh 6th Was Not an Insurrection", on Dr. Rich Swier's blogsite, 11/6/33.

Disgraceful! West Point to remove portrait of Robert E. Lee

Another wave in the tsunami of leftist iconoclasm sweeping America is about to hit West Point, the military academy of the United States Army (President Joe Brandon, Commander-in-Chief).

For 70 years, a portrait of General Robert E. Lee, the greatest American military leader of all time, has graced the Academy's library. But the twenty-foot portrait, showing General Lee in his Confederate uniform, could soon be coming down.

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 established a commission to rename military bases that honour Confederate generals, and otherwise erase from memory all references to the "enemy" in the War of the Secession, in the name of political (if not historical) correctness. 

The commission is expected to recommend that West Point -- now led by the first black Superintendent in its history, Lieutenant-General Darryl Williams -- remove anything that commemorates Robert E. Lee's association with the Confederacy.

The creation of the commission was one of the reasons President Trump, who had given the commencement address at West Point in 2020, vetoed the 2021 NDAA. After his veto was overridden by Congress, his administration named four individuals to the commission, all of whom were immediately removed by Brandon's Defense Secretary Lloyd James Austin, who is black. 

In Ken Burns' Civil War series, a freed slave is quoted as saying "Bottom rail on top now!" And so it is in this case. Retired Admiral Michelle Howard, the Navy’s first female four-star admiral and the first black woman to command a Navy ship, now serves as chair of the iconoclasm committee. 

Other members include retired General Thomas Bostick, the first black graduate of West Point to serve as chief of engineers of the US Army. The downgrading and degrading of General Lee, even though he was opposed to both slavery and secession is nothing less than the revenge of the Democrats and triumph of their diversity hires.

Robert E. Lee was a man of deep integrity, whose ancestors helped found the United States of America. He was born, it was said, in the same room as two signers of the Declaration of Independence -- his uncles Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee. He graduated first in his class at West Point, and went on to become Superintendent of the Academy. 

Later, Lieutenant-Colonel Lee fought with distinction in the Mexican-American War, and led the unit that went to Harper's Ferry to quash John Brown's little rebellion. Within days of the South's attack on Fort Sumter, President Lincoln offered Colonel Lee -- he had been promoted -- command of all the Union forces. 

General Lee declined, saying that he could not take up arms against his "country", by which he meant the Commonwealth of Virginia. (It was common, in those days, for people to refer to their state in that manner.) "If Virginia stands by the old Union," he wrote to his son Custis, "so will I. But if she secedes...then I will follow my native state with my sword, and if need be, with my life."

Robert E. Lee was a great American patriot. To dishonour him by removing statues, paintings and other monuments to his very existence is disgraceful.

True Facts Dept: The tale of the amphibious pitcher

Agent 34 has submitted this entry to Walt's ongoing True Stuff competition. Ed. suspects that the story is a bit dated, but there is no statute of limitations here, and the story is true! 

Ed.'s research reveals that Patrick Michael Venditte Jr. is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and Miami Marlins

Venditte's rare ability to pitch with either arm -- he's ambidextrous -- forced baseball leagues, both major and minor, to create a special rule for ambidextrous pitchers. It is known as "the Pat Venditte Rule". Duh.

VIDEO: Must-read books for freedom-loving Canucks (and Americans)

Back in February [How quickly we forget! Ed.], as he scurried to hide, Biden-like, in a cottage in the Laurentians, Just In Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canuckistan, said that the 1000s of people heading in convoy for the World's Second-Coldest Capital City, represented only a "fringe minority" or Canadians with "unacceptable views".

All the same, Mr Socks mobilized all the forces his nanny state could muster -- including weaponizing Canada's banks to seize the accounts of the protesters -- to silence the voices of dissent. Now the lickspittle media (Hello, CBC*!) are crowing that last week's re-election of Doug Ford, the cuckservative premier of Ontario, proves there's no room for "extremism" in Canada. The truckers have gone home, they say, and all is well in the Not-so-great No-longer-white North. 

Is the Canadian fight for freedom from the dictates of the woke Liberals over? Apparently not, as witness stats released by Amazon Canada yesterday showing that the best-selling book on their charts is  How the Prime Minister Stole Freedom.

