I expected better...
I never used to think that Jonah Goldberg was all that bad, but today, a profoundly stupid column by him in the LA Times.
"Canada is arguably the most deluded industrialized nation in the world. Because elite Canadians think the U.S. is the font of the world's problems..."
Which elites think this? Does he mean political elites? Naturally he can't mean the current Canadian government, considering their Conservative political label... but even if he's referring to the past government, the Liberals, it isn't exactly true. None of the prominent Liberal leadership candidates is blatantly "anti-American", though most of them will have no problem appealing to anti-Americanism in order to secure political advantage (though this strategy did not work very well at all during this past general election.) The front-runner in the Liberal leadership race is actually considered to be half-American, especially considering his use of the words "we" and "us" when speaking to American audiences about the role of America in the world.
Moving on:
"They've bravely contributed to the war in Afghanistan, where 2,300 troops still serve, but refused to join the effort in Iraq, believing that jihadists would honor such fine distinctions. That was awfully nice of them."
What a moronic statement. I think it's regrettable that Canada did not contribute to the Iraqi war/liberation, but to attribute to Canada's motives that Chretien believed that "jihadists would honor such fine distinctions" is really ignorant. Chretien didn't participate because he knew it would be politically unpopular - that was the only reason. There were no high principles involved, no fear of being a terrorist target or anything like that. Chretien knew that it would be politically unsellable, especially in Quebec, and he was right. It's also proved to be politically unsellable in America as well, despite President Bush's admirable efforts, but Goldberg doesn't bother to point that out.
Then Goldberg goes onto quote several obscure Canadians who talk about their surprise at Canada being a target because Canada is supposedly so "nice". He doesn't bother to quote the many commentators who have pointed out that our committment to Afghanistan is not viewed with much distinction to the American "occupation" in Iraq. He doesn't bother to mention that there are active terror cells in the United States as well.
Most of all, Goldberg doesn't consider there to be much distinction at all between the social situation in Europe compared to the situation in Canada. While in Europe, demographic and social issues will continue to result in much conflict and tension, that same situation is not replicated in Canada. Our economy is doing a lot better than Europe's and Canada's Muslims are by in large far more likely to view themselves as "Canadian" compared to European Muslims who have a harder time identifying themselves as "British" or "French" or "Dutch".
"Canada is arguably the most deluded industrialized nation in the world. Because elite Canadians think the U.S. is the font of the world's problems..."
Which elites think this? Does he mean political elites? Naturally he can't mean the current Canadian government, considering their Conservative political label... but even if he's referring to the past government, the Liberals, it isn't exactly true. None of the prominent Liberal leadership candidates is blatantly "anti-American", though most of them will have no problem appealing to anti-Americanism in order to secure political advantage (though this strategy did not work very well at all during this past general election.) The front-runner in the Liberal leadership race is actually considered to be half-American, especially considering his use of the words "we" and "us" when speaking to American audiences about the role of America in the world.
Moving on:
"They've bravely contributed to the war in Afghanistan, where 2,300 troops still serve, but refused to join the effort in Iraq, believing that jihadists would honor such fine distinctions. That was awfully nice of them."
What a moronic statement. I think it's regrettable that Canada did not contribute to the Iraqi war/liberation, but to attribute to Canada's motives that Chretien believed that "jihadists would honor such fine distinctions" is really ignorant. Chretien didn't participate because he knew it would be politically unpopular - that was the only reason. There were no high principles involved, no fear of being a terrorist target or anything like that. Chretien knew that it would be politically unsellable, especially in Quebec, and he was right. It's also proved to be politically unsellable in America as well, despite President Bush's admirable efforts, but Goldberg doesn't bother to point that out.
Then Goldberg goes onto quote several obscure Canadians who talk about their surprise at Canada being a target because Canada is supposedly so "nice". He doesn't bother to quote the many commentators who have pointed out that our committment to Afghanistan is not viewed with much distinction to the American "occupation" in Iraq. He doesn't bother to mention that there are active terror cells in the United States as well.
Most of all, Goldberg doesn't consider there to be much distinction at all between the social situation in Europe compared to the situation in Canada. While in Europe, demographic and social issues will continue to result in much conflict and tension, that same situation is not replicated in Canada. Our economy is doing a lot better than Europe's and Canada's Muslims are by in large far more likely to view themselves as "Canadian" compared to European Muslims who have a harder time identifying themselves as "British" or "French" or "Dutch".
posted by Japnaam Singh at
3:24 PM
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