.
Shame on you, stop it right now!
.
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Tisdale
by: Timothy W. Shire
Tisdale
by: Timothy W. Shire
.
I am not all that friendly a person, oh I like to think I am, but deep down, I am pretty arrogant and besides being opinionated, I know I am way more judgemental than is often appropriate. For these and other reasons, I do not have a lot of friends, more than a thousand acquaintances, but my friends throughout my whole life would fit in a single classroom. The reason I am explaining this to you is that even though I have a small circle of friends, I am more than prepared to cut that number down considerably. Each day I get emails, you know the sort of thing that is passed along from person to person, we might see it as the modern equivalent of gossip. These messages and the inherent underlying messages they carry, have exceeded the tolerable limit. It is time to say: “Shame on you, stop it right now!”
I have never, with my own eyes seen someone wearing a niqab, or a burka, and those friendly folks that send me heartfelt discussions about the need to curtail the activities of people wearing this garb are unlikely to have ever seen a person dressed that way either. One expert put the number at 35, the well known author and TV show creator who put together “Little Mosque on the prairie” said she thought there were maybe five in Canada and to date only two, yes two, have wanted to be involved in the citizenship swearing in ceremony wearing clothes that cover them with the exception of the eyes. You do understand the significance of that, two people. Then yesterday the prime minister said that he would consider passing regulations preventing anyone working in the federal civil service to be dressed in that manner, to which the head of Canada’s civil service pointed out there was no one, not one person, so attired in government employment.
Despite these facts, the single most talked about election issue, with only days until we all vote, is the banning of the niqab at citizenship ceremonies. What about the fact, that the prime minister’s office halted all processing of Syrian refugees, taking the matter out of the hands of the citizenship and immigration department, so that the prime minister’s office could individually vet applicants, all the while declaring that Canada is such a great place welcome newcomers, more than any other country, that was a bare face lie.
What about the subversion of the electoral process in this country during the last election, when the government party was involved in sending voters who might not vote for them, to places where they could not vote. Election fraud spending by government members has seen one sentenced to jail another forced from office and the party accepted guilt for the “in and out” flipping of funds.
Dollar stores no longer advertise that they sell things for a dollar, but the Dollar Tree advertises that everything is a $1.25, which of course is the actual value of a dollar. Our economy is crumbling as we see prices rising and our income fixed. We are in a recession, the second during this government’s time in power and the only reason they have a balanced budget is because they reduced the services that are the responsibility of the federal government. Things like treaty obligations to Canada’s first nations people and it’s military veterans.
But we aren’t talking about the fools who have been appointed to the senate and government office, only to be fired in shame because of the prime minister’s bad judgement. No, we are talking about two people and what they want to wear. How did this happen?
The prime minister entered the election without a program, he had no platform, only his belief that he has and will continue to do a good job. With it clear, that he had been lying about the Duffy affair, his campaign was on the skids and he hired an Australian to fix things. Now an Australian has no connection to this country and if he does irreversible damage, it is no problem, he just goes home. In Australia, the folks are almost entirely so-called whites and race is not a big deal, because unlike Canada, Australia is not a multi-cultural, multi-lingual country. But with the Prime Minister sliding in the polls, it was time to do something to distract the public from his poor performance and he threw a dead cat on the table. The dead cat was the niqab and you my friends and associates fell for it.
You stopped being concerned about the price of oil and the fact our land locked oil, can not get to market, because our government destroyed our system of protecting the environment and let the world know we had no intention of reducing green house gases. So, no pipelines. You stopped talking about the fact that we as a country no longer know what is going on, because our government wrecked the system of collecting information about the people and their lives. Instead you got sucked into islamophobia.
By the way here is how it works. First you do your polling to find our who will make a good scapegoat. Then bit by bit you build up a case against the group in the media and the public collective consciousness. The next step is to take the most offensive, or least attractive thing about the group and exploit that, with a good deal of derision. From there on, the whole thing takes off by itself. There will be and have been assaults on a few, to get press attention to the issue, this is followed by strong talk from the scapegoat leaders, denouncing the tactic and everything they say, will appear to prove the initial premise was true and then some.
In 1935 it was clear the Jewish population were better off and they were blamed for the distress in Germany. The speeches had been made and the pogroms begun, the Jews were forced to wear identifying markings, then on the night of crystal, the gangs were set lose. About six and half million were killed by the end of the war, but with them, countless Roma, communists, dissident priests and mentally incompetent people were exterminated. The population was solidified with the Fuhrer and the will to go to war was achieved. By the way, there is a person in Tisdale with the Treblinka numbers on her arm.
Am I an alarmist to site this situation eighty years ago in this context? I don’t think I am, racism costs so little to ignite and once established is almost impossible to stop. The prime minister played the race card and Canadians are fools to play along with the cheap trick and even tonight, on the National At Issue panel, I know the topic will come up. It should not, nor should we be talking about taking citizenship away from Canadians, no matter what they have done, that’s not the way Canadians should act.
In the 1950 my mom, an English lady, third generation Canadian, refused to go into a Church without her head covered. If she didn’t have a hat she wore a kerchief. Even today, a proper bridal gown includes a veil and you will be hard put to figure out who is wearing a hijab or a habit. No self respecting Eastern European lady feels comfort in public without her babushkas, so lighten up folks, clothes reflect culture and are far more complex than a cheap campaign slogan. I don’t think men should wear ear rings, I have no reason, but it is none of my damn business.