Written by Derek Smith and illustrated by Kaede Knipe, the book is a parody, in the style of the Dr Seuss classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It tells the tale of a prime minister, with a strong resemblance to Blackie McBlackface -- "his brain was three sizes too small" -- who is must deal with a convoy of freedom-loving truckers invading his capital city. 

Emperor Trudeau is never mentioned by name, probably for legal reasons, and a disclaimer makes it clear that there's no connection with Dr Seuss, but a litany of Trudeau references is presented in the good doctor's unmistakable style, and the illustrations are right on target.

The title character can be seen sipping from a "drink-box, water-bottle sorta thing." He uses the neologism "peoplekind". He is briefly pictured in blackface. And on one page, he gazes lovingly at a framed portrait of Winnie the Pooh -- a poke at Chinese President Xi Jinping, and a reference to Trudeau’s infamous 2013 remark that he admires China’s "basic dictatorship".

Here's a short review, just posted by YouTuber "Clyde Do Something".:

 

How the Prime Minister Stole Freedom is the latest addition to a rapidly expanding line of anti-Trudeau merch, represented by the dozens of hats, flags, bumper stickers and shirts bearing the ubiquitous "Fuck Trudeau" slogan, with the "u" artfully replaced with a maple leaf.

But wait (as Vince Offer used to say), there's more... The Canadian cottage industry in anti-Trudeau stuff is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the tsunami of products make fun of Sleepy Joe Biden, the suspiciously elected President of the US of A. 

In fact, Derek Smith started on President Brandon first! In October, he published Let's Go Brandon, a faux children's book also illustrated by Kaede Knipe.

It follows the travails of a hapless child named Brandon who some may think represents Crazy Joe. (Any resemblance is just coincidental, of course.) Brandon tried so hard to hold down a job. No matter how hard he tried, things would always go wrong. One fateful day after making a wish, Brandon believes he finds an answer to his problems. Could this be the answer he has been searching for? Has destiny finally come calling for Brandon? 

Let's Go Brandon is a satirical book based on the viral "Let's Go Brandon" jokes. Both it and How the Prime Minister Stole Freedom are available from Amazon and the other usual sources, and would make perfect gifts for that special someone or just for a laugh for yourself. 

* Footnote: In The Platinum Age of B.S., Fred C. Dobbs refers to the CBC as "Not much Canadian Broadcasting, lots of Corporation".

Trudeau to run for US Congress?

Nooooo.... It wasn't the gang at the Babylon Bee that made this up, but the normally serious editorial board of the The Wall Street Journal, who this week ran a similar headline, without the question mark. A subhead added "The Canadian Prime Minister can’t get enough of U.S. politics."

Seriously? You bet! The Emperor of Canuckistan just loves getting up on his hind feet and preaching about the issues of the day... as long as they're American issues!  If it's something Canadians care about -- health care, immigration, the price of gas -- M Trudeau is not interested. Ho-hum. 

Case in point: On Sunday he made a special trip to London ON (flying for 45 minutes in a government jet, of course) to bang the drums against Islamophobia, on the first anniversary of the vehicular homicide of a Muslim family. An atrocious crime, to be sure, but were "millions upon millions" of Canadians grieving, as Mr Socks said? Noooo. The truth is that the vast majority of Canadians don't give even half a shit about Islamophobia.

The WSJ says, Mr Socks' pissing and moaning about this and other "issues" largely irrelevant to Canadians don't make any sense unless one considers the Liberals' desire to score points with an American audience, "or a Canadian audience who watches too much CNN."

Another example: Pretending that abortion "rights" are under threat in Canada. Fact is, there are no laws, federal or provincial, regarding the killing of unborn babies. No term limits, no restrictions of any kind. In Canada, it's abortion on demand. And the issue is not even debatable. Even Canada's so-called Conservative Party has made it clear that they will never introduce legislation to disrupt the status quo.

Another non-issue that has preoccupied Blackie McBlackface since the Buffalo massacre is gun control. He seems to think that more bans on guns in Canada will somehow stop mass shootings like the one in Uvalde TX, a mere 2000 miles or so from the World's Longest Undefended Border.

