Month: October 2008

I’m usually one to speak out against anti-Americanism among certain of my countrymen, not engage in it myself. However, my dander is up this week after Michael Moore crashed our local all candidate’s debate (the Canadian election is tomorrow) just before our Thanksgiving long weekend (Columbus Day on your side of the border) and questioned the appetite as well as the patriotism of local Conservative Party candidate Cameron Ross, who also happens to be a full colonel and former brigade commander in the Canadian army. Moore then interviewed the other candidates after the debate, before following the socialist NDP incumbent door-to-door, according to local media.
Anyway, I was there and digitally recorded some of what happened. You can read about it in the National Post, Western Standard, Washington Times and Pajamas Media. Some of the footage I have includes Moore telling local Canadian candidates that Americans have a hard time understanding how to vote. Moore is now trying to turn the tables on Colonel Ross, whose campaign manager Ian Shields is considering filing an Elections Canada complaint (as a non-Canadian citizen or resident, Moore may have broken our election law). In doing so, Moore appears to be calling into question this candidate and former brigade commander’s patriotism, as you can see here.
The questions I have concerning Moore’s side of the story are numerous:
1 – He claims the Conservative candidate invited him up to go door-knocking with him. Why would a conservative do this in a riding (electoral district), knowing it could potentially alienate the base in a close fight as well as get himself into trouble with the party leader?
2 – Why would Moore, who has made his living attacking Republicans, accept such an invitation?
3 – Why did several members of Ross’s campaign, at the debate Moore crashed, tell me independently of each other (before having the time to collude) that nobody from their campaign had expected Moore to show up? (They were aware, however, that a film crew would be there doing a documentary).
4 – Who are these two individuals who have provided you with sworn affidavits? Are they connected to your film production team or the campaigns of one of Ross’s opponents? Did you yourself speak to Ross or to a member of his campaign before showing up?
5 – You claim not to have known Tony Martin, the socialist candidate, prior to following him door-to-door. Yet you were both present at the all candidate’s debate in which Tony participated (I was there too, and saw you), or for well over an hour. Subsequent to the debate, you personally interviewed Tony and the other candidates (with the exception of Ross) for a good hour. How could you not known, after the debate and your post-debate interview, that Tony was the incumbent and that he represented the NDP?

The Tyranny of Nice: How Canada crushes freedom in the name of human rights (and why it matters to Americans)