Politic?

This is a blog dedicated to a personal interpretation of political news of the day. I attempt to be as knowledgeable as possible before commenting and committing my thoughts to a day's communication.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Those Bush-League Schools

Betcha dollars to doughnuts Allan Rock, PC, QC, LLB, the 29th President and Vice-Chanceller of the University of Ottawa, formerly Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations, before that Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada under the Liberal-led government of Jean Chretien was blind-sided by the University of Ottawa's vice-president and provost, Francois Houle. It must have been fascinating to have been the proverbial fly on the wall when the two met post-email sent to caution Ann Coulter, pre-address at the University.

"On campus, we promise our students a safe and positive space", according to a sociology and women's studies student, one of the several hundred protesters who had gathered to voice their obstreperous objections to the presence of this controversial, quite politically-incorrect political commentator and rabble-rouser. Well, Ann Coulter certainly raised the ire of the rabble dead set on preventing her from speaking at University of Ottawa yesterday.

Effectively squelching the opportunity of those many more who had gathered eagerly for that very purpose. A minority of vociferous hot-heads intent on apprehending a thousand people from attending a free-speech address on political correctness mounted by a free-speech advocacy group met with success when the speech was cancelled due to the potential danger their volatile presence presented to the speaker.

"It's a shame", said one of the would-be attendees. "They claim we're the intolerant ones, yet they're the ones who refuse to allow a conservative speaker to come to campus. That is the definition of intolerance." And one political science student had it right on target, disappointed that though he did not support the speaker, he had looked forward to the resulting debate. Ms. Coulter's very arguments, flippantly insulting, speak volumes about her agenda.

"Since I've arrived in Canada, I've been denounced on the floor of Parliament - which, by the way, is on my bucket list - my posters have been banned, I've been accused of committing a crime in a speech that I have not yet given, I was banned by the student council, so welcome to Canada!" Yes, oh yes indeed. Welcome to Canada. To one of the most tolerant, egalitarian countries on the face of this Earth, guaranteeing all the freedoms that free societies must.

It's just that obviously, something happened on the way to the forum. A university whose purpose it is to expose its students to various points of view, to encourage them to seek answers to vexing problems, to debate and to dialogue from a position of strength in knowledge, yet to be sufficiently open to other opinions that their own might diverge slightly if those others are sufficiently convincingly, somehow managed to imbue many of its students with an inviolable sense of self-righteous entitlement.

That entitlement, clearly, being that their opinions, set in stone, are not to be tampered with. That scholarly, academic, political, social, economic, and even politically correct opinions that are deemed averse to their own are obviously not entitled to a hearing, let alone a discussion possibly leading to a civil and perhaps even useful exchange of opinion. That the speaker in question thrives on provocation, and fancies herself a leader in right-wing opinion is utterly irrelevant to the situation at hand.

Even rabble-rousers may have some insights and clarifications that might prove useful in a general sense. Even those who clearly identify themselves by their messages as bigots may usefully point to problems that beset society that require amelioration. Rejecting everything out of hand simply leads to further polarization and that helps no one. "This has never, ever, ever happened before - even at the stupidest American university." said Ann Coulter.

Canadians are closed-minded, disinterested in debate, certain their established ideologies give them the right to slam the door on discussion? We've certainly seen ample evidence of just this in other situations where the liberal-left has insisted on its right to defame, slander, blame those with whom they don't agree - all the more so when they're in the process of slamming an entire community in the interests of support to those whom they consider ill done by.

In that instance, one occurring year after year in the most sanctimonious and damning of displays of hateful bigotry, and in that instance other groups who hold other opinions are silenced with the withering charges of racism and apartheid leanings. What's sauce for the goose becomes poison for the gander. Hatred emanating from the right is despicable and to be denounced and shunned. Hatred emanating from the left is admirable and to be supported.

This is freedom of speech and equality of opportunity, Canadian-style. Oh, not universally, but that it exists at all, and is countenanced as business-as-usual, gives a well-earned black eye to Canada's institutes of high dudgeon.

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