Apologies Rejected

I could not read this message from a Vancouver Police Officer without re-posting it.  The message is anonymous but the words ring true. 

Please Stop Apologizing: a police officer’s letter to rioters

Dear 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup Rioters,

Please stop saying you’re sorry. Stop posting YouTube videos begging for forgiveness. Stop writing letters asking that society cut you some slack and leave you alone.

While you were drunk and flipping cars, I was driving with all of my emergency equipment on to get into Vancouver. While you were throwing anything you could get your hands on at the police, I was pressure testing my APR and standing in the middle of the tear gas. While you and thousands of others disgraced Vancouver and its surrounding population, I stood shoulder to shoulder with a couple hundred men and women, whom I trust my life with, ready to address your indiscretions.

You came up to me like you owned the streets in your drunken stupor, thrust your middle fingers in my face and shouted obscenities; I didn’t snap you in half.

Actions speak louder than words.

You started “harmless” fires. You torched other men and women’s cars whom you’d never met and never did you wrong. You assaulted firemen as they arrived to try and deal with your “mistakes”. You took limited, valuable emergency resources away from good people who needed them. You endangered more lives by tying up emergency services than you ever considered.

You started fights. You stabbed people you’d never met because they somehow made you angry. You gave men and women trying to protect property life altering concussions. You brought paramedics into the tear gas and exhausted them trying to save people they’d never met.

You showed up to hospital emergency rooms crying because you’d been exposed to tear gas. You got obnoxious and demanded to be treated like you were somehow dying. You knew it was a riot, you chose not to leave, you chose to stick around and breathe the tear gas in. You took nurses and doctors away from people who needed their care to live. People they’d never met but work tirelessly to save. You demanded to be treated as if you were better than the rest of society.

You’d tell me that the emergency services personnel I speak of are paid to do this job and chose to be there. You’re right. We give a damn about people we’ve never met and property that isn’t ours, that’s why we do what we do. You disgust us.

What brought a tear to my eye, after the gas had cleared, was standing in the middle of an intersection at about 3am the only people I’d seen for the last 30 minutes were other police officers, until a shop keeper brought us a case of water. Then I saw a random person with a broom clearing the sidewalk. I had a duty to respond, the citizens of Vancouver immediately afterward could have just left it up to those paid to deal with it. They didn’t just stand by, they came out in force and cleaned up after your indiscretions. Everyone I saw that early morning thanked me, I was only doing my job. I have the utmost respect for all of the people from Vancouver and the surrounding areas that came downtown and volunteered to clean up after you.

You owe Vancouver and the surrounding population more than mere words. Don’t you dare ask for our forgiveness without taking responsibility. You can’t fix life altering injuries with an “I’m Sorry”. You can’t repay someone’s car loan with a YouTube video. You ask that people leave you and your family alone but you offer no way to replace priceless losses.

You’ll sleep soundly in your bed tonight because men and women like me will always be there to deal with your poor choices. You have no idea how fortunate you are, even after we arrest and charge you. Even though you disgust me, if you call for me in the middle of the night I’ll respond. I’ll protect your life and property because it’s right and it’s what I do.

The evening of June 15, 2011 fellow emergency services personnel, my brothers and sisters, left our families at home and while grossly out numbered stood to fight. The morning of June 16, 2011 the true heroes emerged to volunteer their time and restored my faith in humanity.
Actions speak louder than words. What are you going to do about that?

— a police officer from the suburbs, who was called in to serve and protect on that night; a proud Vancouverite.

Good Cop, Bad Cop: The Conservative Party and Sun News

I'm still amazed and delighted at the situation conservatives find themselves in today. 

On one hand we have the majority Conservative Government.  It's a government that obliterated the vote subsidy and is legislating not one but two unions back to work while Jack Layton has to watch.  All this before the summer recess and they aren't shy about Senate Reform either.  Love it.  The gun registry is as good as gone and the economy is chugging right along.  Look at our guys go!  Keep it up.

On the other hand we have Sun News.  Extremely conservative media.  Every second is an in-your-face to the liberal establishment media.   Its awesome.  Today Ezra Levant, who is a free speaking hero in his own right, had Ann Coulter on his show.  They talked about mobs and riots and how any issue advocated by the left becomes one with rioting mobs.  At one point Ann wanted to claim BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan as US states.  Very flattering.  I'm sure this is just one of her sensationalisms, but the funny thing is that if nationalism wasn't an issue, I'd bet there are more US States that would rather be under Stephen Harper than under Barack Obama. Get your citizenship ahead of the rush Ann.

Its a great time to be Canadian.  I contend that these increasingly opposed forces are fantastic for political discourse in Canada.  There's a new argument going on.  Its not just the force fed left wing dialectic we've all grown up with anymore.  Its the center right Conservative Government vs. the extreme right Sun News.  Excellent.  The Government won't be able to get away with anything that socialists decide gets a free pass, while also getting a vocal cheerleader for good conservative moves.  Its good cop, bad cop.

