Racial Tension in America

 

As many of you will know, I was most surprised at the deteriorating race relations in the US as was during Obama’s 2008 election campaign.  And it wasn’t being caused by the white side of the equation.  Blacks were and continue to be bitter as evidenced by Obama’s own pastor and even his wife – the latter being quoted that the only time she could recall being proud to be an American was with the election of her husband.  Here is a woman who has been educated on the dime of the American taxpayer and has reached professional heights that only a select few can aspire to.

I am not suggesting that Blacks do have reason to be bitter – but I also know, that as long as they wallow in that bitterness, their problems – and there are many, will not be resolved.  Unemployment, husbandless wives, addiction, crime and the list goes on.

Their Leaders like Reverend Wright, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and so on, use this bitterness to attack ‘the man’ to try to wrestle out more concessions and use it as an excuse to explain abhorrent Black behaviour.  Again I am not suggesting that all Blacks behave in this manner nor even a majority – but I am saying that a significant minority do.

So it takes us to Florida where a week ago a Black teenager was shot dead by a 50% White / 50% Hispanic neighbourhood watch chap.  The police investigated and determined that the Black teenager was the aggressor and no charges were laid.  When word got out, the Black community went wild. Even the President entered the fray speaking out on behalf of the teenager.

The anger of Black Americans has reached such heights that violence in the streets is now a most likely outcome.  So here is what I think.

I think the neighbourhood watch chap should have been arrested.  I will go even further, I think the guy is guilty of murder. The young black had been out that evening to a store to buy some candy.  On his way home he passed the neighbour watch at which point the watch called the police saying he had encountered a suspicious looking Black – and he was wearing a hoody to boot.  The police told him they’d handle it and ordered him to stay put and not to follow the teen.  The guy went ahead any was and subsequent a fight ensued which ended in the Black kid’s death.  There are some accounts that the Black had told his girlfriend he was being followed and that he was scared.  What is not in doubt is the fact that the neighbourhood watch guy had been told to stand fast and he did not so form my perspective as a former lawyer, he loses his right to shoot in self defence. But that is just my opinion.

So what is also clear is that this case begs for a trial.  The shooter needs to be charged and the case decided before the court.  After all that is our system of justice – innocent until proven guilty.

Black Leaders are not so magnanimous.  They view this as a racial killing and are going to great lengths to still up their community.

Obama too was wrong to get involved – and this is not the first time that he has done this.  As President, he represents all the people and must refrain from getting personally involved at least until all the facts are known. His actions too then simply reinforce the Black Community’s anger.

And in defence of the Neighbourhood Watch generally, they have seen far too much violence and robbery committed by members of this minority community.  Is it any wonder then that a nervous neighbourhood watch chap grew suspicious in the first place and when he called the cops, they took his information seriously. 

To add to this, a few days after the above killing, as Asian shopkeeper was killed by three blacks wearing hoodies and the liberal media paid it no mind. 

If I was a Black Leader hopefully I would have the courage to say the following:

Today a young black teenager was shot by a neighbourhood watch and all that kid was doing was returning home from a store where he bought some candy.  I believe the neighbourhood watch was wrong to have shot this young boy and he should be charged and a trial held to confirm the facts of what went down and I will not rest until this is done.  But in the broader picture this killing is a symptom of something even more terrible. Too many of our youth are engaged in criminal activity and America is frightened – Whites, Blacks and Hispanics in makes no difference.  And we must face the truth; there are more black kids killed by other blacks than there are by whites. 

As a Black Leader I look to other Black Leaders to work with me in finding a way to stop this spiral down.  We cannot rest until we make America safe for all its citizens regardless of race.

Until Black Leaders, and in Canada one could say Aboriginal Leaders, speak and act this way, things are more apt to get even worse.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

More Important Than Ontario’s Budget…

 

I was reading today’s papers regarding Ontario’s miserable attempt at reigning in its out of control debt / deficit with yesterday’s budget.  The papers were unanimous in saying the Grits missed an the opportunity to do things of significance and certainly it did not follow the advice given in its very own Don Drummond Report.

That said, I did not expect much more than was offered up.  It will be the next budget that will begin to seriously deal with the Province’s out of control spending.  But sadly, once again, the Dalton and boys have postponed the inevitable and by doing so ensures that the remedy, when it comes, will be much more severe than it needed to be had they acted sooner.

Many are clamouring for an election but not your humble servant.  McGuinty has spent 9 years digging himself into this hole and it behoves him to be the one to dig himself out.  Moreover Ontarians have elected this bozo on three separate occasions so I am not too to sympathetic with their plight either. 

But that is not why I am writing this column.  In the scheme of things, McGuinty and Company really do not matter when compared to the following story.

Yesterday a British Student, Liam Stacey, was sentenced to 56 days in jail for ‘tweeting’.  A Black Footballer had suffered a heart attack on the field and Stacey reprehensibly wrote the following: “LOL F*** Muamba.  He’s dead!!!” 

The Footballer is recovering in hospital.

The issue here is not whether or not the statement tweeted by Stacey is obnoxious – rather, it is whether or not in a free society the right exists to make such an obnoxious statement and not be fined or go to jail for doing so.

I am a regular viewer of Fox News and many times they have shown clips of militant blacks calling for death to whites even to the point of declaring that this should include “their white babies.”  I would say these types of statements do cross the line since they appear to actively promote the killing of white citizens and in that sense go beyond what Liam Stacey was saying.  But in another sense, I am glad in a free society to be able to hear such things said since it shows that relations between the races are in serious trouble.  As citizens, we not only have the right to know this, but steps to improve relations between the races are unlikely to improve unless we do know the extent of the alienation.

Note too, other than for Fox News, you would never hear what the Black Militants are saying since the main stream media avoids the issue entirely.

But going back to the British Student and his 56 day jail sentence.  If he is not free to say what he wants, when he wants, then we are not free to say what we want, when we want and democracy withers and dies.

Democracy does not come about freely, a heavy price has been and will continue to be paid for it.  It is not without pain and to be truly free means having to hear others say things we would rather not be exposed to and yet must be.

In the scheme of things, it makes McGuinty’s situation seem small.  He is simply bankrupting us, jailing the Stacey’s of the world is taking our freedom away.  As for me, I would rather be poor and free than rich and forced silent.

As I see it ..

‘K.D. Galagher’

I Have Done It Again…

 

I picked Mulcair to win yesterday’s NDP Leadership vote.

How is it that I am always correct?

“You, in the back, with your hand up…what is it?”

Oh yes, I did also say that ‘in the end, common sense would prevail and he’d not get elected’.

“Thank you so much for pointing out that little inconsistency”.

So I hedged my bets…

That said, it was Mulcair’s to lose and in the end, he didn’t.  But to me, the big losers in all of this are the NDP itself, and more importantly, Canada.

Permit me to explain:

First let’s look at what the NDP has gained with Mulcair as its new Leader.

Until very recently, Mulcair was a Liberal having served in Jean Charest’s Cabinet in Quebec.

He then toyed with the idea of joining the Tories but finally decided to go with the NDP – a reverse of what Pierre Elliott did, that stalwart Liberal, going from the Dippers to the Libs.

And he so loved his newly adopted Party that he donated not one red cent to its coffers.  You cannot put a price on love.

Add to this the fact of his being the only Federal MP who sees 9/11 as an inside job by the USA and its Jewish friends. The guy has astounding insight.

And I haven’t even dealt with his pettiness and quick temper but as you can readily see, the NDP has inherited a real gem.

Now what about Canada?

I mean in addition to inheriting this most principled of men.

Well first off, he is on record as wanting Quebec’s infamous Bill 101 extended to Federal Institutions in that Province.  You’ll remember Bill 101 – it is the one that the United Nations called discriminatory and asked for its repeal in that it provides for French Only in our supposed bilingual nation.  Bourassa, then Premier, had to use the Not Withstanding Clause to implement and retain it. 

