Without doubt, some readers will be wearying of my seeming obsession with Omar Khadr. A good part of my interest in him over the past few years stems from the injustice with which he has been treated, given the flouting by both Canada and the U.S. of International human rights
Continue readingTag: Omar Khadr
Politics and its Discontents: A Very Good Week
H/t The Toronto Star For progressives, it has been a very good week. For Stephen Harper and his adherents, not so much. First, there was the resounding and iconic defeat of the Progressive Conservative dynasty in Alberta. The message to the broader population: change is possible, a message not likely
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Monster Stephen Harper Goes After Omar Khadr
Oh dear. It looks like Stephen Harper is not too happy to see Omar Khadr go free.He wants him back in his dark dungeon so he can torture him some more.And his barely repressed desire to inflict pain on others, or jail them, is making him sound like a crazy man. Read
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Sweet Taste Of Freedom
Watching Omar Khadr’s media scrum last night, it became obvious why the Harper regime fought so hard, first, to deny media access to him while he was in prison, and second, why it so vigorously opposed his release on bail: when you control the narrative, you have free rein, as
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Desperate Days of Total Disaster
I have no idea where Stephen Harper is or what he's doing. He hasn't tweeted a word for 48 hours. His squawking Twitter site has suddenly gone silentBut I bet that cartoon is a pretty good representation of his state of mind.Because he must be absolutely desperate. After rolling along
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Freedom of Omar Khadr and the Shame of the Con Regime
I wrote my first post on Omar Khadr eight years ago, and called it The Guantanamo Kid and Canada's Shame.And nothing that has happened since has ever changed my view. For what was done to that child soldier has been one of the most shameful episodes in modern Canadian history, and
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Omar Khadr’s Lawyer: "Mr. Harper Is A Bigot. Mr. Harper Does Not Like Muslims."
Denis Edney’s stinging rebuke of Stephen Harper and his regime’s contemptuous treatment of Omar Khadr over the years will resonate with all fair-mined Canadians. Recommend this Post
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Some justice finally for Omar Khadr
Nice to see some long-delayed fairness and justice taking place this morning: “Mr. Khadr you’re free to go.” With those words, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Myra Bielby turned down the federal government’s last-ditch effort Thursday to keep the 28-year-old detained. Khadr and his supporters in the courtroom erupted in
Continue readingLeft Over: Harper, You’ve Been Served…
“Woke up this mornin’ feelin’ fine…” Despite every contrary act of the Harperoids, have to say that today is a good day..yes, C-51 passed, and, notably, with the self-destructive Junior Trudeau’s tacit approval…Omar Khadr may get bail, and, realizing how mean-tempered and petty Harper can be, I’m sure he’s doing
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Seeing Above The Clouds
One of the consequences of being a longtime follower of politics is the development of a cynical perspective on life, one that recognizes the avarice, self-interest and self-promotion that all too frequently masquerade as service for the greater good. It seems that those we elect regularly abandon any semblance of
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: He Doesn’t Do Well In A Court Of Law
http://www.pressprogress.ca/ The Harper government is rushing to prevent Omar Khadr’s release from jail. The National Post reports: Federal lawyers have signalled to Khadr’s defence team that
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper’s Depraved Attempt to Revive the Terrorist Menace
As you know Stephen Harper and Jason Kenney made a surprise visit to Iraq, to try to whip up interest in the Great War on Terror. Which has been flagging badly as the days get warmer and most Canadians tune it out.And as the war fever fades, so do fears about the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Harper’s Jihad – Part Two
As I have written elsewhere on this blog, I am convinced that humans (along with other primates) have an innate sense of fairness, one that is regularly violated in so many ways by the Harper regime. Yesterday I wrote a post about the bald and unsavoury political motivations behind Dear
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Harper’s Jihad
The closer we come to an election, the more strident and McCarthyesque the Harper regime is becoming over ‘radical Islam.’ There is, of course, the political opportunism of Bill C-51, a piece of legislation designed not only to keep us in a constant state of suspicion but also to quash
Continue readingMontreal Simon: What the Case of Omar Khadr Tells Us About Stephen Harper
Years ago I predicted that Canadians who didn't care about the way Stephen Harper was raping the human rights of the child soldier Omar Khadr would live to regret it.For if he was able to get away with it once, and enjoy the taste of blood in his mouth, it
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Meanwhile, Back At Campaign Central
Hate campaign, that is. True to form, the Harper regime wasted no time in denouncing the decision to release Omar Khadr on bail pending his appeal. And in addition to playing to their rabid base, they took the opportunity to excoriate both Trudeau and Mulcair with some verbal prestidigitation: Meanwhile,
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Omar Khadr and the Grubby Con Hogs
Over the last eight years I have written almost a hundred posts about the case of Omar Khadr, Canada's child soldier.For I consider it one of the greatest cases of injustice in the history of this country, a shameful episode that should haunt us forever.So you can imagine how I felt today
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff happens, week 12: Prentice sets the stage; Smith shut down; no future in Future Shop
The story this week in Alberta is The Greatest Budget Ever Sold. After weeks of Grim Jim Prentice telling us that the sky was falling, and it was falling on your head, his government delivered a budget that was full of cuts and tax increases. But it was full of
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Torture Cons
We have all read the horrifying stories about the CIA's torture campaign. The systematic brutality, the mechanical cruelty, the monstrous depravity.And a lot of Americans are finally understanding how they got from 911 to Ferguson. When hijacked airliners slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and an empty Pennsylvania field
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Omar Khadr’s Important Message to Canadians
It's been more than twelve years since he was horribly wounded in a firefight in Afghanistan. Then jailed and tortured in that hellhole called Guantanamo, even though he was a child soldier. Then betrayed by his own government. He is Canada's most famous prisoner, and yet for all that time he has also
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