PONDERABLES
Will our prime minister ever learn that slogans are a poor substitute for substance, and politics by personality a poor substitute for leadership?
Why do politicians thank journalists “for asking that question” and journalists thank politicians “for taking my question” when the whole purpose of a press conference is to ask and answer questions?
THINGS I FIRMLY BELIEVE
If Justin’s last name was anything other than Trudeau he would never have been heard of.
When a politician or an executive says “we take this very seriously,” you know they’ve screwed up.
Republican senator Ted Cruz looks more like a rabid werewolf every day.
Holding-the-stick is the stupidest penalty a hockey player can take.
The dark uniforms the Leafs wore in their game against Edmonton last Saturday were the ugliest in NHL history.
CHANGES NEEDED TO ONTARIO LOCKDOWN
Lockdown fatigue is a blend of frustration and resentment. In Ontario, and particularly in the city of Toronto, the fatigue is becoming anger, and unless changes are made soon, anger will quickly evolve into outrage.
Toronto’s medical officer of health recently convinced Mayor John Tory to extend the city’s lockdown measures until June, albeit with a monthly review. Premier Doug Ford has unapologetically followed the urgings of his medical officers, only this week acknowledging there might be a need to ease some of the restrictions.
The frustration stems from being given no scientific evidence that hair salons, barber shops, other appointment-only small businesses and safely-run restaurants actually contributed significantly to community spread when they were open. The resentment is in response to having day-to-day activities curbed by unelected bureaucrats who although rightly-focussed on the pandemic, seem to ignore the decline in mental health critically noted by many other health experts. Ford and Tory have exacerbated the resentment by also not giving enough weight to mental health problems, nor to the ravaging of the economy.
Premier Ford, Mayor Tory, and their medical officers need to recognize that many of their best-intentioned measures have become counter-productive. The gap between dealing with the pandemic crisis on the one hand, and the burgeoning mental health and economic crises on the other, needs to be significantly narrowed. Right away.
BIDEN’S BEGINNING
The two main criticisms of Biden’s early performance in office center on his issuing a plethora of executive orders and his refusal to work directly with Republican legislative leaders, both of which smack of typical political hypocrisy.
The executive-order criticism is justified. During Biden’s campaign he often railed against Trump’s propensity to govern by executive order, and made a specific election promise that he would not. But Biden has issued more executive orders than any other president in history, including Trump, over a similar initial period in office.
As for not working directly with the Republican leadership, why should he? Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy are keeping the spirit of Donald Trump alive and well in Congress by refusing to stifle the likes of Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jim Jordan, and particularly the repugnant Marjorie Taylor Greene, whom the Republican leadership had inexplicably appointed to two key House committees, only to have her removed by a House vote which McCarthy opposed.
BASEBALL HALL OF FAME’S DILEMMA
By not electing Curt Schilling to the baseball Hall of Fame, the Baseball Writers Association of America has created a Hall of Fame dilemma, something at which they’ve always been good at. Although it’s become well established that a player’s character is to be considered when voting, Schilling’s exclusion has raised the question as to whether it’s a player’s character only during his playing years that should be considered.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have been consistently snubbed because of alleged steroid use during their careers, even though their numbers before the steroid era were good enough for membership in the Hall. But in Schilling’s case, his character while active raised no eyebrows. It’s his idiotic and hate-filled social media activity since he retired that turned off the voters. His rantings have been on a level of those of the aforementioned Marjorie Taylor Greene.
So here’s the dilemma. If character flaws which surface after a player retires can prevent him from being elected, shouldn’t they also be cause for removal? Simply put: if Schilling should be excluded, shouldn’t Ty Cobb be removed?
AN INTERESTING CHOICE OF WORDS
When it was revealed a couple of years ago that a reporter had accused Justin Trudeau of groping her a couple of decades earlier, he insisted he didn’t recall the incident, but said “people experience things differently.” Disgraced former Governor General Julie Payette shrugged off the allegations of her despicable behaviour toward her staff as “we all experience things differently.” A coincidence, or an elitist cop-out?