In case you don't know, Good cop-bad cop, or bad cop-worse cop as you prefer, is an urban legend where 2 cops interrogate a suspect by pretending one is crazy so that the suspect sides with the friendly cop to avoid losing fingers or whatever.  The Conservative Party gets to play the good cop, while Sun News is the bad cop. 

Who's the suspect then?  There are so many, but one of the big ones is the CBC. 

Recently, Sun News has taken issue with Heritage Minister James Moore and the CBC.  Specifically with the Canada Day celebrations that have been auctioned exclusively to the CBC and no other broadcaster.  Sun News has been very hostile to James Moore about this.  Sun News is loathed by liberals from coast to coast. When they bash James Moore because he sticks up for the State Broadcaster the CBC, you can't help but think James Moore ends up as the hero to those that love the CBC. 

I like James Moore.  He's clean and effective, the way good Conservative Ministers should be. 
He's got a tough job and that is fine because he can handle it.  That's why he takes the big bucks.  I don't think partisans should have anything to worry about when Sun News attacks.  It makes James Moore into the good cop from the perspective of the CBC.  If CBC is smart, they will become more and more pro government.  They will never be conservative, its just not in their DNA.  Canada Post would not have invented the internet or fax machines, you can't expect the CBC to suddenly decide that they should not exist and enable that line of thinking.  At the very least they will stop being the media party and support the government more often.  A victory. 

As for Sun News they need to keep doing what they are doing.  Attack, attack, attack, then attack some more.  There are generations of liberal attitudes to dissolve and we have a small window to spread the alternative.  This is how it works.  This is how you make the CBC knuckle under to a Conservative Government.  They know what we think of them, and it's only James Moore that stands between us, Sun News, and the CBC. 


Also note:

I would caution Sun News.  Don't take yourselves too seriously.  I'm not entirely sure the public cares at all if CBC got the Canada day bid or not.  Be careful you all don't get too excited over something that excites an upstart broadcaster more than anyone else.  We all have our cracker factories and their rivalries with the other cracker factories.  Just dial it down a notch if at all possible.  All of your angry words for James Moore and the CBC the other day didn't really hold up when I went over to CBC to see how things are looking.  When I watch the CBC I see a chipper blond with a cute smile that kinda trumps the angry men at Sun News.  I'm saying this because I love you.  You have to save the crisis attitude for a real crisis.  Barack Obama is not my president and I do not need a furrowed brow all of the time.  There is always a big deal around the corner and it doesn't involve you.  I'll come to you to hear all about it though.  Keep at it.

National Shame

What a way to blot out the pride we all felt after the Vancouver Olympics.  After the spontaneous anthems and record medal count that made us each claim Vancouver as a Canadian city, as our city, we had last night.

Shame.

I don't care about the game.  I care less about hockey than I did a couple of days ago, and I certainly don't care for the nucks or their nucklehead fans.  Not now.  Now I hope they never win the cup ever.

I didn't even watch the game.  I was soaking in the rain watching my Stampeders get absolutely stomped by the Lions in a pre-season game.  Those are real fans.  At one point I heard a cheer go up.  Did the Canucks score a goal?  Nope: schadenfreude.   The cheer was for a Boston shut-out.  Understandable seeing as we were watching our own shutout.  Somebody in the crowd said that they were burning cars in Vancouver and it really didn't register until we went to a pub afterwards.

"Idiots" was the word that slipped from my mouth as I saw the images.  Its the one word statement of fact that was echoed by pundits and show hosts and columnists around the world.  As we were united in victory during the Vancouver Olympics, we were united again in shame and disgrace.

Depape got her wish.

I found myself cheering when police were beating a rioter.  Say what you want, that's how I felt.  I hate those people.  Rioters, Looters, Hooligans, Anarchists, all of you can have a baton in the face.  I would absolutely love a volunteer crowd control group.  If police can't stop a riot how will they stop us from stopping it (and cracking some heads that need a good crack.  Pun intended.)  That would be worth taking some knocks myself but we know how this idea would go.  Rioters and counter rioters would end up in a bloodbath and its only the skill and training of the police that stop people from getting killed in the first place.  Even the G20 was free of fatalities.  The fatality free G20 was a triumph of training, skill, discipline and planning no matter how the arm chair generals wank on about it.  Nobody died.  People who got hurt deserved it, and the rest faked it.  EOF

So fine, if that makes me a thug then so be it.  It boils my blood.  I'm an honest thug and one that is too busy and wise (and too old) to actually go out be one for real.  Let the professionals handle it.  They handle it better than I ever could.

Wisdom dictates that we can't just kick ass, but we can still take names.  This is the silver lining of this whole debacle.  Its so inspiring to me that social media is being used to identify the criminals who are too stupid to be ashamed of themselves.    Many vandals actually posted pictures of themselves posing in the midst of criminal acts.  The police are actively collecting evidence, and good citizens are helping out by posting their photos.

This blog actually makes me a lot less angry at Vancouver.  I know its a big city with some big losers in it.  Those losers have shamed Vancouver and Canada as a whole.  They have shamed me.

