All of us have jumped to conclusions at one time or another. If we were lucky, no one found out and we could sheepishly and privately promise not to be such a schmuck ever again. Until next time.
In politics, leaping before looking happens as often as the sun rises. Much political hay is to be made. If a drive-by smear campaign scores, yippee. Off with their heads is the tired refrain. Yet the daily dance of grandstanding is a turnoff for most.
I am amused and chagrined that within the space of about a week three such attacks on the government appear to have misfired. What confuses me is why the Tories didn’t set the record straight sooner or release the information that would have given a more balanced look at the issue and in the process averted some of the bad press. But hey, I’m not a tactician or political guru so I’m left wondering.
There was the case of Suaad Mohamud, detained in Kenya for three months because she didn’t look like her passport photo. After DNA tests she was expedited back to Canada, where she has launched a 2.5 million dollar lawsuit against the government. Only now do we know that she was ?vague and evasive? during three separate interviews. She didn’t know the full name of her employer, couldn’t describe her job, missed the date of her marriage by a decade, and didn’t know her son’s birthday. And she was seven centimetres shorter than her stated height! Vigilant officials believe the woman’s younger sister may have been trying to sneak into Canada. In the meantime, Bob Rae insisted the government ?settle with her.?
Much ado was also made about the one hundred body bags sent to a Manitoba reserve by Health Canada in the lead up to the expected onslaught of H1N1 this fall. Accusations of racism and insensitivity were heaped upon the minister and her department. Calls for inquiries and investigations were made. Grand Chief David Harper called for resignations. Let’s shoot first and ask questions later, why don’t we.
In an October 7 news conference the minister stated that the reserve’s nurse in charge had placed the order. Shouldn’t/couldn’t the person in question have cleared this mess up the day this hit the fan instead of a month of finger pointing, investigating, and straining an already tenuous relationship? But far be it from me to jump to any conclusions about motivation or rationale.
At the time of this writing the government seems to have quietly been working on the Omar Khadr fiasco since 2006. A sound bite on the six o?clock news is all I know so far. How many gallons of ink and feet of film have been invested in this issue and calls for government action?
I’m sick of the moral outrage, the wringing of hands, and the witch hunt for someone to take the fall for every bloody little thing that upsets someone. Every issue has two sides; nothing is black or white, good or bad. When did assuming the worst become a national pastime? It’s enough already, from where I sit.
