A recent post
by fellow blogger Lorne stuck a cord with me and despite my
reluctance to comment about ANYTHING in these days of total political
mayhem both near and far I will attempt to make a rational commentary
upon some of the points made.
Like Lorne “my disenchantment with
the world and its politics has reached new depths.”, after 10 years
of highlighting the dangers to our democracy by those who would
circumvent the hard won protections that our largely unenforceable
democratic norms that we take for granted I am tired of fighting! As
with my fellow blogger “ I wonder if writing about this broken
world is the best use of whatever time remains to me”, certainty I
probably have a little less time than he to continue the fight both
personal and democratically, but also like he I too am 'drawn to the
flame”!
There is little doubt that the
excessive retoric we hear about daily from a certain would be
dictator south of the border does much to keep my blood pressure
elevated, how anyone who watches the nightly news can remain calm and
unaffected is beyond my comprehension. Much of the news from across
our own country is no less troubling where fortunately our leader
does not take to twitter with a kneejerk reaction to each little
unwelcome bit of news (even if certain other would be leaders do).
In that regard that our PM has
repeated said that our rule of law should be followed and the the
various police forces and their provincial counterparts must be the
ones at this point to try and deescalate the hijacking of our nations
rail system is the correct approach. It is unfortunate that the
blockade of national rail line by a few self identified 'native
supporters' should have been permitted to last beyond a few hours and
receive such news attention which is what the said individuals seem
to more interested in rather than anything constructive.
To return to to the article referenced
above the fear expressed was “Trump’s “retribution tour”
shows he has indeed learned something from acquittal: “The lesson
is he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants.” and to ruturn
to the title of this piece "...a president is fully above the
law in the most dangerous kind of way. This is how democracies die.”
Exactly! But the question is becoming
what price that democracy when a handful of non leaders (or for that
matter a few individuals in powerful positions) can hold an entire
country hostage by blocking a few rail lines without and real
consequences. Democracy is a fragile thing and in protecting those
who would use our tolerance to promote their 'right' to protest to
abuse the 'rights' of others must be made aware that they diminish
their own access to such activities.
I fear that the United States is not
the only “nation in precipitous and likely irreversible decline”!.
