Too bad we have Harper for PM, protege of the war criminal in chief.
To borrow a phrase, he haunts us still - George W. Bush, that is.
We had thought, mercifully for all concerned, that we would not have Mr. Bush to kick around any more, that he would retire quietly to Texas to cut trees, clear land, tend to his presidential papers and otherwise not bother his fellow citizens, let alone foreigners such as Canadians, with his persona and "reflections" on his eight years in office.
The miserable results of those eight years are all around us, and him. You'd think a self-respecting man with such a doleful legacy would lie low for a while. You would have hoped that a self-respecting city such as Calgary would have understood that an invitation to him would hurt the city's image - not for hospitality, of course, but for rational politics.
But no, there Mr. Bush was yesterday, defending the indefensible in perhaps the only city in Canada where even a quarter of the population thought well of him as president.
Obviously, the recession cannot entirely be blamed on Mr. Bush and his administration - but some of it can. The deregulation, the blind adherence to ideology, the growing deficits he bequeathed, the shredding social safety net, the two expensive and unresolved wars, the unfunded health-care programs: These all weigh heavily now on the United States and, by extension, on the world.
Mr. Bush inherited a surplus and turned over a deficit. He inherited a country respected in most parts of the world and turned over one respected only in pockets of the world. He inherited a government committed to internationalism and, where appropriate, multilateralism, and turned over a country outside climate-change protocols, the International Criminal Court, other United Nations treaties. He inherited a government seriously interested in Middle East peace and turned over one that showed interest in the file only at the end of his administration.
linky
Hundreds jeer Bush
Pounding drums, chanting "Bush Go Home" and "Take Bush to jail, not lunch," and throwing shoes at a giant photograph of him, members of the rowdy crowd shouted their opposition to the former commander-in-chief's policies on the war in Iraq, calling him a war criminal and a terrorist.
"Having him in Calgary celebrates his legacy in a way and I don't think we should be celebrating his legacy," said Saffar. "We have legal rights to prosecute him - as opposed to doing that we are hosting him to an expensive lunch.
"We oppose war and his policies he had for eight years and hopefully when war criminals come to Canada they will think twice."
Before the event even began, protesters like Calgarian Nathan Moulton made their presence known early, shouting to the lineup of 1,500 invited guests snaking along Stephen Avenue in front of the Telus Convention Centre.
'WAR CRIMINAL'
"You are having lunch with a war criminal," he yelled, while walking down the line.
link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEBx...-canada-farewell.html&feature=player_embedded
To borrow a phrase, he haunts us still - George W. Bush, that is.
We had thought, mercifully for all concerned, that we would not have Mr. Bush to kick around any more, that he would retire quietly to Texas to cut trees, clear land, tend to his presidential papers and otherwise not bother his fellow citizens, let alone foreigners such as Canadians, with his persona and "reflections" on his eight years in office.
The miserable results of those eight years are all around us, and him. You'd think a self-respecting man with such a doleful legacy would lie low for a while. You would have hoped that a self-respecting city such as Calgary would have understood that an invitation to him would hurt the city's image - not for hospitality, of course, but for rational politics.
But no, there Mr. Bush was yesterday, defending the indefensible in perhaps the only city in Canada where even a quarter of the population thought well of him as president.
Obviously, the recession cannot entirely be blamed on Mr. Bush and his administration - but some of it can. The deregulation, the blind adherence to ideology, the growing deficits he bequeathed, the shredding social safety net, the two expensive and unresolved wars, the unfunded health-care programs: These all weigh heavily now on the United States and, by extension, on the world.
Mr. Bush inherited a surplus and turned over a deficit. He inherited a country respected in most parts of the world and turned over one respected only in pockets of the world. He inherited a government committed to internationalism and, where appropriate, multilateralism, and turned over a country outside climate-change protocols, the International Criminal Court, other United Nations treaties. He inherited a government seriously interested in Middle East peace and turned over one that showed interest in the file only at the end of his administration.
linky
Hundreds jeer Bush
Pounding drums, chanting "Bush Go Home" and "Take Bush to jail, not lunch," and throwing shoes at a giant photograph of him, members of the rowdy crowd shouted their opposition to the former commander-in-chief's policies on the war in Iraq, calling him a war criminal and a terrorist.
"Having him in Calgary celebrates his legacy in a way and I don't think we should be celebrating his legacy," said Saffar. "We have legal rights to prosecute him - as opposed to doing that we are hosting him to an expensive lunch.
"We oppose war and his policies he had for eight years and hopefully when war criminals come to Canada they will think twice."
Before the event even began, protesters like Calgarian Nathan Moulton made their presence known early, shouting to the lineup of 1,500 invited guests snaking along Stephen Avenue in front of the Telus Convention Centre.
'WAR CRIMINAL'
"You are having lunch with a war criminal," he yelled, while walking down the line.
link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEBx...-canada-farewell.html&feature=player_embedded
As long as we're throwing spit balls:
