=a ] lo | po — i co] [= J.J. McCullough, OP Columnist Rocking the Boat: How Un-Ganadian uick—think of the name of a famous critic of George W. Bush. Michael Moore? Al Franken? Bill Mahr? Noam Chomsky? The Dixie Chicks? It shouldn’t be hard. Now try to think of a famous critic of Paul Martin. Hard, eh? Next time you’re in a book- store, be sure to check out the “political” section. Chances are you'll find the walls lined with books bashing the US President. Books like Molly Ivin’s Bushwhacked, David Corn’s The Lies of George W. Bush, or Jack Hueberman’s The Bush-Haters Handbook, All best sellers, all easy to find. Then, try to locate some anti-Chretien, anti-Martin, or even anti- Trudeau books. You'll be lucky to scrounge up more than one or two. Go to any other store and you'll likewise find all sorts of other anti-Bush knickknacks, like bobble-heads, t-shirts, punching bags, Halloween masks, etc., etc., etc. Would anyone buy something with a Canadian politician’s face on it? In America, being anti-establishment is hip, trendy, sexy, and financially prof- itable. Bashing the “ruling elite” is the way to fame, fortune, and popularity. Cool celebrities bash the American political advocate change. hold entire concerts to “rock establishment and Bands against Bush.” Eminem makes music videos encouraging American teens to be political rebels. P-Diddy organizes cross- country campaigns telling voters to question authority. Politicians campaign with slogans screaming how we must change the system, end politics as usual, and overthrow the status quo. Change is the constant theme of American political culture. No matter where you sit on the political fence, the status quo is never considered good enough. What is the theme of political dis- course on this side of the border, by contrast? Conformity, acceptance, una- november 17/2000 nimity. Preserving the status quo is said to be the most “Canadian” virtue of all. We must defend our health-care system, our political system, our ruling Prime Minister and his patriotic Liberal government, and accept all the wise decisions of our divine Supreme Court. We must not upset the balance of power, or diverge from the script. The establishment in Canada has formed itself slowly but surely over the years. Having dominated the Liberal Party for the last five decades that it has ruled Canada, the left-wing crowd now effec- tively controls every aspect of this country’s political discourse. By filling the post-WWII Canadian cultural void with a unique mix of leftist politics and anti- Americanism, they’ve successfully created a “new Canada” in the image of their own values—a purely political nation that is now firmly entrenched in the public mind and the national culture. The biggest insult in the new Canada is to be a “radical,” someone who dares to desire change. Preston Manning was a radical. So was Stephen Harper. These crazy men had crazy ideas from their crazy western provinces that dared to question the perfect Liberal hegemony. Their defeat was something to be celebrated. Today, our political culture demands that all politicians tace to embrace the “cen- tre” (ie: the positions of the Liberal Party), and demands that all candidates prove themselves as protec- tors of the wonderful Trudeaupian status quo, and not as dangerous dema- dangerous gogues who would dare challenge it. If you don’t want to dance to the estab- lishment tune, don’t even bother coming to the ball. There are no Canadian versions of Michael Moore, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Rielly, or Bill Mahr. Canada’s biggest media stars all line up obediently behind the status quo and praise the Liberal govern- ment that brought us there. You'll never hear someone like Atwood, Pierre Burton, or even our beloved David Suzuki chal- the even Margaret lenge status quo. Hell, that hip punkster George Stroum- boulopoulos couldn’t wait an official mouthpiece for the hyper- establishment CBC during their Greatest Canadian spe- to sérve as cial. The entire Canadian entertainment elite does not challenge the ruling estab- lishment as their American counterparts do. Instead, it remains a proud part of it. Ditto for our placid news media. No bold challenges to the Liberal elites will ever escape the pages of leading Canadian papers like the G/obe and Mail or the Toronto Star, to say nothing of the politi- cally correct airwaves of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The dominance of pro-establishment, liberal views in the Canadian media is the main reason why no one really cares that most of our media is owned by a single family. The Asper clan supports the liber- al status quo, so aside from a few mild tut-tuts now and then, they never really get much serious criticism. The fact that the government runs the CBC is similarly embraced as being perfectly natural. There is now a political hegemony over this country far stronger than any- thing George W. Bush could ever hope to impose upon the United States. While America is, and always will remain, a vibrant and often bitterly polarized nation of intense political self-questioning and Ah, Mr. President, our sworn enemy Betts ge Vg ih ae ts finally dead. This is truly a great day for Eee ci medals eats Zionist race! _ Opinions iniONS - criticism, Canada has slowly begun to go down the road of a one-party state men- tality, in which there is a permanently defined list of “good” ideas, and to ques- tion or debate .them makes unpatriotic and traitorous. Canadians need to realize what it means when we allow—or even encour- age—our country to get to the point where our entire concept of nationalism is inseparably tied to a finite political agenda, which, in turn, our entire culture revolves around, praising and defending. It certainly doesn’t make us a tolerant, diverse, or open-minded nation. On the contrary, it actually makes us profoundly intolerant, bland, and narrow-minded. If this is the kind of Canada Canadians want, fine. Many Canadians obviously love the Liberal Party and see no problem with it having a complete ideological dominance over all venues of Canadian culture and media. If that’s the case however, let’s be under no illusions about which country in North America is truly willing to tolerate dissent and which one isn’t. you Indeed, agit cd Minister & Sharon. eet: fete poh ta) re rea