We can't let these crazies hold our great civilization hostage because we are too kind to stop them.  The people who've been identified should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  I want to see what happens to them.  I want them to replace however many millions they destroyed.  Most of all I want them publicly humiliated.  Their family needs to know what they did.  Their prospective employers need to know.  They need to stand in front of everyone, red faced and dripping with remorse, and apologize.  Then maybe we can be satisfied and forgive.

The Best Defence

The best defense is a good offense.  Its an old saying that you've probably heard before and its still true.

There hasn't been any serious offense yet, but its coming.  Very soon after Stephen Harper's Conservative victory there was a hint of what the enemy is going to do next.  It came from Heather Mallick and it was the same vile old hatred we are all used to.

Hatred is the default position of those on the left wing.  It is their true character.  It comes out when they are roundly beaten as they have been.  Intolerance and a cheating insubordinate attitude to the mutually agreed process is the natural recourse to an ideology that is naturally geared to "Social Justice."  To demand "Social Justice" presupposes that there is some injustice already.  There is always some imagined injustice that gives them the moral justification to lie and cheat in the name of their cause-de-jour.  The supposed injustice in our case is the loss of the election by the combined left.

Evidence for the extra-legal counter attack to the shame of losing so badly to Stephen Harper is already beginning to accumulate.

We have the Page firing.  A silly girl, Bridgette DePape, smuggled a "Stop Harper" sign into the Senate for the Throne Speech.  She made a statement with the signature of left wing blindness requesting that Canadians rise up in an Arab Spring.  Where have we heard that before?  Canada is arguably the freest and most prosperous country in the world, but the left thinks we would be better off with a military junta that tortures, rapes, and sexually abuses its 'free' people.  

Then we have Lulz and the hack attacks against the Conservative party, possibly Elections Canada and Husky.  The malicious story about the Prime Minister had a lot of people worried and a lot of leftards celebrating.  This isn't the first time they have done this.  Recall the attacks against Canada during the Copenhagen summit a few years ago.  They posted a fake story about the fake climate scare and I dare say it back fired.  The fake story about the Prime Ministers hospitalization has also backfired because he is anything but wounded.    Leftlings dreaming of harm on our Prime Minister will have a rude awakening to reality.  In fact it should wake the Tory base up.  The enemy is alive and the tactics going to get ugly.

The reason I'm pointing this out is because its just the beginning.   I don't have all the answers but I do know the enemy's game plan.  I don't even think they know their own game plan.  Ugliness is their natural state and they will sort themselves out like grains of sand on a beach (wave action sorts sand grains by size and weight).  They will slowly align due to what Brian Liley has been calling Harper Derangement Syndrome.

The game plan is hate.  They have done it before.  We've seen it.  The obvious examples are Brian Mulroney and George W. Bush.  Both of them have made mistakes but neither of them deserved the venom and derision leveled at them by a hostile media, unions, and the rest of the useful idiots.   

I don't know what the best course of action is, but we can't just sit back and wait.  We can't play defense alone and expect to win.  Take the hacking incident for example.  Much more work is involved in building and maintaining a website than there is in vandalizing it.  The age old equation between arms and armor always favors arms.  A deeper bunker or thicker walls will always yield to a bigger bomb.  We see this in nature as well as warfare and I believe it applies to politics as well.

We need to take the fight to the enemy.  Seize the initiative.  Its better if the media is talking about what the government did or said, than what some child or petty vandals did to the government.  The election was the easy part.  Conservatives won the war.  Conservatives can win the peace if they can keep the offense on the field; their hands firmly on the ball.

Let Them Strike

I'm sure you've come across the profound stupidity of the decision to strike by CUPW, the Union representing Canada Post Workers.

I have to say that I am really confounded by it.  How can anyone be so ignorant of the world around them?  Do they not realize that are not in a strong bargaining position?

As a conservative, I'm not really friendly to the idea of crown corporations to begin with.  Though Conservatives might be in power I'm not really in any hurry to start laying off innocent workers either.  They don't control their Union after all.  The Union is a parasite on their backs as much as it is a parasite on the tax payer.  Apparently this Union is a mindless flesh eating zombie of a parasite too.

There just isn't a need for Canada Post today.  Private companies do a much better job than Canada Post ever has.  That fact can be deduced from conservative first principals, but I've had personal experience with lost packages and poor service especially coming out of Quebec.  Even Greyhound outperforms Canada Post in my experience.  It bugs me that my lost patronage doesn't affect Canada Post in the slightest. 

I say let them strike.  Its unfortunate.  We could just privatize them while there is still some value and a customer base.  I'd prefer to give them and their employees a fighting chance in the free market.  The Union parasite will kill its host rather than submit to market forces.

Let them strike.  They are even doing partial rotating strikes to keep us addicted.  The onus is on each and every one of us to boycott Canada Post.  Cut them off.  Starve them out.  The longer they strike the better everyone will get at avoiding them.  I recommend the Government direct the various departments to look for and implement work arounds immediately. 


We have fax machines and email, let alone skype and Facebook.  There are plenty of private couriers for physical packages. 

They talk of collective action.  Lets have some collective reaction.