So he's decided to "freeze" the sale or transfer of handguns. The Uvalde shooting was committed with a long gun, but that doesn't matter. Neither does the fact that Canadian laws don't apply in Texas. Or the fact that Canada already has laws that effectively prohibit the legal purchase of handguns by almost everyone. The handguns used in the admittedly growing number of shootings in Canada are mostly smuggled in from the US of A and used by gangstas who are similarly smuggled in from other places.

Put those two concerns together, add in a couple of others (such as immigration), and you get Junior's unrelenting importation of American race and culture wars. As anyone who's lived outside the Ottawa bubble knows, the principal Canadian racial divide is the one between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. Indigenous Canadians earn significantly less, their average life expectancy is 15 years earlier and they're disproportionately the victims of unmistakably racist attacks.

Yet M Trudeau, once insensitive to anti-black racism to the point of wearing blackface at costume parties, now thinks feels that combating such racism is more important than addressing the grievances of Canada's "First Nations". Here he is, "taking a knee" for 9 minutes at a Black Lives Matter protest over the shooting of the drug-addled felon George Floyd.

That was during the summer of 2020, when Black Lives Matter protests and (let's call a spade a spade) race riots roiled the USA. Since then, Mr Socks' government has repeatedly framed Canadian race relations as being inflected by the legacies of slavery and segregation, although African slavery in Canada ended 40 years earlier than in the USA.

The Liberals have introduced into the Canuck snivel service "anti-racism training" that mentions slavery more often than Indian Residential Schools. Emperor Trudeau also never fails to weep crocodile tears in response to every major American racial incident, while overlooking any number of Canadian equivalents. 

Which bring us to Liberals' latest wheeze: doing someething about an over-incarceration problem that doesn't exist. "Sentencing reform" is a big issue in the USA for the singular reason that America has more prisoners (as a percentage of the total population) than any other country. But, according to the World Prison Brief, Canada is actually near the bottom of the league table when it comes to incarceration rates, ranking 143rd in terms of its per capita rate of people in jail.

It's true that jails and prisons in western provinces are full of Indigenous people, and those in Ontario are full of black people, but there's a reason for that. As anyone who watches the nightly news on TV stations in Winnipeg and Toronto, it's because the majority of both perpetrators and victims of violent crime are POCs (persons of colour). 

Nevertheless, the Trudeau government has jumped on the American sentencing reform bandwagon with Bill C-5, which would drop mandatory minimum sentences for a host of violent crimes, including robbery with a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent, and extortion with a firearm. And speaking of gun smuggling (see above), C-5 would also reduce sentencing for six charges related to weapons trafficking. 

Speaking (again) of smuggling, how about Junior's allowing in 60,000 illegal border crossers (for that's what they are!) to spite President Trump! The WSJ says Canada has never really faced a major migrant crises along its southern border. In 2017, 1000s of "refugees" and "asylum-seekers" began coursing through what Ottawa would come to call "irregular" border crossings, notably the one at Roxham Road near St-Bernard-de-Lacolle QC.

The crossings emerged entirely to bypass the Safe Third Country Agreement, under which refugee claimants at the US-Canadian border are turned away on the grounds that they’re already in a safe country. The influx neatly coincided with a tweet from Mr Socks, just after President Trump was sworn in, which read "To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith."

Did you catch that last phrase? That means "Muslims welcome!", which brings us back to where we started [and about time, too. Ed.] That tweet is easily the most-shared thing that Junior ever posted to the internet, and it was a direct response to President Trump's executive order barring entry to the USA by nationals of seven predominantly Muslim nations.

America's liberal media -- that's most of them! -- heaped praise on M Trudeau's head, and the Canadian media followed suit. Meanwhile, the back door opened wide for 1000s of inadmissible foreigners, who travelled to the USA on visitor visas for the express purpose of entering Canada illegally. 

It hasn't been closed since, in spite of the election (?) of a new pro-Muslim president who quickly reversed the "anti-Muslim" executive order. "Terrorists don't need to go to Canada. You can stay right here in the USA. Don't forget to register as a Democrat!"

Did you catch the hint, two paragraphs above, that I'm out of space? There's only one way to wrap this up.

VIDEO: "If you're South African, let's hear you speak Afrikaans!"

Groete aan al ons Suid-Afrikaanse lesers! Long-time readers of WWW may remember that I spent the better part of the `90s in southern Africa, chiefly in Zimbabwe with forays into the Republiek van Suid-Afrika / Republic of South Africa. 

