Ezra Levant, author of the ever more imminent Shakedown, writes today of the ongoing media denormalization of Canada's most energetic online neo-Nazi Richard Warman, as reflected in hitherto unprecedented headlines like "Lawyer Crossed The Line By Posting On Neo-Nazi Website, Tribunal Rules".

It's easy to get disheartened by federal inaction on Section 13 and provincial inertia on its equivalents, but these things take time. What's clear is that "denormalization" - Ezra's term and Ezra's strategy - is working:

~ DENORMALIZED: STORMFRONT MEMBER RICHARD WARMAN
Two years ago, the Ouwendyk case would just have been another routine shakedown: half a decade of hell for the defendant, and a five-figure tax-free bonus for Warmfront without breaking a sweat and with cooing press coverage like "One Man's War On Internet Hate". Now his racket is in the spotlight, and both the CHRC and CHRT have decided they need to put clear blue water between him and them. They wouldn't take the Ouwendyk case today, and I doubt they''ll be in a hurry to accept any Section 13 complaints from him in the future. The creepy, self-glorifying, all but sole beneficiary of Section 13 is at least as weird as those he chastises, and his former pals have begun to figure that out. He can certainly continue posting "hate messages" at neo-Nazi websites, but he'll no longer be able to get paid by a Canadian court for his curious hobby. He's denormalized.

~ DENORMALIZED: THE EVER BROADER INTERPRETATION OF "HATE"
Two years ago, Maclean's would have been convicted of "hate", as sources in the Prime Minister's Office fully expected to happen. In the decade and a half since the Taylor decision, both the CHRC and the CHRT had abandoned any pretense of paying even lip service to the parameters outlined by the Supreme Court. Yet their dismissal of the Maclean's complaint wound up relying heavily on Taylor and a very narrow interpretation thereof: Politically, he was their only way of getting off the hook. The Warman-era Section 13 metastasization has stopped. For the moment, it's as denormalized as he is.

~ DENORMALIZED: SECTION 13
Two years ago, there was no question mark whatsoever over the law. It was a broadly approved piece of legislation designed to "strike a balance" - one of those self-flattering concepts to which Canadians are distressingly prone. Now even Professor Moon, a statist shill who despises me and Levant, nevertheless feels unable to defend Section 13 in his report and calls for its repeal. And even the Tribunal has concluded that, pending the outcome of Marc Lemire's constitutional challenge, the law is unenforceable. As denormalized as Warman.

~ DENORMALIZED: THE IDENTITY-GROUP GRIEVANCE-MONGERS
Two years ago, the Canadian Islamic Congress and the Canadian Arab Foundation were accepted almost as quasi-government entities. The CIC ran "sensitivity training" sessions for airport security staff, and the CAF helped select and "assimilate" Canadian immigrants - and both of these absurd propositions were regarded as entirely routine. Not anymore. Now Canadians understand that letting Mohamed Elmasry or Khaled Mouammar anywhere near security or immigration procedures is preposterous.

~ DENORMALIZED: THE "HUMAN RIGHTS" COMMISSIONS
Two years ago, they were just a bit of Trudeaupian touchyfeelyness that few Canadians gave any thought to. Now they're controversial - merely one side of a legitimate debate. The Chief Commissar, Jennifer Lynch, was one of those classic Canadian figures, wafted upwards on fluffy clouds of Queen's Jubilee Medals and other state baubles, albeit for no very good reason. Now, whether or not Ezra's "Fire them all" mantra is ever enforced, Commissar Lynch is enjoying her last government sinecure.

Not everyone gets it, of course. Commissar Barbara Hall is still urging more and more policing of the citizenry's opinions and Ontario's Commission and Tribunal are still destroying the lives of any unfortunate fellow who happens to catch their eye. But today, when they do so, they attract critical columns and editorials in The Globe & Mail and elsewhere. That's a change from two years ago. The days of slapdash "reforms" sliding through without debate are gone.

Not a bad start. After the worst year and a half's publicity in their history, I'll bet Queen Jennifer and the rest of the Lynch Mob would dearly love to turn the clock back. It won't happen.