Okay, that letter to the editor from Friday, April 7, "Left-wingers deranged over Trump" was like dangling a shiny, wiggly thing in front of a fish. I gotta bite!
Wow. I didn't know we had Republicans in Canada.
Pretty naive of me, I know, since we have white supremacists distributing hate pamphlets and the Sons of Odin marching the streets in uniform.
Every sentence had me moving closer and closer to the paper to make sure I was reading it right.
I just have to respond to a few of those sentences, just to work this shiny object out of my mouth.
The writer opened with the question, "What is it about Trump that causes people to abandon rational thought and logic..."
He lamented the Girl Guides of Canada decision to "suspend trips to the U.S. because Muslim girl guides might not be allowed in?
He called that utter nonsense because "Muslims cross that border every day. No border guard is going to pick on kids who happen to be Muslim."
Sir, do you spend so much time with Fox News that you don't access Canadian media at all?
Are you aware that there is a preschooler in Ontario who has repeatedly been denied access to the United States of Paranoia because he's on the no-fly list?
What terrorist threat could a preschooler be? It's because he has a Muslim name. Preschooler. No-fly list.
After two years of diplomatic wrangling, the Canadian government has been unable to convince American border officials that they shouldn't "pick on kids who happen to be Muslim."
He's still on the no-fly list.
Was it only the Canadian media, which it seems you don't watch, that showed the scenes of chaos and despair when the first Muslim ban backed up thousands of people at almost every airport in the States, including those who had visas and green cards? There were people who were returning from trips out of country who were not allowed to go home to their families.
And yet the writer railed that the Girl Guide leaders had "decided to become political... by punishing the children in their charge."
Clearly this individual has never been responsible for taking a group of young people across a border on a trip.
He has no idea of the logistics and liability issues of such an operation, even in normal times.
And it isn't just the border guards. Just last week, the Canadian media (I know you would have missed that, sir) featured a story of a Canadian woman who was planning a vacation to the U.S. but received notice that her accommodation booking had been canceled because, and I quote the email: "We don't rent to Asians. That's why we have Donald Trump."
And the writer asked, "What about common sense?"
Then the rant veered to an attack on the Washington Post. I swear, this guy has to be a transplanted American, for comments about Mike Pence's policy of not going to any social function without his wife.
And this is where it seems a little contradictory to me.
Please point it out if I'm missing something.
He wrote, "...according to the Post... he views women primarily as sexual temptations."
"Not so," he retorted, explaining Pence "...is well aware that men and women in some situations find it very easy to succumb to temptation and that men in general have a well-deserved reputation for sexual pursuit..."
Not so? How is that different from his interpretation of what the Post said?
He went on to complain that "even the slightest hint of inappropriate behavior on his part would be seized upon by the media as an opportunity for character assassination, not to mention the very real possibility of attempts as sexual entrapment as a means to take him down."
Wow. No paranoia there. This guy has gulped down the Kool-Aid and is asking for more.
He continued, "For a left wing politician, such transgressions are almost expected...(Bill Clinton come to mind, well known as a sexual predator and philanderer but still adored by the media and much of the public)"... doesn't that sound like character assassination?... but for a conservative it would most likely be a career ender."
A career ender? Sure is a good thing The Donald isn't well known as a sexual predator and philanderer.
He'd be toast, right?
At least Bill is still married to his first wife.
In closing, I have a suggestion for this guy, as a social experiment. Change the name on your passport to Mohammed, just temporarily, and try to cross the border.
Write back to tell us how that went.
Ray Masson
Prince George