I was there for the transition from "white settler rule" or "the apartheid regime" to "majority rule" or the "new South Africa" -- the original rainbow nation.

In the bad old days (prior to the worse latter days) the country had two official languages, Afrikaans and English. Afrikaans is a simplified -- some would say degraded -- form of the Dutch which was spoken by the original European settlers in the 17th century. 

It is not a hard language for English-speakers to learn and pronounce, although the English, being English, mostly refused to make the effort. Most native speakers of Afrikaans are able to speak English. When they do, their accent sounds like that of the bad guys in Lethal Weapon II.

One of our agents, who amuses himself by trolling dating sites and chat rooms looking for fake profiles, says that he often sees (black) Africans from such fraud hotspots as Nigeria and Ghana claiming to speak Afrikaans, thinking that the word refers to an African language. Apparently they do this also, to prove their citizenship, when using fake South African passports to board flights to the UK/Europe and North America.

This is the reason why discount airline Ryanair has started requiring South African passengers to prove their nationality before travelling by completing a test in Afrikaans, even though that language is now used by just by 12% of the country's population. 

The Irish airline does not operate flight to/from South Africa, but says that says any UK-bound passengers flying to the UK from another part of Europe must fill in a "simple questionnaire" due to what it describes as a high prevalence of fraudulent South African passports. "If they are unable to complete this questionnaire," a Ryanair spokesthingy told the meeja, "they will be refused travel and issued with a full refund."

What an interesting idea! Wonder what would happen if the Brandon administration ordered guards along America's southern border to demand that all those African and south Asian-looking people claiming to be "refugees" from Mexico and Central America prove they can speak Spanish!

VIDEO ADDED 7/6/22: Ed. forgot to embed this video of Susanna Heystek playing "Bowing the Strings". This is a Canadian fiddle tune (written by Ned Landry), played in Canada by Ms Heystek -- 15 years old at the time -- whose Afrikaaner family immigrated to Canada from "the new South Africa".

  

The wildlife images are from South Africa, where the Heystek family were prosperous Boers (that's Afrikaans for "farmers"). They left that all behind to come to what they thought was the Great White North. Hope they haven't been too disappointed!

"If I don't respond, is that a sin, Father?"

I see Eliabeth II, Queen of Great Britain, Northern Ireland etc, surived this weekend's celebration of the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne. She made a three-minute curtain call on the balcony of Buck House yesterday, accompanied by Prince Charlie, the Duchess of Marlborough, Will and Kate and their sprogs.

Video clips seen over the weekend show the Royal Family and everyone else singing "God save the Queen". This is a venerable tune, written centuries ago by George Frideric Handel, which Americans might recognize as "My country, `tis of thee". It has served as the national anthem of the Disunited Kingdom and numerous countries, and is still the "royal anthem" in Canada and some other Commonwealth countries.

As I watched Charlie singing, I couldn't help but wonder if he means it. Perhaps he fears that his "mummy" (he called her that when speaking at St Paul's the day before) is going to live forever and he'll never get to be King Charles III. Don't worry kid. From the looks of things, "Brenda" is unlikely to make it to the 70th anniversary of her coronation, 2 June 2023. (Lifetime pct .983.) Eventually Prince William will be singing "God save the King" for you... with equal sincerity I'm sure.

A custom that Americans are spared [thank goodness! Ed.] is the obligatory toast to the Queen which precedes any formal dinner, in the same countries where "God save the Queen" is sung. (In Canada, when the MC says "Charge your glasses!", they fill `em with water! Shocking!)

The MC says, in a loud and solemn voice, "The Queen", and all present are supposed to respond, "The Queen", after which people who have served in a royal regiment may add, "God bless `er!" It's all terribly anachronistic and phony, and I wouldn't be surprised to leaern that in Northern Ireland there are many who refuse to make the appropriate response, if indeed the toast is offered at all.

Following this line of thought, [How much longer? Ed.], we have something foisted on Catholic worshippers by Hannibal Bugnini and the other Protestants and Freemasons responsible for the "improved" New Mass. I refer to the "Prayers of the Faithful" (derived from the Anglican "bidding prayers"), stuck in between the Creed and the Canon. 

