Mark Steyn

Now we know

December 17, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

All those who said that complaints about Mark Steyn, Ezra Levant and company were not about Islam but rather about showing respect and practicing “responsible” journalism? They were wrong.

It is so about Islam. If you’re a Muslim, and you want to write, for instance, that:

Homosexuals and lesbians should be “exterminated in this life”
“men are superior to women and better than them”. In general, “men have a more complete intellect and memory than women”

…well, then you’re cool. That’s just normal. No reason for complaint, here. But dare reprint cartoons showing The Prophet in an unflattering way (or any way at all), and you’ll be dragged through no end of costly legal battles.

Clearer than clear, thanks.

Us downscale white people

September 4, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin 3 Comments

David Frum writes:

But even based on what we know already, opinion about Palin’s life story will divide sharply. I wrote a column for The Week’s online edition suggesting how that opinion will divide. Briefly, the Palin choice will intensify GOP support among downscale white voters – while adding to the GOP’s difficulties among more educated white voters.

I have a university degree what has got three letters in it, yet I find myself enthusiastically cheering for Gov. Palin. I am also white. I would be surprised to hear I am the only person in this situation. Is there such a thing as more educated downscale white voters? As Mark Steyn says, ease up on the snobbery, dude. “You’d be surprised how crowded it is down at the ‘downscale’ end.”

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Andrea adds: Downscale, upscale, whatever. I don’t think she’s courting the Lawrence Park vote.

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Rebecca adds: That’s tone deaf, even for Frum. He’s written some great books, my favourite of which is How We Got Here, which takes some of the focus on the culture wars off the 1960s and takes a closer look at the importance of the 1970s. His latest, Comeback, was just … off, in many ways. From his position on life (he wants pro-lifers to stop worrying about abortion and pay more attention to embryo-destructive research, as if it were a zero-sum contest between them, and as if a culture that won’t protect a third trimester baby could be bothered to protect a zygote) to his inattention to the role of culture in creating and perpetuating poverty, the book struck me as somehow misguided, as if he had carefully taken aim at his subject and then sneezed as he loosed his arrow.

At the time, I thought that this was a function of his preoccupation with foreign policy in recent years. He’s done some important work in that field, so fair enough if he’s not as au courant with social policy as he used to be. Now, though, it looks as if perhaps he just doesn’t get small-c conservative America.

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Andrea adds: “pay more attention to embryo-destructive research”–is that what he wants? Because that redeems his other off positions at least a little for me. I firmly believe that it won’t be too long before women won’t choose abortion for themselves. I’m less hopeful about those scientists who have control over many more lives, doing research on embryonic children. A mother knows what her unborn child is, intuitively. Does a scientist?

They didn’t go out of their way to publicize it…

June 27, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

The Canadian Human Rights commission has quietly dismissed the case against Mark Steyn and Maclean’s. That’s semi good news. As Ezra points out:

… the sooner they can get the public scrutiny to go away, the sooner they can go about prosecuting their less well-heeled targets, people who can’t afford Canada’s best lawyers and command the attention and affection of the country’s literati.

What we need to is to shut down all institutions of thought-control in this country, period. There’s nothing like free and open debate to sort out truth from falseness, and good from evil.

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Andrea adds: And that’s the truth of it–the HRCs can now go and target the little guys with the wrong opinions. Some day that might be us. And that’s just fine by me seeing as a lawsuit against me means someone could come into possession of a very fine hybrid bicycle. I ponder the limitations on freedom of speech often enough. Just recently had a conversation with a well-read individual in a position of power who declared one of the most tumultuous and ongoing debates of our time (over the definition of marriage) to be a “closed question.” I’ll not get into details here, but that’s another way to stymie free speech–to declare unpopular debates closed and decided.

OK, that’s scary

April 2, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

Call me naive, but I didn’t know about this problem of girls vanishing from their British homes.

A new study has found that the practice of forced marriage among immigrants in Britain is much more common than previously assumed. Thousands of young girls — and boys — have gone missing, many of whom might have been abducted by their own parents.

Any minute now we’ll hear from feminists denouncing such practices, right?

[h/t Mark Steyn]

Has anyone seen a line lately?

February 21, 2008 by Andrea Mrozek Leave a Comment

This article by Mark Steyn is excellent but I certainly believe something is missing. It’s awfully difficult to “hold the line” against Muslim extremism when there isn’t one. (And I’ve been looking for a while now. Next step, an ad in the papers… SWF seeks cultural, western civilizational line to have and to hold, til death do us part.)

So let’s talk alarm, shall we? One area where North Americans are alarmed is that many Muslims fail to believe in “reproductive choice.” Women’s rights types would be more than happy to confer on Muslim women their ideas on how and when women can exercise said choices. A safe and legal termination–now there’s your answer to severe birth defects.

So can we bring immigrants round to our way? I sure hope not.

When we accept abortion on demand, which we most assuredly have, then truly, we can afford to be unperplexed by just about everything else. When dismembering a fetus limb from limb results in exclamations of “We need choices!” there’s a problem. And that is most often the reaction in my social circles, when abortion comes up at all. It’s a miracle my friends still invite me back. (But thanks to this site, I’m less of a downer at parties. No need to wax on about societal decline orally when you can do it in writing.)

I take great comfort in knowing that history moves in many directions. Onwards and upwards, pro-life people! “Hold, hooooold…” Those are probably my favourite two words from any movie. (Gladiator)

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Andrea is feeling particularly alarmist today: Who can you count on to hold the line? Probably not these folks.

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Véronique adds: Makes it awfully hard to take the moral high ground with regard to polygamy I’d say. So polygamy is generally perceived as bad for women but poly living, now, that’s liberation!

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