In his first days in office Joe Biden used Executive Orders to ban all new oil and gas projects from various lands and offshore waters under federal jurisdiction. Thirteen states sued, challenging his right to do so. This past Thursday Terry Doughty, a United States district judge from Louisiana, ruled that the Executive Branch was in no way entitled to cancel arrangements mandated by Statutes that had been approved after thorough examination and debate in the U.S. Congress. Biden’s fiat, its seems, entailed an arrogant abuse of power if not disdain for the Democratic process. Just imagine the mainstream outrage if Trump had done such a thing!
Perhaps, like the N.Y. Times, trying to dispel the notion that it is just another organ of Leftist propaganda, my local newspaper [The Hamilton Spectator] published an opinion piece on Aug. 19 by retired judge Brian Giesbrecht which basically accused Canada of having become a woke, fascist dictatorship. I was shocked. Giesbrecht illustrates our two-tier justice system by comparing the fate of the leaders of the Freedom Convoy with that of Indigenous, Environmental and B.L.M. protestors who have committed multiple acts of violence and destruction over the last several years with almost no legal repercussions or government sanctions whatsoever. Yes, the Convoy disrupted life in Ottawa for several weeks. But none of its members were armed or violent. They barbecued, they sang and danced, they even fed the poor. Though a swastika was noted among the host of banners, no one has yet proven to me it was not in fact a comment on our fascist federal government. Arrogantly declaring them to be purveyors of “unacceptable views,” our idiot Prime Minister characterized them as a mob of racist, misogynist criminals. The plight of Tamara Lich is instructive. Several “progressives” convinced she is little better than a terrorist are no longer my “friends.” Guilty of no act of violence whatsoever, Tamara spent several weeks in jail for her support of the convoy though hundreds if not thousands of individuals who did far worse over the years have been charged with absolutely nothing. Released on the condition that she not in any way express her incendiary views publicly, she was re-arrested for simple attending a function honoring her devotion to Freedom. Yet Suzuki can actively incite the destruction of pipelines with utter impunity!
The same “double standard” is self-evident in the States. While its proponents may be well-intentioned, it is in fact a synonym for Dictatorship, the abrogation of Free Speech in deference to the only point of view deemed acceptable. The absurd irony of the contemporary West is that those who are the main threat to the Democratic process have convinced themselves that “free speech” is in fact that threat, an ugly ploy used by the deplorable Right to spread lies, conspiracy theories, etc.. I have read dozens of articles to that effect. What they fail to acknowledge, of course, is the Enlightenment belief that Man, as a Rational Being, is more than capable of discerning B.S. from Truth. It is what used to be considered the underlying principle of the Democratic Process, though Biden, Trudeau and the Left in general would seem to be of the opinion that they alone hold “acceptable” views. Such is the arrogance behind the contemporary disdain for “populism.” Such is the arrogance evident on a daily basis in the attacks on Free Speech conducted not only by Western governments but by their mindless minions in the on-line world. The lack of humility and self-awareness behind it is truly depressing.