These prayers can go on for quite some time, depending on the wokeness of whoever writes them, since the people are enjoined to pray for "those who rule over us" -- the Pope, the bishops, the Queen, the government, the authorities, yada yada yada -- and whichever people and whatever causes are in fashion on the day, e.g. refugees, social justice, rain, more yada yada yada. 

The usual format is to name the person or thing being prayed for, then say the layperson reading the prayers (they're prayers of the faithful, you see) says "We pray to the Lord", in whichever language is being used (but no Latin), and the faithful are supposed to respond "Lord, hear our prayer."

My question, as a traditional Catholic, and someone with a rather low regard for "those who rule over us", is: what if I don't respond? What if I don't feel like praying for this Pope, or for the police, or for asylum-seekers? Is it a sin not to respond? (Do we even have "sins" any more?) Will I go to hell, would it just be a venial sin? [Wozzat? Ed.]

And one more thing. Signore Bugnini and the other anti-Catholics who the Vatican put in charge of "reforming" the Mass told us it was important that people should be more involved, and should participate more in the ritual. No more going to hear Mass, as in the bad old days before 1963.

The worst manifestation (IMHO) of this desire that the people should do something is the so-called "Rite of Peace", which now follows the Our Father just before communion. Before we receive Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, we are supposed to take a couple of minutes and exchange a sign of peace with our neighbours, just the same as the Pentecostals do.

It could have been worse. The original plan was for it to have been a kiss of peace, which the celebrant was supposed to share with the deacons and altar servers and laypeople participating in the ceremonies. It turned out some of the priests were enjoying that a bit too much, so the instruction was amended to "a handshake or other suitable gesture."

Even that got out of hand [no puns, please. Ed.] as the new woke priests actually came down from behind (not in front of) the altar and started wandering up and down the aisles shaking hands with everyone within reach. So also, worshippers were encouraged to shake hands with those beside them, behind them, in front of them, up in the choir loft, etc. It became a bit difficult to get everyone settled down and back into reverent mode.

One silver lining in the cloud of the Wuhan flu was that "social distancing" put a temporary end to the shaking of hands, because most people's arms were too short. Fist- and elbow-bumps wouldn't work either. But, lest they be accused of reverting to pre-Vatican II norms, most dioceses kept the "Rite of Peace", substituting a nod for a handshake. So people kind of wobbled at each other, while some flashed the "peace sign", a secular humanist gesture from the hippy-dippy `60s. 

Now that things have loosened up, people attending Novus Ordo services don't know exactly what they should do during this interruption to what should be the most solemn part of the Mass. My question would be: What if I don't feel like doing anything? 

I'm not a very sociable guy to begin with [the word "hermit" comes to mind. Ed.], but to me, going to Mass is not a social occasion, a cheery community get-together where we all join hands and sing "Kumbaya". It is, or should be, just me and the priest and God. What if I refuse to acknowledge the presence of others? Is that a sin, Father? &c, as above.

"Senator Oz"? Could be, as McCormick concedes

The Republicans have just been through one of those epic internecine battles for which they are famous, to see who would get to wrap himself in the GOP banner in this fall's Senate race in Pennsylvania. When the polls closed, David McCormick, a former hedge fund CEO and military veteran, trailed Turkish-American (or American-Turkish) TV personality Mehmet Cengiz Öz, known professionally as Dr Oz, by fewer than 1000 votes out of more than 1.3 million cast.

Both candidate wannabes deployed attorneys across the Keystone State to scrutinize the ballot-counting process as remaining mail-in ballots, provisional ballots, and ballots outstanding for any other reason were addressed in various counties. Pennsylvania is notorious for voting "irregularities", including delayed counts, although it must be said that such shenanigans more often occur in contests between Republicans and Democrats, rather than primaries.

Earlier this week, Mr McCormick filed a petition for a hand recount of disputed ballots, and it looked as if we might have to wait weeks or months to see who would get to take on Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in the general election. But last night... surprise, surprise... Mr McCormick announced that he had called Dr Oz to congratulate him on the race, and planned to support the celebrity doctor in the forthcoming battle.