Mulcair is also a strong opponent of Alberta’s “dirty oil”.  You know – the oil that is paying for Quebec’s outrageous annual Federal Transfer payments.  He would be far more principled, if at the same time he was condemning this ‘dirty oil,’ he came out against receiving monies that stemmed from it.  Maybe now as Leader he will do just that.  (Only kidding)

And, despite the fact that he hails from Quebec, one of his first actions was to install a Quebec Deputy Leader.  Redundant, n’est pas?

The greatest danger though, I see here, is that Mulcair is now the Leader of a Party mostly based in Quebec – 58 of its 102 members.  The Bloc is coming back to life and I can see that he will do his damnedest to try to out bloc the Bloc.  They are his real opponents in Quebec and will be so at the time of the next election; it will be neither the Liberals or the Conservatives.

Okay so his loyalties are split between Quebec and Canada but at least they are confined to the geography of North America resting above the United States.

“What’s that?”

Oh yes, I had forgotten – Mulcair is also a citizen of France.

Oh well how can you criticize someone who is loyal to everyone – to the Liberals, to the Tories, to the NDP, to Quebec, to Canada, to France … the guy just has loyalty to burn.

As I see it..

‘K.D. Galagher’

A Few More Quickies…

 

First, in this weekend’s Post Media – the National Post and the Ottawa Citizen their new columnist Andrew Coyne wrote an article entitled ‘Where did Conservatism Go’?   It is  excellent and one the very best I have read on this important subject.  It helps to explain why I am a Libertarian and why I have named my Blog ‘Realconservatives’.

If you get the chance, I would urge you to read it.

Second, did you read where Obama admitted to the Prime Minister of Israel that the West has no choice but to bomb the hell out of Iran’s nuclear program.

If you did not – I can understand since it was hidden somewhat.  What Obama actually said was we’d have to “wait a year to allow the sanctions and diplomacy time to work”.  What he was actually saying – ‘I have an important election late this year and we’ll go ahead and do the deed once that is out of the way.’   The only question then remaining is whether or not Israel is prepared to strike on Obama schedule.  The chances for that are at best slim.

Third, Afghanistan. The time has come dear reader for NATO to withdraw.  The reaction of the Afghanis to the burning of the Koran and to the recent massacre by the US Sgt. is the straw that broke the camel’s back.  The burning of the Koran at best was a mistake and at worse was stupid while the killing of their innocent civilians – although abhorrent, was the result of the war itself – given that this military man’s brain had been severely damaged as a result of three tours of duty in this most unfortunate land.

The real losers here are of course the Afghani girls and women who will have to suffer dearly at the hands of the Islamists.  That said, I do not think that the incursion into Afghanistan was for not.  It has sown seeds that will grow in Afghan Society that one day will empower it to cast off their abusers.  It may take 40 years – but the day will surely come.  

Fourth, the Federal Public Service.  Much worry has been expressed by their Unions to the effect that thousands of their members will find themselves on the bread lines post Budget.  Let me put their concerns to rest.  We baby boomers are retiring in huge numbers.  Given that the oldest in our club are now passed 65 years of age – and given that public servants attain full pension rights in their 50s – reduction targets – even substantive ones – can be relatively easily attained. The Feds will downsize but there will be few if any real casualties. 

Fifth – What is the ‘green’ in green energy?  Answer – ‘money’.  This weekend saw another $8 million paid to other jurisdictions to take our excess power off our hands.  Industry – the little we have left here in Ontario, is stating that it can no longer afford Ontario’s high energy bills.  They are on the move – out.  All the while, Dolton stands firm…

- and -

Sixth – Robocalls.  What nonsense but just wait, once the Tories present their Budget later this month – you will hear nothing more about Robos – guaranteed.

As I see it….

‘K.D. Galagher’

And The Winner is ….

 

For The NDP Federal Leadership….

?

A while back I wrote that Thomas Mulcair was not likely to win despite his early lead in the polls.  Those polls today suggest the he is virtually assured the win.  But … I still cannot bring myself to belief the NDP would willingly commit suicide by voting for him.

The Party risks being defined in the next four years as Bloc Lite and with Mulcair at the helm – I believe this designation will become inevitable.  But that appears to be where things are headed for Canada’s Official Opposition.

