They say “what goes around comes around”, and then there’s the old standby “those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”. I expect Warren Kinsella may be reflecting on those notions today.
First came this:
An open email to Warren Kinsella from a gay Conservative
and then this:
Former Restaurant Critic Tries Hand At Politics
Note: In the interest of full disclosure, I do have a bit of a bone to pick with the Smear-monger.
It seems the mainstream media takes a decidedly different view of golf – depending on which President is doing the golfing:
Despite ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, ongoing violence in Iran, and an economy that Obama has described as the worst since the Great Depression, the president has golfed multiple times in the past several weeks–on April 26, May 16, May 25, May 31, June 7, June 9, June 14 and June 21.
Obama’s golf outings have generated favorable reports from the media, in contrast to his predecessor, George W. Bush.
Update: Related.
Victor Davis Hanson takes a look at what’s behind the liberal/conservative double standard when it comes to morality and hypocrisy.
So, then, what accounts for the hypocrisies?
Is there some generic, overarching explanation that accounts for the lopsided charge of hypocrisy?
I think we must go back to the nature of the liberal, egalitarian mind that professes the greater care for the welfare of the commons. In contrast, the conservative, the Republican, the libertarian, in dog-eat-dog fashion believes that life is sort of a tragic free-for-all, and to the victor goes the spoils, who then by his own sense of right must help the poorer and less well off. The latter are less sensitive, less caring, more goal orientated; the former are mellower, more sharing, and pit the power of ideas, morality, and fairness against the overwhelming power of money and influence.
Presto! The beleaguered, more moral liberal must be given greater leeway, even can employ sometimes questionable means, since his ends are the more exalted. Yes, Al Gore gets to fly private, and have a few extra rooms in his mansion, but he is in pain, sacrificing on the planet’s behalf, and needs a more ample footprint than the rest of us to save us from ourselves.
Obama said he preferred to stick to a diplomatic approach to North Korea, after its nuclear and ballistic missile tests, but said that would work only if the communist nation was willing to engage in serious talks. He made no mention of a military option, but suggested he sees a limit to the effectiveness of diplomacy.
Monte Solberg writes:
Of course it was absolutely fair when the Liberals ran attack ads against Stephen Harper when he became the leader of the Conservative Party.
I mean it was clear at the time that a smart, ambitious resident of Canada like Harper could potentially be the prime minister, and therefore his past views could be relevant.
Apply the same brilliant logic to the case of Ignatieff and you instantly see that it is unfair to hold him to the same standards.
Unfair because who could ever have expected that a Canadian who lived in the U.S. for eons and spoke of the United States as his country could ever hope to be prime minister?
Ah yes, it reminds me of this, back in 2006:
In a press release that was sent out Wednesday morning, the Liberals insisted the ads are not personal attacks.
“They all refer to specific policy positions and actions that Mr. Harper has taken during his time in federal politics,” said the statement entitled ‘Fact Check.’
“Holding a leader accountable for their past positions and quotations is an important part of political discourse.”
It seems the president is trying to play both sides of this issue. On the one hand, he wants to continue to stoke the populist outrage set ablaze by the lavish bonuses; on the other hand, he is trying to help the CEOs keep those same lavish bonuses.
From Ace of Spades:
Y’see when he was joking about what a f**ing failure he is at bowling, he was not, NOT, saying anything at all about Special Olympics (except for that part where the only way we get the joke is because of what we know about the Special Olympics). Spin, monkeys, spin!
That time I got a ticket for “improper lane change” and I said, “I was driving like a woman”? Totally not making fun of women drivers. At all. How could you even think that?
I remmeber when you ate all my powdered donettes and I said, “fat people like you are fat for stuffing their fat faces with my donettes and you’re going to die a fat person’s death.” It was in no way intended to disparage fat people. I have the highest regard for fat people. Really.
On the Obama team’s attack on Rush Limbaugh:
Further, for a man who ran on a platform of bipartisanship, and the politics of hope over fear, this reeks of hypocrisy. It takes its place as yet another broken promise that led us, naively, to believe in transparency and ridding Washington of earmarks and lobbyists.
Source: Marty Racine On Second Thought
Doesn’t this guy sound a lot like Mike Harris:
He called on states to impose tougher curriculum standards, and in an echo of language often used by President George W. Bush, he chided states that he said were “low-balling expectations for our kids.â€
Saying he would “cultivate a new culture of accountability in America’s schools,†Mr. Obama said states and school districts should weed out bad teachers.
A hat tip to Andrew Coyne, who writes:
Charter schools? Merit pay? Closing bad schools? Tougher standards? What kind of wacko, right-wing, Bushoid propaganda is this? In certain parts of this country, you can’t so much as say the words “charter schools†without being hounded into oblivion. Only it’s Obama saying it, so it’s okay.
Are you listening, Ontario Conservatives? You have just been given permission to have another go at education reform. Only this time get it right.
So many clichés come to mind when I consider the antics of this fellow. Something about living in glass houses and throwing stones is appropriate, along with the kettle calling the pot black. It seems Warren has had his feelings hurt yet again, and he’s launched a $1-million libel suit against the Conservative party and Public Works Minister Christian Paradis:
Kinsella’s Toronto-based lawyer, Brian Shiller, accused the Conservative party and Paradis of “egregious conduct.”
“It’s a concerted campaign by the Conservative party to target and defame and destroy the reputation of a private citizen who is a volunteer for the Liberal party and nothing more,” he said.
Warren Kinsella seems to have made a career out of attempting to target and destroy the reputation of private citizens he disagrees with. He’s even written a book on the subject. As another blogger puts it:
The Jackal needs to take a long look at his behaviour. The arrogance and the deep sense of entitlement need to be considered. He needs to take a break from litigation and from blogging. Most of all, he needs to consider whether he has falsely accused decent people of things which are nasty and untrue.
For more backrgound on the self-proclaimed “Prince of Darkness” have a look here.