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...of what not to do.
Writing in The Australian on what Pakistan should do in the wake of the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, in the middle of a serious analysis of a critical geopolitical issue Ramesh Thakur nevertheless finds time to take a passing swipe at Commissar Hall and the Lynch Mob:
Building on anti-terrorism co-operation, South Asians also could look to foster common institutions such as regional human rights commissions (they should avoid Canadian-type Frankensteins that mock the rights they should protect), press councils, a common peacekeeping doctrine for UN deployment, joint tourism promotion, combined protection from abuse of nationals working as labourers and domestic help in the Middle East.
"Canadian-type Frankensteins": Has that phrase ever been used before in the English language? Congratulations, Canada! Even folks who are in favor of human rights commissions now feel obliged to add that they don't mean "Canadian-type" commissions that "mock the rights they should protect".
Speaking of mockery, Dennis Miller is en route to Canada (to the River Cree Resort, this Sunday), and shared a few thoughts with The Edmonton Journal:
He conceded that he doesn't know much about Canadian politics.
"The only extent that I know it is that I think the most prescient and important writer of our time is Mark Steyn," said Miller. "I know there was some kind of Salem witch trial up there he was involved in," he added, referring to a human-rights commission complaint against Steyn over a Maclean's article on Islam.
"That doesn't sound like a good trend, or are you a fan of that?" asks Miller, who seems satisfied when assured Canadians, mostly, support free speech.
Gotta love that "mostly". I wonder if the author, Scott McKeen, ran the numbers on that*.
Meanwhile, in the great state of New Hampshire, there are some changes proposed to the Granite State's (hitherto very peripheral) "human rights" commission. House Bill 686 proposes significant changes in the right to move a "human rights" complaint to a real court. I gather the proposals were enthusiastically received by the Judiciary Committee at the General Court. I view them with great misgivings: "Human rights" regimes should not be allowed to secede incrementally from the due process of the legal system. From small seeds, hideous ideological enforcers like Barbara Hall grow, and very quickly. Maybe I'll have to head down to Concord and testify to the Senate.
"How many divisions has the Pope?" wondered Stalin. How many divisions has Commissar Hall? Not many. In the early days, even in Canada, people "mostly" support most freedoms, most of the time, mostly. But the ideological enforcers rely on inertia and complacency, and once a system's in place, it's very difficult to get rid of it.
By the way, if anybody in the "Live free or die" state wants to know where this leads, a good place to start is the new book Shakedown, by Canada's great free speech crusader Ezra Levant, complete with introduction by one Mark Steyn, who'll be happy to autograph your copy.
*The Journal interview goes better than this horrible encounter in The Edmonton Sun with Mike Ross ("But enough about me. What about how you don't seem to respond to me?").
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