In my earlier essay I suggested that the best chance for the NDP to retain respectability would be through voting in Paul Dewar but I gave his chances of such a win at no better than 20%.  Those chances have now bottomed out at nil.

Dewar – to be effective, needed a Deputy Party Leader from Quebec, if for no other reason than most of his caucus hails from that province.  But Dewar, suffering from what best can be described as a death wish, chose – in advance of the vote – Northern Ontario MP Charlie Angus.  Imagine, he expects NDP voters to endorse as their 1 – 2 Leadership – 2 Ontarians.   It is to laugh.

So where does that leave us.  Mulcair if the polls are correct but I still think when the pressure is on – the average NDP voter will refrain from placing an X beside his name.

Rather, I suspect that the majority of their Xs will go to Peggy Nash.  She too has a major flaw – she represents a Toronto riding – which in the scheme of things is viewed even less favourably than Dewar’s Ottawa.  But she has been prudent in not announcing a deputy from Ontario.

So you heard it here first – on March 24, Peggy Nash by a nose

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

CALL IN THE ROBOCOPS

 

To Catch the RoboCallers.

Galagher – ‘tell us what you really think about this Robocaller nonsense’.

I do think in many respects that it is just nonsense – I call it a prank albeit a serious one that sadly needs to be dealt with.

I say nonsense due to the fact that we in this country have many truly serious issues to deal with – as do all other countries but it never seems to fail, we continually get distracted by the minutiae.

In that respect, I would give Robocalling a 1 in the scheme of things in contrast to the 10s I would allocate to our debt situation, the aging of the Boomers, the green energy fiasco, the desperate need for cheap energy on so on.

I blame the opposition parties for once again making an issue out of nothing.  I guess it is easier for them to deal with trivial matters.  The problem with that though is we all suffer in that it takes away from the truly important issues.  We have seen it time and again – regardless of which party is in power.  As voters and as citizens we should all be appalled.

That said, I still believe the Robo Issue needs to be addressed now that it has become a matter of public concern.  In democracies we need to be fully assured that our system is free from manipulation, even of the prankster variety.

I’d make it Elections Canada problem to deal with – that is what they are there for.  If their investigation determines that their is sufficient truth to the opposition complaints – then call in the Mounties to do a full scale criminal investigation.

To waste everyone’s time with the expense of time and money on a Commission of Inquiry is stupidity in the extreme.

Further, Elections Canada is now on notice that this type of thing may be happening so they should get into the modern age and come equipped to deal with these types of complaints at future elections.

Two can play at Robocalling – the Robocaller and the Robocop.

Harper and company have taken the approach I have recommended above and for that they should be given the benefit of the doubt.  If Elections Canada does investigate and finds that his party or any other party for that matter, is officially involved – they will have some serous explaining to do and hopefully some serious fines to pay.

All this though reminds me of times past when local parties of all stripes engaged in some very questionable activities come election time.

Booze was the biggest culprit and not in the sense of having consumed too much but that was indeed a problem.  It was handed out like water to prospective voters in the hopes of securing votes for their candidate.  When I was a young conservative the going rate was a mickey per vote.

The locals were also quite adept at ‘reverse canvasses’  - this would take place when the other parties went around delivering pamphlets to the various door steps and putting up their signs – these guys and gals were followed at a safe distance by a competing team who deftly went about their business gathering up these self same pamphlets and taking down those self same signs.

Everyone grumbled about it but no one lodged a complaint because these nefarious activities were universal.

And the stories – one in particular comes to mind:

This chap and his wife each voted for another party. Come election day, the husband asked his wife to go down into the root cellar to fetch something.  As soon as she got off the latter – the husband shut and locked the door and left her there all day until the polls closed.  I forget whether or not their marriage survived but it likely did given that there was less divorce back then. They certainly became legend.

I must confess that I did something along those similar lines.

On one Election Night I received a call from a voter who said he would go and cast his vote for the Tory –only if I drove him to the poll.  A vote is a vote so off I went.

