The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Ranting and the Internet We will always have ranting and raving by politicians of all stripes as long as there are issues and people willing (or even unwilling) to listen. In the days before TV and radio, the ranting was even louder, and the best politicians had the loudest voices. Today, with modern media and sound bites, loudness is not needed. Acceptable looks and reasoned arguments are what is needed to keep the public's interest. One of the biggest ranters on the international stage is the president of Iran, a first class embarrassment to his country. However, as many writers have pointed out, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has no real power in his country; the pull really resides with the non-elected religious leaders. Ahmadinejad, apart from his calling for the destruction of Israel and denying the Holocaust, has claimed there are no homosexuals in Iran and other strange things. At the UN in September, he attacked the U.S. and Canada, even handing out a booklet to the delegates attacking Canada's human rights record, saying among other things that our government "denies its people food, clean water and the right to work." Canada is no friend of the regime in Iran, especially after its government tortured and murdered a Canadian journalist in 2003. None of their accusations have any validity whatsoever, and Iran has a dreadful record of human rights violations. The Americans and the British are certainly down on Iran as well, and with good reason. Both are calling for sanctions until Iran gets rid of its nuclear program. The U.S. has caught several Iranians smuggling sophisticated weapons into Iraq and Afghanistan, and accuse them of arming terrorists and allowing them to kill Americans and Canadians. The Iranians deny this, but all signs are that they and the Americans are tilting toward a conflict. If more Americans are killed by Iranian weapons, look out, Iran! One of the strangest invitations in history came when Ahmadinejad was offered the chance to speak at New York's Columbia University. There was a nasty introduction of Ahmadinejad by the university's president, who called him a petty dictator, among other things. He should never have been invited, but when you invite someone to speak, should you castigate them in the introduction? Only in America! Liberal leader Stephane Dion has turned into a ranter. After taking a major hit in recent by-elections, Dion attacked Canada's foreign policy, saying it was just catering to the Americans. In reality, it's an extension of the foreign policy of the Liberals of which Dion was a part. Dion also attacked Prime Minister Stephen Harper for not bringing home terrorist Omar Khadr, who is still being held by the Americans at Guantanimo Bay for murder and other things. Apparently Khadr was only 10 when he was indoctrinated by his al-Qaeda father. Do Canadians really want this terrorist in Canada? Dion figures that the best defence for his incompetencies is a good offence, but he didn't make a big impression on the press with his attacks on Harper. Ranting on the Internet? Howard Dean, the former would-be U.S. presidential candidate for the Democrats and now head of the party, lost his chance for the nomination with his ranting. But he was hugely successful in raising campaign money on this electronic medium. Canada's Conservative Party has picked up on Dean's success, as have others. You can say what you like on the Internet and there is little comeback and no punishment for errors or out-and-out falsehoods. Don't get me wrong, the Internet is a marvelous part of media, but there are few controls as there are in radio, TV and the press. Should there be, or is it really not necessary? More to come. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
