Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, February 17, 2012

May: Environmentalists face Kafkaesque smears

The federal Conservatives have to tone down their "Kafkaesque" demonization of environmentalists, Green Party leader Elizabeth May says.

"I think that under the terms [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper and his cabinet members have been using in the House of Commons, I am now condemned as against Canada, as a radical, as an enemy and I suppose as a suspected future terrorist," May told reporters Thursday.

"Once you start describing political opponents as enemies, we're in real trouble," said May, MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands. "It's very Kafkaesque."

May's call to tone down the rhetoric comes after the revelation that the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency considers the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Greenpeace a threat.

"Multi-issue extremists and aboriginal extremists may pursue common causes, and both groups have demonstrated the intent and the capability to carry out attacks against critical infrastructure in Canada," says a 2008 assessment prepared by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, according to the Globe and Mail.

The report cites PETA's opposition to Canada's seal hunt and its parallel boycott of Canadian maple syrup as some of CSIS's reasons for being concerned.

May said these sort of overblown attacks on political opponents - such as the government's branding the opposition "antiCanada" on Wednesday - are beyond the pale.

"It smacks of the McCarthy era," she said. "It makes me think someday we'll have hearings of a House committee on anti-Canadian activities where people will be hauled before this committee and grilled: 'Are you now, or have any time been, a member of Greenpeace?' "

Original Article
Source: times colonist 
Author: Jeff Davis  

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