I have no idea how I come across. Not really. Over my lifetime, I have found that some people like me, some don’t and the only remarkable part – if it’s accurate – is that most fall into those two categories and with many fewer being ambivalent. I do not make much of vanilla-benign-meh impression. Black or white, not so much grey. Such is life.
I even kinda know when I am gonna irritate a few people. I know it. My views on the Weinstein et al witchhunt, for instance. Anyone would know that some women might react viscerally. Differently. Opposed. I get that. (I still maintain that due process is the main message but I included a couple of ‘fightin’ words’ in my posts as well. I think that sex is a tool often USED by women and so on… But that is a debate for another day. This is not about that.) I am just saying, I know I can be annoying to some people. Sometimes.
Yeah, it was Sal who told me. Many times, actually.
This may prompt another one of those times. Trudeau is making me sick and embarrassed. He is still head and shoulders better than Harper but, sadly it is increasingly JUST the head and shoulders. He is only pretty. Harper was a Nazi. We all like pretty more than we like Nazis but, honestly? For the leader of my country to be a crying apologist for the history neither he, I, nor those in the audience experienced first hand!? I would rather have neither the nasty whip nor the whining wimp as the leader of my country. One made me angry. The other makes me embarrassed. A pretty airhead is less problematic, I suppose, than a Nazi but there might be a debate for some. Neither is a proper leader.
Trudeau, the walking tear duct, has feigned emotions for women, Inuit, LGBT-whatever-string-of-letters….to the point of absurdity. Even some of the media reporters are cringing. It’s ridiculous.
Once again, I do not want to be misconstrued or misunderstood. Apologies are sometimes necessary. Trust me, no one knows that better than me. And, I suppose, apologizing to a bunch of people for things done to previous generations has some beneficial purpose…for somebody. I suppose. And, I suppose, if I were gay, Inuit or female I would hold that view….but….honestly? It does NOT seem at all sincere to me. It’s a form of politicking. Nor do I understand why setting aside $145M tax dollars for ‘compensation’ to those deemed affected by some hindsight offense makes any sense.
But it is not really the apology I object to, it’s the stupidity of how and why it is done.
I apologize sometimes I have to (daily, if you must know) but I am either sincere or I don’t do it. And, if I am sincere, I make it a point to not re-offend in the same way. That’s part of the apology – a promise to do better. But I have never then cut the offended person a cheque. Never. And, believe it or not, some people have apologized to me (rarely) and I never expected monetary compensation from them. ESPECIALLY giving or getting funds from other people’s pockets? Trudeau tears up but someone ELSE pays the bill? That’s the very definition of insincere.
And the tears? The bloody tears? C’mon…….. I am sorry for bad things that happen to other people. Honest. I have even been brought to tears if I was close, knew them or was somehow connected. But I do not feel tears for generations or government decisions past. Maybe I should. But I don’t. But Trudeau cries for them all! What next? The Grizzly bear hunt? Whales? Puppies? Kittens? Roadkill?
He should apologize for the miserable acting.
Let me put this another way: my father was wounded in WW2. He was lied to by his and other Allied governments. He was misdirected. He was sacrificed. He was poorly treated afterward and he was wrecked by his ‘service’ to this country. When I say, ‘wrecked’, I mean he received a 100% disability pension (the equivalent of a welfare level amount). If, as a soldier, you get both legs blown off, you get an 80% disability. My dad got 100%. You’d think 100% disability was DEAD, wouldn’t you? And did he get an apology? Of course not.
My dad was not the only victim in his immediate post war life. The five of us (mom, me, two siblings) lived hand-to-mouth in condemned houses, ghettos and with a man prone to violence (PTSD writ large). Did we get an apology? Of course not.
And I do not want an apology. Wouldn’t accept it if offered. The prime offense was against my father. I was just a bit of collateral damage. And, I am OK with all of that. That’s life. To hell with stupid apologies. Just do NOT do it again!!!!
My point? We’ve all been hurt in some way. Harassment for women. Prejudice for others. Poverty. Lack of opportunities. Whatever. Trudeau did not do it to them, me or anyone. He hasn’t a clue about the real challenges in life so many face. Spoiled bloody brat. I just want him to shut the hell up and do what he can for those in the present and the future. Stop free-riding your political ambitions on the backs of the past victims. It’s nauseating.
And, if he does NOT fix the dreadful conditions on the reserves within days of these tear-filled apologies, what good are they? Isn’t he just setting it all up for some other insincere doofus twenty years from now?
Stop apologizing and just go to work to fix what needs fixing.
Our Off the Grid Home 
JDC, you took the words right out of my mouth! Brilliantly stated. Especially the part about your own family’s inheritance of the PTSD thanks to the WW2 thing. In fact I was trying to figure out how to talk about that myself, around the time of Remembering; about the on-going after effects in my own family after childhood and/or adult war experiences going back to the time of the Russian Revolution (at least this is the part we know about, plenty before that we have never heard the stories of) first and second world wars etc. etc……fact is Mr. T. has nothing to apologise for and neither do we, we are all innocent victims of all that human chaos actually. Nor does he really have the right to give a lot of other people’s money away like some sort of cheap bribe. I feel for those who are badly treated at any time in their lives or for those that went before them; there is an endless amount of trouble passed down, in all generations, in all walks of life, running through all cultures, races, tribes, nations, the lot. Everyone on the planet is suffering the consequences of all the shit that’s gone down since time began. So what is the answer? Insincere apologies? (so Canadian, apparently). Gazillions of cash payments. Where will it end? You hit it when you said, “Just don’t do it again!”. Thanks for putting it so well.
