Moral High Ground Disappears Faster Than The Buffalo

Tom Flanagan Appears on CBC in Buffalo Coat

     Just a few weeks ago, while watching my favourite Canadian political talk show, Power & Politics, I snapped this picture of my television as it seemed pretty out of the ordinary! Far be it from me to explain what goes through the mind of  a Right-Wing pundit and former advisor to the Prime Minister and why he was wearing a Buffalo coat in a TV studio. Last night at the University of Lethbridge Tom Flanagan, self-styled Libertarian, pontificated in a speech that he "had grave doubts about putting people in jail because of their taste in pictures" while referencing Child Pornography. Also saying " it's a real issue of personal liberty...for doing something in which they do not harm another person." Later he also joked (to jeers and boos) that he had been receiving e-mail from The North American Man Boy Love Association for the last two years, I will address NAMBLA shortly here, but first let me explain why this flippant attitude toward child pornography is so wrong. Simply put, the production of it harms children, the consumption of it builds a market and all of us in the world have decided that it is illegal and so repugnant that we don't even joke about it. Also recall this man, was once considered the darling to the Ultra-Right Wing Reform Party and advisor to then leader Preston Manning and also served as Stephen Harper's Chief of Staff until 2004, he also has some role within the Wildrose Party in Alberta and to no one's surprise has been quickly dismissed by leader Danielle Smith. The problem not only lies in his bizarre comments to a room full of students but his access to the Right-Wing elites of this country and the optics surrounding that, since they so often claim moral high-ground. Yeah, remember when Justice Minister Vic Toews pretty much called all Canadians against his internet spying Bill to be in league with the child pornographers? That's pretty rich! The problem also seems to lie in the video itself where his remarks were said with a straight face, and the intent did not seem humourous, it actually seemed like he believes what he said. As someone who has many friends in Forensic Psychology, I understand that child pornography and child abuse is not a victimless crime and more widespread than one may think. It's certainly not a topic to bring up in support of Freedom of Speech, if that's what he was trying to get at???

     Unfortunately, or not, for Flanagan, most people will only hear the headline and feel the anger and ick factor from the media, besides children being murdered in a classroom I suppose making ill-conceived comments about child porn is about as beyond-the-pale for most people. Congratulations on another disastrous week Canadian Neo-Cons! It would seem the bloviating Right Wing "twitterotti" don't know what to make of this, check the comment section on Sun News Network and see the twisting and turning logic where they are trying to defend yet trying to not sound in support of Flanagans comments, they must be sweating bullets to try and polish this turd! I'll give you a few examples, because really? why torture yourself?
- "Harper dropped him years ago idiot! Now he works at the CBC", as if the CBC is culpable in this, they also fired him today!
-"I guess we all better be careful about being to aggressive with our comments on pedophiles, we wouldn't want to be labelled as hate speakers, This world is really falling apart." OK, apart from using "to" instead of "too", which I really find illiterate I suppose this person is trying to channel anger at the gay community and recent Hate Crime decisions by the Supreme Court?, because a lot of them actually equate gay with pedophiles and bestiality and Satan I suppose? Meh, it's a classic deflection with this bunch!

 And then there's all the NAMBLA talk, otherwise known as The North American Man Boy Love Association. These people actually believe this is a real organization! Which is why John Stewart on the Daily Show has referenced it perhaps hundreds of times, except in a successful comedic way which mocks the usage of such made-up over the top ideas to scare the public with. As recent as last week the American Right Wing tried to derail the nomination of Chuck Hagel by insisting he was involved with a group called Friends of Hamas, turns out this non-existent group was made up by the Right Wing blog Breitbart. They just love made up facts, it's how they think they will win the world, by duping the gullible and creating outrage! It's like saying your opponent kicks puppies and steals candy from babies, well I'm outraged!!! Anyway, many years ago, I googled NAMBLA, which does exist as a webpage and did find some articles saying that back in the early Gay Rights gatherings in the 1970's there were men who did profess to belong to NAMBLA, however, they were rejected and shunned by mainstream Gay Rights activists of the day. Even if those accounts are true, they were never part of the modern Civil Rights struggle, no one in their right mind would associate with pedophiles;  It seems more likely to me that it was Christian groups who propelled an Urban Myth like this, afterall they are still the ones who equate homosexuality to pedophilia and bestiality and disease to this day. If people actually believe that a group like this could actually exist and not have all been arrested over the last 40 years then I suppose they really believe in conspiracy theories? If the webpage is real then they could easily be found out these days. The closest thing we have right now to a ring of known pedophiles is probably the Catholic Priests, yet no one seems willing to do anything about that!
Anyway, for those who actually believe in the existence of NAMBLA shouldn't they be very concerned about Flanagans remarks? Then he would be admitting to seeing child porn for two years? The gullible Right Wing commentators heads must be about ready to explode by now? I am going to guess here that Flanagan knows references to NAMBLA are ridiculous and he was trying to joke, perhaps invoking John Stewart for the young audience, and then finding it falling flat and swirling himself into a world of controversy? I am giving him the benefit of the doubt here, unless he really has been looking at child porn? Ewww.

With friends like this in the Conservative Party I think their moral high ground is melting faster than the Arctic Ice Cap!