"We've spent the last 17 days making sure that every Republican vote was counted in a way that would result in the will of the Pennsylvania voters being fulfilled," said Mr McCormick, "but it's now clear to me with the recount largely complete that we have a nominee." He added, "today I called Mehmet Oz to congratulate him on his victory, and I told him what I always said to you, that I will do my part to try to unite Republicans and Pennsylvanians behind his candidacy, behind his nomination for the Senate."

Further reading: "How Trump Paved Dr. Oz's Path", by Russell Berman in (surprise) The Atlantic3/6/22. Subhead: "The TV doctor's primary victory in Pennsylvania owes far more to the former president than a well-timed endorsement."

Pragmatism trumps progressivism in Ontario election

Ed. here. Walt has sent us this report from somewhere north of the longer of America's undefended borders. 

As Ed. told you yesterday, the politics of the Canadian province4 of Ontario has been dominated for most of the post-WWII 20th century by a party with the oxymoronical name of "Progressive Conservative". A 42-year dynasty began just three days after Walt was born, ending only in June of 1985. 

The Liberals had their longest run from 2003 until 2018, when the government of proudly lesbian Kathleen Wynne was defeated by a political novice named Doug Ford, the little big [hardly! Ed.] brother of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford. The Liberals finished third, losing official party status. 

The question to be answered in yesterday's provincial election was: could Doug Ford, in spite of struggles with a faltering economy and the Covid "crisis", hang onto power? Here's the answer.

The "Ontario PCs" (the monker preferred by Mr Ford) won a second majority government, with twice as many seats as all the other parties combined! But wait, there's more.... The crushing victory forced the resignation of the leaders of the parties of the left and more-left. The Greens' Mike Schreiner held onto his own seat, and his position as "leader" of a party of one.

Andrea Horwath, leader of the socialistic "New" Democratic Party, was re-elected, but is stepping down as leader despite the party regaining Official Opposition status. Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca failed to regain the Vaughan-Woodbridge riding, and announced his immediate retirement. Although the Liberals won one (1) more seat than last time, they didn't meet the threshold for official party status in the Onterio legislature.

So what happened to the "progressive" parties who were touted by the lickspittle media as likely to reduce the Ford "Conservatives" to a minority? Goodness knows they pulled out all the stops in their efforts to bribe Ontario taxpayers with their own  money.

The Liberals, who occupy a place on the political spectrum roughly equivalent to that of the American Dumbocrats, offered a lengthy shopping list, free of any concern about cost, because of course the rich would pay "their fair share", and "efficiencies" would make up any shortfall. Their promises included: 

- a "buck-a-ride" for mass transit anywhere in the million-square-km province

- billions for "affordable" housing (especially for Indigenous people, to make reparations for the misdeeds of the evil colonizers)

- more billions for "assisted-living" and "social and community" housing (like council flats in the UK or "projects" in the USA)

- and still more for elder care, home care and hospital care.

But wait (as Vince Offer used to say), there's even more! Rent controls for anyone not covered by all the new housing; cheaper food; cheaper gasoline; cheaper daycare; new and better schools; a "dementia care" network to help people like Sleepy Joe Biden (if he moves to Canada after his long overdue retirement); more nurses, more surgeries, more mental health workers; more money for seniors, a possible four-day work week and "living wage" for all. All this would be paid for by, errr, someone else.

The NDP offered similar slices of pie in the sky, while saying that they thought of it first, and that they were the only party with a chance of defeating the "Conservatives". (Ms Horwath didn't specify the odds of that happening, which were about 100-1.)

For his part, Doug Ford, simply promised to get things done:

- build a new superhighway to make it easier to go around rather than through Toronto (a pretty good idea!)

- train more future workers, particularly skilled tradesmen [tradespersons? Ed.]

- make it easier for educated immigrants (with degrees) to practise their professions (there are enough "refugee" Uber drivers already)

- build more hospitals and expand the capacity of the province's health-care system.

The beauty of the PC plan -- if you could call "more of the same" a plan -- was that it consists primarily of things that are already budgeted for and in progress. Mr Ford promised no radical changes in policy or priorities. That's not who he is. He's uninterested in policy, and certainly not ideology. He's a politician of the "extreme centre", a middle-of-the-road guy, the epitome of pragmatism. And that, it seems, is exactly what the people of Ontario want.