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Thank-you, CL. Appreciated.
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My sentiments exactly! Unfortunately I don’t posses sufficient erudition to pen the words myself, but you rock! Dude.
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Ooooh, oooh, ooooh….me like your words. Thanks.
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Sources of comfort and discomfort. It’s understandable that some find that disingenuous appologies have been made by the Liberal government. Some find these appologies are vapid and maulin. At various times Canadians have heard appologies for the Chinese head tax, residential school abuses, persecution of gays, and so on. These appologies were and continue to be a source of comfort to many who were hurt. Canadians have seen the recipients of these appologies weeping openly, to many of the recipients these appologies are a source of comfort.
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If you say so. But I don’t believe it. At least not to the extent claimed. But, as I said, apologies are sometimes required. So, I’ll accept that. But this? This drama-laden crap? This blatant politicalization of PAST mistakes many of which were deemed right by the standards at the time? These bribes, these pay-offs, these costs-to-those-not-in-the-least responsible (current taxpayers)? That’s just wrong in my eyes. Totally.
A sincere apology to actual victims NOT publicly exploited for political gain and NOT sullied by money or paid by others….well, if that, OK. Maybe. MAYBE……
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It is of some interest that June 22, 2006, Harper rose in Parliament to give an apology for the Chinese head tax. Along with this apology a token payment of 20,000 each was offered to the children of those who paid a head tax. Mr Gim Wong, thanked Harprer for a “sincere and patient” apology. Since that time the head tax issue has not been raised and the 200 recipients who each received $20,000 seemed to have been thus comforted. Was this a cynical vote buying ploy by the Conservatives. Was Harper sincere? Gim Wong said he was.
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You and Gim Wong are more predisposed than I am to this kind of ‘gesture’. I will remain unconvinced even if Mr Wong was made happy. I suspect that he was there and the representitive that best filled the bill. It is unlikely an ambivalent Mr. Wu was invited or questioned. It is even more unlikely a non mollified Mr Tang was invited. We can be 100% sure that no Albertan or Conservative racists were invited. It is safe to assume smiles were going to be evident. So, you tell me.
But, again, you miss the point. Harper did not levy the head tax. Neither did I. Or you. Maybe it was an error. Maybe it was prejudicial. Maybe it was just a way of saying ‘this tax is your contributing to the infrastructure you will now be enjoying’.
Do we re-try every government decision since MacDonald if those decisions don’t satisfy or meet modern standards? If so, why strive to get better? It will just mean suffering guilt for previous generations shortcomings.
If you must apologize for things you had nothing to do with, then do so. But don’t use my taxes to pay off your misplaced sense of guilt. I don’t share it. You know why.? Because I try to be a good person all the time. Am I perfect? No. But my intentions are. Therefore:. NO GUILT.
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If your point is revisionism per say, I’m not a fan of it either. I agree that the new born infant is not responsible for the travesties of the past but is likely to experience them in the future. At one point Canada had the Asian Exclusion Laws, forced sterilization, incarceration of children as young as eleven years of age in Federal prisons, Capital punishment and many other grim barbaric practices. The current Canadian policies ask for inclusion, tolerance, compassion, healing and reconciliation. Perhaps the way forward is not to acknowledge past grievances. But the previous silence on these issues has yielded little. Land claims continue to fester, the educational system past and present continues as a lightening rod for grievances, past memories of the policies of genocide, cultural suppression are being fanned back into life. But it appears that the memories of people with grievances are very long. What is the proper approach here? Rip off tha scab or try to reconcile. Let’s try compassion.
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The right way forward is simple and clear: don’t do it again. It’s that simple.
Of course, we are fallible. We will make mistakes. We may even make the same mistake (then resignations are in order, maybe worse). But we just have to do our best, follow good morals and ethics and listen when those are questioned. Simple plan. Difficult to execute. But that is the way. No money. No public drama nonsense (that alienates the majority, nothing positive). No one needs tears or money if the intention to fix it is present and soon proven.
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What about ‘truth and reconciliation’ as was done in South Africa and Ireland? If not here why was it need there?
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Surely you are not suggesting that, if I does it, the others should? And, tell me, how’s that T&R workin’ out? For many, it simply justifies their anger.
Anyway, once again you miss the point: everyone wants forgiveness, love, hope, etc. I am not against healing. I am against insincere, money-seeking, politicized, empty gestures. The best way to heal is to do good work now. Real work. No words. No more posturing. No more amateur hour soap opera tears and halting, choked speech. If you are truly sorry, fix it. No apologies. No excuses. Not even explanations. Just fix it. Quietly. No exploitation. No politics. No publicity.
