Post Colonial Contact

     Like many White Canadians my ancestors came here as farmers, lured by free land to expand the Great Western Frontier, and, according to family stories, I would be writing this from the U.S. if it weren't for the fact that there was no free land left in Minnesota so my Great Grandfather chose Southern Alberta instead. So much for the, we worked for everything we have, argument, yeah it was a huge government program that brought the White people here in the first place along with that other huge government program, the railroad. I know the Right-Wing hate the "You didn't build that" line of thinking from Obama (and look where that got him) but it's true! With the help of slave labour from China we did get that railroad built across the 2nd largest country in the World! There was also a great push to amalgamate the culture, ie; make everyone speak English as planned out by Sir John A. McDonald which is why I'm not writing this in German or Russian or Swedish. I bring this up because there seems to be a certain attitude out there, a collective we, an us vs. them, like we all started from the same place, which is not true, every Nationality in this country owes a debt to civility and common decency, under which we all became equal citizens. Canada was a place to come to escape persecution and find peace and prosperity. So, it is with immense disgust I read comments on news media and elsewhere that say the most vile things a human could come up with against our Aboriginal People. Since Aboriginals were already here when the RCMP rode into the West claiming land for the Crown, our History has been together. That History has been good and bad, but mostly bad for the Natives, and really, anyone who has gone to school in this country should know that!
     It should be no surprise that I read the worst things on the Calgary Sun website, they seem to have a loyal following of "Trolls" ready to stamp out and yell down any logical argument posted. I often wonder if it is just their staff or Conservative Party members propagandizing their platforms since there is never any opinion or article to the contrary? I say this because I never seem to meet actual people with these opinions, a lot of the postings just don't seem like what actual people say, and the comments also seem to hit certain talking points again and again, just like a political campaign. Boy there sure are a lot of people out there with the same talking points on that site who have all the time in the world to write everyday???
The arguments I keep reading are basically:

- The Natives should GET JOBS, and quit asking for more rights and money, they are LAZY and don't deserve special treatment. The right-wing seem to love this argument, it's probably the one most often used, which I find cute for a variety of reasons. I think it comes from the Tea Party mindset out of the U.S., the ultra-right argument that freeloaders are bankrupting the economy and everyone should pull up their socks and get to work, while we cut public spending. I suppose it goes over well with all those descendants of farmers? One could call it the "Protestant Work Ethic", nothing is worth anything unless it is worked for. Personally, I find the Lazy Indian accusation really racist and completely evil, akin to old images of the American Negro eating watermelon. It is also quite rich in a Canada where people get EI for a year just for having a baby, claim the Child Tax Credit, send kids to Public School on public roads or public transit and watch Hockey Games in publicly funded Arenas,and enjoying a government supplied and quality controlled water supply, just to name a few things, so much for the Ayn Rand philosophy! Also, for the vast number of people leaving this comment, I suppose they should get a job, unless it is their job!?!?!?

-The Natives weren't the first people in North America, thus they have no claims to anything and you are a f**ing idiot who should go read History! I actually first heard this argument almost 5 years ago on a completely unrelated topic and thought what the hell are the right trying to fabricate now? It sounds a lot like what we hear from the radical right in the U.S. and/or something Ezra Levant would come up with, it's a common tactic akin to there should be more guns in Elementary Schools to prevent shootings or Oil from Canada is "Ethical" ,as opposed to other nationalities of petroleum. It's all completely cockamamie but if they say it enough people will believe it because they're not going to go read a book on Human Evolution or Early Human Migration, because they're busy leaving nasty comments online somewhere.

-Those people have no right to block roads, I am not a lawyer so I don't know if that's true or not and I think it's meant morally anyway. Sorry as a Canadian I believe people have the moral right to protest peacefully and standing beside a road is not as effective as standing on it. I'm sorry people are so busy and so important they cannot be inconvenienced. This is not rioting or bombing like some countries so Canadians need to take a chill pill. Comments on blockades ranged from those savages should not be scratching people's cars to hoping a giant truck would plow through them. That last one is nice isn't it? So tell me who is feeling entitled to public roads right now?

-People who claim racism are racist themselves, this is kind of a new one for me but relates to the above cockamamie pretzel logic of the right wing. If they say two ridiculous things with words in between it will start  to make sense to someone. Whoever says this does not know what it is like to be the only minority in a room, not get a job or rent an apartment or fear for your life because of how they are perceived. No, actually racism, sexism, or homophobia are real things. I suppose if they tell themselves these things they don't have to feel the guilt?