There are lessons for both liberals and conservatives in Mr Ford's crushing of the leftist ideologues. Canada's federal Liberals and their NDP hangers-on should learn that large numbers of voters are fed up with ideology-driven tax-and-spend policies that benefit every minority and pressure group in sight, but not the silent majority who (along with their children and grandchildren) must pay the bills.

There are implications for the federal Conservatives too, as they search for a new leader. The current front-runner is Pierre Poilievre, who holds himself out as a real conservative, although "social conservatives" snort when they hear that. Mr Poilievre is the attack dog type, snarling and going for the throats of the feckless liberals, not a folksy retail politician like Doug Ford. 

If Canadian Conservatives are interested in beating the Trudeau Liberals, rather than just scoring debating points, they might look again at Jean Charest, l'homme d'hier. He's the type who would appeal to the mushy middle, and those are the people who gave Mr Ford two massive victories in a row, the second even greater than the first. 

The trouble is that if M Charest were to become prime minister, the people of Canada would be only marginally better off than they are now, through not having endure any more Trudeau virtue-signalling. What should you do if you're a conservative Canuck? Is a dilemma....

Quote of the day: "The premier’s guiding philosophy of Ford Nation combines populist rhetoric and conservative principles. It’s a concoction of lower taxes, reducing government interference, supporting individual rights and freedoms — and giving more power back to the people. These are ideas that many Ontarians, both conservative and non-conservative in ideology, strongly believe in and support." Michael Taube, in the National Post, 3/6/22.

Further reading: "Lessons from the Ontario election", by Warren Kinsella, Toronto Sun, 3/6/22. Subhead: Doug Ford won -- and won for his party and team -- because he is a HOAG: A Hell Of A Guy.

True Names Dept -- finally...

When Walt woke me at the crack of dawn yesterday and told me he was off to London (see "Walt's away", earlier today), I asked him if he's left any copy which I could post -- after editing of course -- while he was away. "No," he said, "You'll think of something."

"What if I can't?", I asked.

" Well," he replied, "if all else fails, use Fred C. Dobbs' story about the horse with the funny name!" Then he departed in a cloud of dust and small stones.

Walt was referring to one of the many fine stories about horses and horse racing, in The Golden Age of B.S. (Gage, 1976), by one of the writers after whom Walt has modelled himself, Fred C. Dobbs. Fred was the alter ego of the late Michael Magee, from Beamsville ON (you can look it up) a part-time radio and TV personality and full-time fan of the sport of kings. 

In this anecdote, Fred talks about a gentleman by the name of Foster Buck Dryden -- really! -- who was the track annoouncer at a couple of the old racetracks in the west end of Toronto. Here's the story....

Poor old Buck Dryden was really tested whenever a mare name of York Hunt showed up on the entries. I guess a little bit of history's in order here. Toronto's original name at one time used to be York, named after one of the king's sons. 

Citizens later got together, held a vote, changed the name from York to Toronto. But there was a hunt club started at that time, named after the king's son. Come to think of it, it might have been a name chosen by a real wiseacre, cause York Hunt is one hell of a name to say.

Buck was an awful prim and proper sonofagun, and he'd never call that mare by her given name. I mind one time out at the old Long Branch, and York Hunt made a tremendous move outta the pack, and really started to threaten coming to the quarter pole. 

Buck was calling a couple horses in front of the mare, and then he says, "...you-know-her-name's running third on the outside." Then, when the field turned for home, he names the leader and the horse in the second spot, and "...you-know-who flying on the outside."

Then, by the time they're hitting the sixteenth pole, old Buck's now saying, "...and you-know-her-name now going to the front!" Every guy in the lunch-pail gang would just do his damndest, if he had his money down on her, to be shouting, "Come on, York Hunt! Come on, York Hunt!"

Thus endeth the story. I don't suppose a name like "York Hunt" would get by the Jockey Club today, in the Age of Woke.

Fred C. Dobbs's only published works are The Golden Age of B.S.  and The Platinum Age of B.S. (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981). Both long out of print. If you're a Canadian and enjoy seeing the high and mighty get the respect they really deserve, try to find one or both books. You'll find samples in: "Best honorary football kickoff address ever", WWW 23/4/14 and "A fond look back at Fred C. Dobbs, scourge of the lamestream media" WWW 30/12/20.