PONDERABLES
On Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, Justin Trudeau reaffirmed his commitment to “address anti-Black racism.” This likely means he’s not apt to dress up in blackface again, but are those ridiculous Indian costumes still in his closet?
Liberal MP William Amos, first caught naked on a video sitting of the House of Commons, and this week urinating while his phone’s camera was on, has said that he is “seeking help.” Is he getting one of his kids to show him how how to press an “off” button? Or does he have a medical problem?
THINGS I FIRMLY BELIEVE
It was really just a matter of time until Ron MacLean’s on-air feeble non sequitur attempts at humour got him into trouble.
THE DOUG FORD CONUNDRUM
Ontario Premier Doug Ford was a superstar during the first few months of the COVIC-19 pandemic, making timely and effective decisions. But for the past few months he’s been an evasive, ineffective ditherer. Political pundits and voters alike are at a loss as to what happened. Because he tends to wear his emotions on his sleeve, one possibility is that his decision-making logic has simply been overwhelmed by his emotional state. In any event, the Ontario Conservative party now has to wrestle with two problems. The first is how to convince him to set a definite, reasonable, and understandable timetable to end his ruinous, and seemingly never-ending, lockdown. Then they have to decide whether he’s the right person to lead them into next year’s provincial election.
MASS SHOOTINGS IN THE U.S.
I mused some time ago that mass shootings in the US were no longer breaking news, and it’s gotten worse. (The FBI defines a mass shooting as one in which three or more people are killed or injured.) So far this year there have been an unbelievable total of 232 such incidents. In California alone, 27 people have been killed as a result of 18 mass shootings. Of those 18 shootings, six resulted in no deaths, but the shooting on Wednesday in San Jose resulted in nine, including the shooter.
Why the US allows this carnage to continue is puzzling to the rest of the world. Perhaps the explanation can be found in a conversation I had with an American friend three or four years ago. When I asked him why the situation was allowed to exist, his answer was that the vast majority of Americans feel that “a few random deaths is a small price to pay for the constitutional right to bear arms.” I didn’t think there was any point in continuing the conversation.
TRUDEAU’S PITIFUL PARLIAMENTARY RECORD
National Post columnist, Father Raymond J. de Souza, recently pointed out that Trudeau’s government has lost more senior personnel than any other in the entire history of Westminster Parliaments. His list included a governor general, a finance minister, an attorney general, a health minister, a clerk of the privy council, a principal secretary to the prime minister, two chiefs of the defense staff, and the pandemic vaccine distribution logistics chief. Father de Souza went on to add that there are seven senior military officers currently under investigation, wondering, as do all thinking people, how Trudeau allows defense minister Harjit Sajjan to keep his job. (The same question might well be asked about Trudeau’s chief of staff, Katie Telford, who suffers from the tunnel vision of someone who has no experience outside of politics.)
As there are thirty-two countries other than Canada currently using Westminster-style parliamentary systems, including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, India, and Japan, this is quite a feat of infamy on the part of our prime minister.
VLADDY JR’s INCREDIBLE START
The baseball season is almost one-third over, and as I write this, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is in the top five MLB leaders in batting average, home runs, RBIs, and OPS. Vladdy’s offensive skills were never in doubt, but not many people thought he would become such a reliable defensive first baseman as well.
AN ALL AROUND FEEL GOOD STORY
Pitcher Alek Manoah’s fantastic debut against the Yankees (his favourite team as kid) at Yankee Stadium on Thursday was almost overshadowed by the on-camera joy of his family and friends, particularly his mother, Susana, who has become an instant celebrity.
NBA HALL OF FAME FOLLOW-UP
After I mused last week that the election of Raptor super fan, Nav Bhatia, to the Hall sullied the honour, a friend suggested that the door is now open for the election of mascots. I wish I had thought of that.