When I got there he introduced me to his new common law wife.  My mind quickly went into overdrive.  ‘Would you like to come and vote too” I enquired.  She responded by saying her hair “was a mess” but I persisted and she finally agreed to go with us.

It was at this point, while putting on her coat, that she admitted she would be voting for another party and would therefore “be cancelling out her husband’s vote”.  I was sick – here I came all this way to realize a vote for the good guys and now I would be taking along a voter who would only neutralize it.

My mind swung again into overdrive.  “Perhaps your hair is a bit of a mess” I proffered, “you would not want to go out not looking your best”.

She readily agreed – the day was saved, or should I say vote.

Looking back to those days, I have to wonder if we’d have used Robocalling too, had it been available to us?

It would have been wrong to do then – it is wrong to do today, but in the scheme of things there are far more important things our Elected Officials need put their minds to.  Leave Elections to Elections Canada.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

I Feel Betrayed....

Dalton McGuinty told me so and now I find out from Don Drummond that it was all a lie.

I would have been inclined to think Drummond was the liar, except for the fact that McGuinty now says Drummond is the one telling the truth. Imagine.

What a fool I've been.

A little history.

Readers will know that prior to the last Ontario Election I was an outspoken critic of our Premier - the Rt Hon. Dalton McGuinty. It will therefore come as no surprise that I did not cast my ballot for his candidate in my local Riding.

Once the Election was over however, and he was returned to power , I accepted my fate and indeed conceded that the Electorate At Large - EAL - knew better than me and therefore I turned my thinking around 180 degrees. McGuinty had been correct all along.

When he said, as he did in the many months leading up to the last Election, that Ontario never had it so good - post Election, I realized that the man knew of which he spoke. When he said manufacturing was booming in this Province, that new jobs were being created all over the place - the guy had to be right and I had mistakenly voted against him.

When he told us Green was good - that it not only saved the environment - but created 000's of new jobs - post election, I was now on side. The People had spoken and who was I to go against the grain.

Hydro rates too high - it was all nonsense.

Ontario's new Have-not Status was good for us since it provided us with Transfer Payments from the Feds for the first time in our long and distinguished history as a Province.

I could go on and on - but you are smart readers and will by now have gotten the drift. I was wrong to have suggested Dalton was lying - oh sorry - misleading us - he was right and I was wrong and the EAL could not - nay would not be fooled and saw the Premier for the upstanding gentleman that he was.

I say 'was' because again - that was then and this is now. With the Drummond Report - commissioned by the Premier and accepted as fact by the self same Premier - we now find out that I was right in my Pre-Election Suspicions all along.

Simply stated - the Province of Ontario is falling apart economically.

Unemployment is up - manufacturing jobs are becoming as scarce as hens' teeth. The Debt / Deficit is running out of control.

Indeed stats show that Ontario's financial situation is worse than California's a State that is considered for all intents and purposes as bankrupt. And not only that -our total debt is about $250 billion - just slightly less than Greece and yet our populations are similar. We are quickly becoming the Greece of North America.

I can feel some smirks out there - "exaggeration" I can hear some of you saying - but we'll not have long to wait to see how much of an exaggeration it is. The Ontario Budget will start to set the course to a leaner, meaner Province. And the Budget after that and the one after that will continue full speed down that road to solvency.

But just think, had Dalton and company started on this conversion earlier - say in his first term - how much less pain there would be.

I think some believe that I want to see Ontarians / Canadians lose their benefits but, in fact, the reverse is true. I want to see us all hold on to as many benefits and entitlements as possible, realizing that in order to achieve this - some restraint is needed on the part of each and every one of us. The longer it takes to seriously address our fiscal imbalance, the greater the loss of these benefits and privileges will be.

Dalton McGunity and his cohort have fiddle away years in delaying action but more sadly, they have gone off on expensive tangents - such as his Green Energy Program which has made our Debt Situation even bleaker, all the while encouraging business to move elsewhere to escape dramatically rising energy costs.

So I feel betrayed - but not surprises.

As I see it...

'K. D. Bell'