     That's probably the top types of arguments, it gets worse, delving into dark recesses of hate and racism. I did notice on The Sun website "Netiquette" rules, such as no threatening language, racist language, personal attacks, comments in foreign languages and typing in all caps, which no one follows but everyone has "virtually" agreed to, it means almost every user is breaking the agreed upon rules and none of it is moderated. I did read their lame editorial piece recently claiming that "The Sun is not racist", following some Idle No More protests in front of the Sun Media building in Calgary. The article said that they cannot moderate all comments and there are a "few out of line comments". Well, I say that is a total lie and minimizing of what they know is their bread and butter. The Sun has always been the go-to place for tabloid style outrage at one minority or another, it is no more newsworthy or subtle as some drunk guy down at the bar! Most importantly, I ask of the Conservative Party who is in league with the Sun Media, do you denounce these race baiting articles and accompanying comments? These people are representing your side Mr.Harper.
     The Sun knows it's promoting racism and lowest common denominator arguments, it's their modus operandi; and our government with oil companies know this too. They do not want the masses to think about changes to our water and environment policies, that were done overnight with the stroke of a pen. People might get too angry if they knew all of our Natural Heritage and water supply is subject to the approval of one appointed MP. They would rather people argue over the morality of protesting or the gall of "those lazy Indians" to demand more rights and money than the rest of you hard working slobs. It is the worst most dishonest style of governing, completely cynical in style. Canadians deserve better and are smarter than all of this!

The Sun Also Rises

So the Sun media, famous for it's tabloid opinion based newspapers in Canada finally got its license to broadcast SunTV, ha ha but not the license they wanted; the CRTC gave them ordinary pay cable status just like most cable stations. Leger Marketing did a survey last fall that shows 76% of Canadians are unwilling to pay extra for another news channel, so I wish them well.
     Anyone who grew up in a city that carried the Sun knows what they are about, it's all opinion, advertisements and sunshine girls, there used to be sunshine boys too but maybe they thought that was too gay? I'm not even sure they have sun shine girls anymore? Did they have to bow to political correctness and not be so demeaning and objectifying to women? In the modern world I have read some of their articles online and used to comment at times because their stance was always egregiously right wing or just plain old sexist, homophobic or racist. I abandoned that little hobby because it was causing undue stress and the regular followers were just plain scary. They have no moderation on their site so there was a regular crowd of cooks, some were even White Supremacists. It always got to a point where people would get way off topic, personally insult, threaten, even impersonate under one of my fake names. I really just wanted to destroy one of their dumb arguments with logic or an actual fact but these folksy-folks are foul mouthed and really angry at anyone they perceive as a "paleo-liberal". I always wondered where all the anger came from? I don't think it's real or justified. You live in a country where you can apparently have the time to write to comment threads and/or own a computer to do so, we don't have it so bad in this country my friend!
     Apparently SunTV already broadcasts in Toronto and London, Ontario, it looks kinda like A Channel, sort of an independent station nobody would watch because it's a bunch of American sitcoms in syndication. By the by they are also operating with a $50.3 million deficit. Oh those conservatives, why are they so bad at running anything and racking up debt?
     I had a look at the Sun TV News website, I'm sure conservatives everywhere are already wetting their panties! There is a big banner that says "STRAIGHT TALK", maybe that's their answer to "Fair and Balanced"? Sounds like they took it from John McCain's Straight Talk Express campaign bus, we all remember when the wheels came off that thing! They are also rounding up a who's who of Canadian right-wing pundits to be their newsy personalities:  David Akin, the guy who first spread the rumour on his twitter that Gordon Lightfoot had died, then later retracted and said he heard it from someone else, Charles Adler, who's been on TV since I was a lad and sometimes substitutes for Sean Hannity on FOX News, Ezra Levant, total right wing lunatic who is short and (fake) angry; he was responsible for bringing Ann Coulter to speak at Canadian Universities, Brian Lilley, who has written numerous run-of-the-mill right wing articles for the National Post, and Krista Erickson, I couldn't find out anything about her but she will be perfect in the role of hot chick, the kind FOX News have for straight men to ogle, they are nothing but T&A to lure the testosterone laden.
     Although SunTV will be based in Toronto, they also include a banner that says "with SunTV News the West will be in" I'm not sure what that means? Being based in Toronto and all. I guess they want to get that 60 plus crowd that are still so angry with Trudeau and the NEP out here in Alberta? I think it's a way for Toronto media types to appear to not be elitist to a Calgary type audience, even though they probably are, why not have the station in Calgary then? Please leave "the West" out of this anyway, Calgary has an undercurrent of Liberalism that is surfacing recently - check out the new mayor. I've always found Edmonton to have a strong Liberal leaning. Vancouver? I like to think of it as San Francisco North and as Saskatchewan goes, perhaps kind of a toss up, you can see anti-abortion signs in the country but there is a long history of the NDP too. Who wants to revitalize regional arguments anyway? Where did that get us? I am quite happy to just call myself Canadian thank you very much.
     So there's the model for FOX North, a bunch of angry white guys who are really just shills for the Conservative Party. Sorry Ezra, being Jewish does not exactly qualify as a minority, I think it's called "white minority" in the U.S. Census, as opposed to "non-white minority" check one please. Of course living in Calgary I have had experience meeting actual right wing media types. At first, because they never have gaydar, they think I am on their side, big white guy with a goatee and a scowl (it's just my natural look!), then they find out I'm not on their side and don't buy their tawdry remarks and thinly veiled right wingery. Sure, I have argued some but after a while it's like, what the hell is your problem? Haven't you ever met different people before? I'm not buying into your arguments so please leave me alone, trying to drink and talk to someone else now. I'm not sure where the right wing get their entitlement to anger? Are you not rich enough? Corporations don't have enough power?