So friends and foes alike, stop it, stop it right now. No more talk about Muslems and no more racist talk about anyone. We are all one and the rights and freedoms we enjoy must remain in place for our great grand children and their great grand children. Being concerned only about “old stock” Canadians only demeans us all and if you continue to open the can of worms, we will be engulfed in hate.
I have never, with my own eyes seen someone wearing a niqab, or a burka, and those friendly folks that send me heartfelt discussions about the need to curtail the activities of people wearing this garb are unlikely to have ever seen a person dressed that way either. One expert put the number at 35, the well known author and TV show creator who put together “Little Mosque on the prairie” said she thought there were maybe five in Canada and to date only two, yes two, have wanted to be involved in the citizenship swearing in ceremony wearing clothes that cover them with the exception of the eyes. You do understand the significance of that, two people. Then yesterday the prime minister said that he would consider passing regulations preventing anyone working in the federal civil service to be dressed in that manner, to which the head of Canada’s civil service pointed out there was no one, not one person, so attired in government employment.
Despite these facts, the single most talked about election issue, with only days until we all vote, is the banning of the niqab at citizenship ceremonies. What about the fact, that the prime minister’s office halted all processing of Syrian refugees, taking the matter out of the hands of the citizenship and immigration department, so that the prime minister’s office could individually vet applicants, all the while declaring that Canada is such a great place welcome newcomers, more than any other country, that was a bare face lie.
What about the subversion of the electoral process in this country during the last election, when the government party was involved in sending voters who might not vote for them, to places where they could not vote. Election fraud spending by government members has seen one sentenced to jail another forced from office and the party accepted guilt for the “in and out” flipping of funds.
Dollar stores no longer advertise that they sell things for a dollar, but the Dollar Tree advertises that everything is a $1.25, which of course is the actual value of a dollar. Our economy is crumbling as we see prices rising and our income fixed. We are in a recession, the second during this government’s time in power and the only reason they have a balanced budget is because they reduced the services that are the responsibility of the federal government. Things like treaty obligations to Canada’s first nations people and it’s military veterans.
But we aren’t talking about the fools who have been appointed to the senate and government office, only to be fired in shame because of the prime minister’s bad judgement. No, we are talking about two people and what they want to wear. How did this happen?
The prime minister entered the election without a program, he had no platform, only his belief that he has and will continue to do a good job. With it clear, that he had been lying about the Duffy affair, his campaign was on the skids and he hired an Australian to fix things. Now an Australian has no connection to this country and if he does irreversible damage, it is no problem, he just goes home. In Australia, the folks are almost entirely so-called whites and race is not a big deal, because unlike Canada, Australia is not a multi-cultural, multi-lingual country. But with the Prime Minister sliding in the polls, it was time to do something to distract the public from his poor performance and he threw a dead cat on the table. The dead cat was the niqab and you my friends and associates fell for it.
You stopped being concerned about the price of oil and the fact our land locked oil, can not get to market, because our government destroyed our system of protecting the environment and let the world know we had no intention of reducing green house gases. So, no pipelines. You stopped talking about the fact that we as a country no longer know what is going on, because our government wrecked the system of collecting information about the people and their lives. Instead you got sucked into islamophobia.
By the way here is how it works. First you do your polling to find our who will make a good scapegoat. Then bit by bit you build up a case against the group in the media and the public collective consciousness. The next step is to take the most offensive, or least attractive thing about the group and exploit that, with a good deal of derision. From there on, the whole thing takes off by itself. There will be and have been assaults on a few, to get press attention to the issue, this is followed by strong talk from the scapegoat leaders, denouncing the tactic and everything they say, will appear to prove the initial premise was true and then some.
In 1935 it was clear the Jewish population were better off and they were blamed for the distress in Germany. The speeches had been made and the pogroms begun, the Jews were forced to wear identifying markings, then on the night of crystal, the gangs were set lose. About six and half million were killed by the end of the war, but with them, countless Roma, communists, dissident priests and mentally incompetent people were exterminated. The population was solidified with the Fuhrer and the will to go to war was achieved. By the way, there is a person in Tisdale with the Treblinka numbers on her arm.
Am I an alarmist to site this situation eighty years ago in this context? I don’t think I am, racism costs so little to ignite and once established is almost impossible to stop. The prime minister played the race card and Canadians are fools to play along with the cheap trick and even tonight, on the National At Issue panel, I know the topic will come up. It should not, nor should we be talking about taking citizenship away from Canadians, no matter what they have done, that’s not the way Canadians should act.
In the 1950 my mom, an English lady, third generation Canadian, refused to go into a Church without her head covered. If she didn’t have a hat she wore a kerchief. Even today, a proper bridal gown includes a veil and you will be hard put to figure out who is wearing a hijab or a habit. No self respecting Eastern European lady feels comfort in public without her babushkas, so lighten up folks, clothes reflect culture and are far more complex than a cheap campaign slogan. I don’t think men should wear ear rings, I have no reason, but it is none of my damn business.
So friends and foes alike, stop it, stop it right now. No more talk about Muslems and no more racist talk about anyone. We are all one and the rights and freedoms we enjoy must remain in place for our great grand children and their great grand children. Being concerned only about “old stock” Canadians only demeans us all and if you continue to open the can of worms, we will be engulfed in hate.
.
.