Eight random things about me
Having been tagged by Apathetic Nation I am duty bound to reveal eight startlingly humdrum random facts about myself
1. I have a phobia of snakes
2. The span of my arms from fingertip to fingertip is longer than I am tall and yet there doesn't appear to be an organgutan blood in my family.
3. My favorite band is the Asylum Street Spankers.
4. I think Patrick O'Brien is one of the greatest novelists of all time.
5. I have drunk beer and argued politics with living Canadian Cultural Icon Stompin' Tom Connors.
6. I hate brussel sprouts.
7. I once went skydiving.
8. I was once a professional cook.

Allison, Mudhooks, Azahar, Laura and Wammo -- consider yourselves tagged

The pants-wetting bigot in the room
Is clearly Andrew C. McCarthy, who's real ascared of Muslims. He's upset that media coverage of the recent arrests of 17 suspected would-be terrorists in Canada doesn't pointedly state that the arrested men and teens are Muslims.

McCarthy writes:
"Phase Two was also in full swing Monday, as the Times returned to the Canadian plot. The conspiracy’s leaders, we were told, may have “led prayers” and given “fiery speeches,” but this doesn’t mean they “openly embrace[d] violence.” After all, it’s just Islam (many of whose fiery scriptures openly embrace violence). And surely the police may have “framed” the defendants. The charges, you see, speak only of bomb components being ordered, not whether they were actually delivered. They describe bombing plans, not precisely identified targets. "


Where to start on such ignorant dipshittery? Hmmmm, "led prayers" and gave "fiery speeches"
you say? Goodness me, quick pull up the drawbridge. And it's only Islam whose fiery scriptures openly embrace violence. Right, because Christians have never waged war in the name of religion, nor embraced cruelty. How many stories about Guantano Bay, Abu Graib and Haditha or IRA, ETA and antiabortion bombing have we seen that have identified the perpetrators as "Christians"?

As far as I know, no one credible has seriously suggested this is a frame up. The charges speak of bomb components being ordered not delivered because they were delivered by the RCMP who had been watching these al-Qaida wannabes for two years (Hurrah for the Horsemen). Pardon me if I don't wet my pants and insist that the government tap everyone's phone, read everyone mail and require everyone to wear an IC chip in their arm or have a bar code tattooed on their forehead so we can "protect our freedom." Our system is working just fine and the police and CSIS are doing their jobs very well, even if those red coats make undercover work a bit difficult.

And while some ignorant jackasses claim that multiculturism is to blame for the bomb plot because it lets non-white, non-Christian foreigners walk the streets of Canada with impunity, I think it can be argued that multiculturalism allowed us to catch these guys (check out Mike's comments on this Canadian Cynic thread. )

This is not Canada's 9/11, nothing has changed and we don't need to let Stockwell Day call out the Gestapo to keep us safe from the scary foriegners, so all you damp-trousered fraidy cats on the right just take a few deep breaths and settle down.

We went after the FLQ with the biggest hammer available and the embitterment resulting from the use of the War Measures Act aided their cause more than any bombing or kidnapping they could have committed. The goal of the terrorist or a revolutionary is to provoke a response, to make the government crack down thus turning it against its own people. We must not give in and let that happen.

For other sensible antidotes to bigoted pants-wetting panic on the right, see Wonderdog and Liberal Catnip or check out the snark on Creekside