Omar Khadr.
I hope he can remain out of confinement. I hope the US justice system has returned sufficiently to it's senses that he doesn't have to be returned to a cell. I hope he can be free.
He's not free now of course, irrespective of the bigoted bleating of various Harperian asshats. Even irrespective of his own misapprehension of his state. One day but not yet.
What concerns me most about his immediate future, and by extension, yours and mine, is that Harper will simply instruct his state police to charge into his lawyers home in full military gear under cover of night and re-take or kill him and possibly anyone who witnesses their action. They may even have enough confidence in their invulnerability to do it in broad daylight. Paulson has given me no reason to think he wouldn't simply 'follow orders' mindlessly.
Between Harper's mindless idiot followers, the apathetic cud chewing majority of the Canadian herd and the Harperian corporate press there probably wouldn't be much more than a 5 day wonder of a stink raised. The deeper shame would be that in certain circles of the Canadian elite and press the action would be praised.
Cynical? You bet I am.
A tail dragging romp through the swamps of the world
5 comments:
Good post. Yes, Harper has shown his desperation in his oppressive treatment of this youth offender.
.. it would be on a Friday.. approx 5:30 PM
the burning question tho ..
is whether every single action of this nature
gets Harper's personal sign off - approval
or just Ray Novak's..
or has the PMO just gone off the rails
with Harper and Ray's unwritten blessing
your post sums it up and I don't think you are that off base with your thoughts. Bill C-51 will be law shortly and we can expect "the fun" to start in this country.
Steve and his Cons don't care about crime. If they did, they wouldn't have cut the budget of the anti child porn unit of the RCMP. Steve just wants to advance his religious agenda through his office and the House of Commons.
Omar Khadr stands a decent chance in his appeals in the U.S.A. that won't look to good for Steve and his Cons, if that happens. Is it possible? yes, it is. Bin Landen's chauffeur stood trial, was found guilty, appeal, and won. Now how will that work for Steve, if Omar Khadr wins his appeal? Not good at all.
People might want to remember Steve and 60 of his cons belong to the Christian and Missionary alliance church. They believe the bible is "inerrant" and the second coming is "imminent".
How can a civilized government think a 15 yr old kid belongs in Gitmo. That is sick. I've seen the pictures of Omar Khadr after he was injured. I'd be surprised he could have done anything, much less thrown anything.
We have had child soldiers from other countries brought here, provided homes, therapy and they went on to become good Canadian citizens. why can't steve and his gang provide the same for Omar Khadr.
I'm not sure why these neo-rightists are unafraid of spouting absurdisms---does it win unthinking minds or reassure the converted? Is it an inside joke? Maybe if one of these insiders could be sent to Gitmo, the truth out will out!
The converted--the the "base", or "al qaeda", or whatever they're called---are barely, barley sufficient in number terms to win another mandate, but so long's Harper has yet to cow the judiciary (or, for that matter, the Senate, the provinces and the Queen---'cept maybe her rep), he needs some democratic measure, no matter how fuzzy---and it will be so long's the bullshit "Fair Elections Act" stands (it can't very well be challenged in court until it's used, which might be just long enough to obscure some tight but decisive races that, by the magic of statistics rather than counting, a la Ted Opitz in Etobicoke, return an undeserving Con or two).
So what's with the absurdisms? I figure it must be---could only be by process of elimination---a loyalty check. Nod like an acolyte of Colonel Chauvin, and you're in. But what does a "fail" do? Earn you a robo call?
Somehow I remain unafraid.
Khadr's lawyer acted pre-emptively when he arranged for a generous press conference after his client's release. To have it as an outdoors, stand up, relaxed deal was brilliant. I've read the readers' comments on a few news sites and they're overwhelmingly sympathetic to Khadr.
Harper grievously overplayed his hand in demonizing Khadr before the rest of us got a close look at him. I was half expecting some diabolical devotee of Islamic fundamentalism. Instead I saw a guy I'd be happy to have live next door.
It was bad enough when Harper lost his pissing contest with Chief Justice McLachlan. Now he's done it again. Fuck him!
MoS
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