Flit

IT'S UNANIMOUS Two of the

IT'S UNANIMOUS

Two of the nation's three largest English-language papers, the one farthest left, and the one farthest right, both have an editorial today with the same simple title: "Ban Hezbollah."

(It should be noted that both papers also support substantial increases in defence spending. You could take it as evidence that what we are seeing in Canada today is the unique situation of a Canadian public and its press, left and right, increasingly united against their foul, corrupt, whiny little government.)

CANADA'S BEST COLUMNIST ON A

CANADA'S BEST COLUMNIST ON A ROLL

The Veterans Affairs minister has a "tiny pointed head?" Crusty!!

"SO BADLY GOVERNED" Good day

"SO BADLY GOVERNED"

Good day in the Canadian newspapers, as they try and struggle with our slow-but-steady decade-long decline in sovereignty and governmental responsibility.

The recent agreement, codifying what we always knew would have to happen in the the case of a serious national emergency in Canada now -- ie, that the American army comes to save us, sooner or later -- is portrayed more or less accurately in the anti-American Star. It's given a surprisingly soft treatment, if factually more accurate, by the pro-American National Post, though:

Military planners who crafted the new agreement say Canada and the United States will need to rely heavily on each other's resources if there is a terrorist attack or natural disaster, such as an earthquake, that threaten critical infrastructure in either nation... For example, military officials say it might be more practical for American troops to respond to a disaster in major Canadian centres close to the border because U.S. forces may be closer and able to arrive on the scene faster.

The unstated fact is that the Americans could arrive on any scene, anywhere in Canada, faster than we could, because our government doesn't believe in strategic airlift, or airborne battalions. Proximity to the border makes no difference. But the idea that Canada has any resources that the U.S. could "need to rely heavily on" is drug-induced.

Still, given that Canada's army is having difficulty generating much more than new spicy metaphors ("pissing around in a grey area?") for its current state of decline, I actually feel safer already, knowing we're giving up on the sovereignty thing. If at least one government in the world is interested in protecting my family and friends, I'm not really particular which one at this point.

Meanwhile, Canada's foremost political historian has finally lost his cool, and called the current Canadian government the worst in its history, begging people to vote for the Opposition, because the Liberal party thinks voters are stupid, among other reasons. The fact that there won't be another election for years doesn't seem to have occurred to him: I was actually hoping Mr. Bliss had completely gone around the twist and called for armed revolution, William Lyon Mackenzie style, but he disappointed me at the end.

As if to prove Mr. Bliss's point about the voters, the man chiefly responsible for the $1 billion cost overrun for the useless gun registry has called it a "magnificent achievement," and doubts the fact that achievement is now 50,000% over budget (that's not a typo) will keep him from being Prime Minister someday. Oh, good.

Meanwhile an innocent Canadian continues to rot in a Saudi jail, while the two British men accused with him claim his innocence from safe at home. Hasn't anyone drawn the obvious inference? The Brits are out because their government still commands something approaching respect, even from the Saudis. Ours can't. Proof positive that Dean Bliss is correct: thanks to the Chretien Liberals, we are no longer a real country.

UPDATE: C.K. (who should know) gently reminds me the two Britons interviewed in the Post article were actually arrested by the Saudis in a separate incident, and tried separately from Sampson.