Straight thoughts 110

August 8, 2003

"Some folks here appear to have, in my view, a vested interest in seeing this kind of tension continue to exist" (Sun - Aug. 8, 2003) was the politically incorrect statement Bob Runciman dared to say on an interview. Also quoted: "I think some people make a living off some of this..."

What created a "problem" was not so much that he had no proof of his accusation, which is certainly not a crime, but the words "some folks" and "some people". Interpreted in the context of the speech these words mean "some BLACK people". Aha! Gotcha! Here comes the thought police.

According to the opposition Liberals and NDP, this is a "blanked generalization on the black community" and a "racist" remark and the Liberals will bring a case against the Minister to the Human Rights Commission. Why do we have an Ontario HRC otherwise?

To try my best to "understand" the feeling possibly provoked by the Public Safety minister's statement I tried to turn the phrase against myself:

If he said: "Some members of the Italo-Canadian community are members of the mafia or... create a problem" would I get offended?

No. On the contrary, since I am interested in law and order, I would say that it's about time the police went after these people.

This is political correctness gone mad!

While up to now you had to be politically correct to pertain to certain circles (e.g. to be invited on TV debates), now political incorrectness is persecuted.

This case is even more alarming because the person being persecuted is a member of Parliament, supposedly allowed to speak freely on any issue without fear of the "thought police."

Times are changing. The signs of a dictatorship at all government levels are here. You fight dictatorships not by giving in to restrictions, but by exposing the Truth.