"Where else would you go when you have an ax to grind?"

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Major (General) Dick
"I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is okay to be immoral in any way." -- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace

Indeed, I could not agree more. Immorality like this, this, this, this and this has no place in government policy or action. What kind of immorality were you talking about, General?

"I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts. I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is okay to be immoral in any way." -- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace.

Just so I have this straight, let me check: imprisoning children indefinitely, abduction and torture (or as they call it rendition and robust interrogation), reading citizens' email and tapping their phones without judicial oversight, bombing civilians, lying to Congress, watching a major American city drown, letting poor kids die from something as simple as a tooth infection, drilling for oil in national parks, punishing the poor while giving more money to the rich -- these things are all okay. But two consenting adults of the same gender doing what consenting adults do is wrong.

Well, at least they aren't litterbugs

Welcome home
Nine-year-old Canadian Kevin Yourdkhani will soon be coming home to Toronto from the Hutto detention facility where he and Iranian parents have been held by U.S. Immigration authorities after they were found to be carrying false passports when their flight from South America to Canada made an unscheduled stop in the United States due to a medical emergency. The nine-year-old and his parents have been incarcerated for a month, but will soon be free - no thanks to Peter McKay or Stephen Harper who declined to intervene. Way to "Stand Up For Canada" guys.
Immigration Minister Diane Finlay has promised to grant the family a reprieve, which will be sufficient for them to get out of jail in the U.S. and come to Canada to try to get residency status. The parents were deported in 2005 after a ten year struggle to be accepted as refugees. They say they were arrested and tortured immediately after their return to Iran. Their son was born in Canada and is a Canadian citizen.

See, they aren't all wankers

A great big Woodshed thanks to Ralph Isenberg for being a real mensch.

Ralph Isenberg, a Dallas real estate developer whose Chinese-born wife has had her own struggles with immigration authorities, was so touched by Kevin's story he contacted Brouwer to offer help, including covering the family's airfare to Toronto.

"This is my apology to the Canadian people, to say sorry for the insensitivity of our government in taking a 9-year-old boy into custody in a maximum-security prison. Can you imagine what permanent damage it can cause to the child?" Isenberg said.

"Last I heard, Canada is one of our best allies, and this is how we treat our best friend from Canada? God only help you if you're the enemy of the U.S."