THINGS I FIRMLY BELIEVE
Thursday’s presidential debate will have absolutely no effect on the election.
The only way any airline should receive government money is on the condition that all passengers receive full refunds for flights cancelled due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
It will take at least a generation for the U.S. to recover from the damage caused by the despotic Donald Trump and his reprehensible enablers, which is nearly all Republican members of Congress..
A POX ON ALL THEIR HOUSES
All three major parties were losers in Wednesday’s completely unnecessary parliamentary non-confidence vote. The Conservatives over-played their hand by taunting the Liberals with incendiary language in their motion. The NDP propped up the Liberals without getting anything whatsoever in return. The Liberal position that an opposition motion to form a committee constituted a vote of non-confidence in the government was the most ludicrous political posturing in Canadian parliamentary history. It just increased curiosity as to what it is that Trudeau is going to such great lengths to hide.
MORE EMPTY WORDS FROM TRUDEAU
For over five years now Justin Trudeau has been virtue signalling at every possible opportunity that “reconciliation” with Indigenous people is his number one priority. If that’s the case why did his government have to call an emergency parliamentary debate because of the escalation of the perilous fishing dispute in Nova Scotia? He has at least five cabinet ministers who should be dealing with the crisis.
The five cabinet ministers are: Chrystia Freeland, in her role as deputy prime minister; Carolyn Bennett, minister of crown-Indigenous relations; Bill Blair, minister of public safety and emergency preparedness; Bernadette Jordan, minister of fisheries, oceans and the coast guard; and, Marc Miller, minister of Indigenous services. This group, and the prime minister himself, should be dealing with the conflict.
Although it’s true that the Harper government didn’t do anything about the problem caused by the Supreme Court’s vague 1999 ruling either, Prime Minister Harper didn’t constantly brag about reconciliation with Indigenous people being his number one priority.
THEN THERE’S JAGMEET SINGH
NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, has been loudly vocal in insisting the RCMP strenuously intervene in the aforementioned lobster fishery fiasco in Nova Scotia. Yet when pressed as to why he was equally vociferous in insisting that the RCMP should not enforce a B.C. court order against Indigenous people who were illegally blocking rail lines, he refused to answer. In a later interview he was asked why he is against a federal election during the pandemic, but was actively campaigning in the B.C. election, he again ducked the question. Given that the NDP would probably be decimated in a federal election but will likely win a majority in B.C., his hypocrisy is staggering. Also, his incoherent, babbling evasions during interviews leading up to the non-confidence vote was splendidly cringe-worthy. One of these days this guy is going to disappear up his own armpit.
CHARLEY PRIDE
Charley Pride is the Country Music Associations’s 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award winner, which means that the 86-year-old country music icon has garnered just about every major award possible. He became a member of The Grand Ole Opry in 1993 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000. He’s won 3 Grammys, 3 American Music Awards, 3 previous Country Music Association awards, and an Academy of Country Music award. Pride has had over 50 Billboard top 10 hits, including over 40 No 1s, of which Kiss An Angel Good Morning is probably his best known.
Contrary to popular belief, Pride was not the first Black performer to appear on or become a member of the Opry. That honour belongs to harmonica player DeFord Bailey, who performed regularly on the Opry from 1925 to 1941. Like Bailey, and baseball’s Jackie Robinson, Pride had to overcome all the racist hurdles that faced pioneering Blacks in the U.S. Two examples from early in his career that I’ve been told about stand out. One was that when he was introduced before a large audience in Detroit, applause died out as soon as he walked onstage and the audience realized he was Black. Another is that even though he was one of their best-selling artists, his record company was reluctant to put his picture on his early album covers or record sleeves because of fears that radio play and sales would drop off when DJs and record buyers realized he was Black.
Charlie and his wife, Rozene, have been married for sixty-four years. That’s a lot of morning-angel kisses.