Hat tip to Kate.
And related, over at Salon:
So many progressives were misled about what Obama is and what he believes. But it wasn’t Obama who misled them. It was their own desires, their eagerness to see what they wanted to see rather than what reality offered.
I would certainly argue with the statement that “it wasn’t Obama who misled them”, considering his entire campaign was based on the slogan “Change you can believe in.”
Empty words.
A disappointing resolution dealing with the protection of religious rights and freedom of speech appears to be moving forward at the United Nations.
While the resolution itself reflects the increasingly dysfunctional nature of the U.N. makeup, I was pleased to read about Canada’s opposition to the resolution and defense of individual rights:
Canada and other Western countries emphasize the distinction between granting an “idea†rights – and defending the right of people not to be discriminated against.
“Canada rejects the basic premise that religions have rights; human rights belong to human beings,†said Catherine Loubier, spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon.
“The focus [here] should not be on protecting religions, but rather on protecting the rights of the adherents of religions, including of people belonging to religious minorities, or people who may choose to change their religion, or not to practice religion at all.â€
Muslim countries say they are only trying to cut down of what they see as extensive bias against Islam in the Western world. In the lead-up to Monday’s vote, many referred, for example, to the 2005 publication of Danish cartoons that satirized Muhammad, and which touched off riots through the Muslim world.
Reading the Prince of Darkness fawning over Obama is enough to give me a tooth ache:
Look, I love Barack Obama as much as everyone. Actually, I love him more than anyone else in Canada.
I have no less than eight (8) Barack Obama T-shirts. I have Barack Obama buttons (favourite: “Barack And Rollâ€). I have about a dozen Barack Obama posters, many of which are framed and on my walls at home and the office. I have had a Barack Obama web banner on my site for the better part of a year, and have been on the Barack Obama bandwagon for more than two years. When it wasn’t a bandwagon. Last week, when he won the presidency, I cried.
In addition to electing a new President yesterday, the American people were also asked to vote on a wide range of issues of social significance.
In Canada these often contentious and divisive issues are decided – or more often ignored – by elected representatives who are are whipped into following their party line on the issue. Personal convictions are usually set aside to accommodate the latest polling numbers or perhaps an influential interest group. When an elected official does stand by his or her convictions they are often politically ostracized or used as partisan fodder in the next election.
We need to ask ourselves if this is the best way to serve the interests of a modern democratic country. Recognizing that many of the issues put to ballot measures are issues that transcend party politics, and are issues of legitimate public debate, I would like to see more of them here in Canada. Not only would it bring democracy closer to the people, it might also elevate the discourse of political debate to where it belongs – ensuring government is addressing the needs and wishes of it’s citizens.
“We need a transformation of the health care system,” Robert Ouellet, president of the association that represents the country’s doctors, told the National Post’s editorial board yesterday. “I’m not very proud of how it’s working now in Canada. We have good quality care in our system but it’s the access, the wait times [that are the problem].”
But an irrational fear on the part of most Canadians of private sector medicine is part of the reason the system here has not improved, he said.
“[Our system] has become some kind of religion,” he said. “The word ‘private’ is taboo in Canada. I’ve been talking to people around the world and they don’t get why it’s such a big deal to talk about private care. In France, 60% of surgeries are done in private clinics but paid by the government. The point is to do what is important for the patient. [In Canada] we are thinking about the system, we’re not thinking about the patient.”