Just do a great job for Canadians today and the dead ones will rest easy.
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Truth and Reconciliation.
UGH.
Lets tear down all the statues of every former leader of every political stripe, religion, color and belief because we’re now judging them from todays view of “the truth”.
Whatever THAT is.
I cant wait to see what the politically correct statue’s of tomorrow will be… gender neutral, sexless, transparent (because any color would render them “biased”) blobs that satisfy no one except the PC nazi’s that rule the world.
50 years hence……
‘Hail to our new beginning, middle and end for we are spineless jellyfish”
“So say one, so say all at the Ministry of Truth….now line up for your daily ration of jellyfish pablum good citizen”
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Non-con’s…..’ugh’…..seems to express the same sentiments as my lengthier one. I have to say, I would not even tear down Robt. E. Lee’s statue or anyone else’s monument who was later disgraced. I MIGHT put up an explanatory ‘lesson’ plaque so that people understood that what was deemed acceptable back then was later deemed unacceptable at a certain date. Of course, I would be prepared to see a third one go back if we all collectively changed our minds again. How strongly do I feel? NOT that strongly. I am sure they tore down all the monuments to Hitler but I would have left one. NOT to honour but to REMIND. But all the others could go……
…..maybe send one from deep storage over for the White House lawn on loan….
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I once heard someone years ago refer to some of Vancouver City Council as ‘Poverty Pimps”.
ie Using other people’s problems and misery to further their own political agenda.
Trudeau is an embarrassment.
Cringeworthy in his nonstop apologies,
Blubbering at the drop of an hat.
He’s 2 years into a 5 year mandate and he’s achieved nothing of significance other than meaniless selfies with world leaders at Intenational talks on everything BUT our economy..
The NAFTA tade talks are a farce when the Canadian contingent insists on including “gender equality rights”…..in a trade agreement.
What a joke.
And now the economy is balancing on the precipice of a massive Real estate correction.
Honeymoon over.
Now the real work begins
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‘’I Think I’m going to puke.” What Trump said when General Flynn flipped for the special prosecutor.
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“Why is Jared’s head in the toilet?”. What Trump said arriving at nearest bathroom.
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Pleading guilty to lying to the FBI is not really flipping, Talking to foreign govenment officials is not a crime, lying about it is.
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You are right, John. And, to be quite frank, talking to Russia is probably, in general terms, a good thing. The two nations need to cooperate more. That the whole Trump team has lied about it from the inception only SUGGESTS wrongdoing of a significant kind. Maybe it is no more significant than releasing the Russian ‘troll’ army to influence people .which is now pretty obvious anyway. If the level of Russian interference stopped there, Trump looks bad but, in his words,”so, what! I won!”. For me, tho, it suggests the crime is deeper. I believe and have believed for years that Trump is a conduit for Russian illegal funds. They give him the money he has built his false reputation on. And they own him. I didn’t care that Clinton and Monica had sex. I don’t care if the Russians preferred Trump and so trolled on his behalf. But I do care if the Russians own him and I think they do. We’ll see.
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The term for willingly co-operating with the Special Prosecutor is “flipping” or ratting out the higher ups. Finking, spilling one’s guts, biting the hand of your boss, or being perfidious.
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“Why is Jared’s head in the toilet?”. What Trump said arriving at nearest bathroom.
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Son-in-law found under a metaphorical bus.
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Ahhhh, but the real question for Jared Kushner is.
“Will Ivanka agree to conjugal visits?”
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From whom?
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It appears that some money laundering is at the core of this. No releasing of tax forms, real estate deals with Russian oligarchs, unreported meetings and lying. Some substance and a lot of smoke
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Kushner was pursuing Russian money for refinancing. Many of Mara Lagos and Trump Tower residents and members are Russians. Trump flipped a huge estate in Florida to a Russian who has never been there. And so much more. Are those crimes? Not convictable ones, I suspect. But they smell. They really stink. Plus, how do you fail at just about every deal, go bankrupt five times and still get richer? Honestly! I think the Russians bought Trump originally just to money launder. That he tapped into the grassroots revulsion for the fetid swamp that is the corporate,-backed US government was a fluke, a delicious irony. Putin fooled Bubba into voting in HIS swamp with his troll army. Was Clinton white and virginal! Nope. Were Bubba and the deplorables fed up? Yep. Were the swamp creatures of the GOP too stupid and greedy to stop Putin? Absolutely. So, now you have the worst of both parties, the establishment, corporate Koch Bros AND the Russians.
Bubba is ignorant and kept ignorant by FOX, Brietbart, drugs, Kardashians and the world’s worst public education system. But Bubba felt there was something wrong and Bubba has been getting angrier and angrier. Stupid people do stupid things. But the feelings are right. There has been something wrong for a long time. Trump isn’t the answer, tho.
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The Trump organization was looking for dirt on Hillary during the election that the Russians said they could provide.
The fact that Trump’s insiders (Jared Kushner?) agreed to a meeting with Russian contacts is a violation of American Law.
The fact that they LIED about those meetings under Oath is definitely a violation of American Law.
The rot may go right to the top.
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