Vincent J. Curtis
10 Feb 2016
On February 6, 2016, the Hamilton Spectator released an editorial that more in sorrow than in anger condemned Councillor Lloyd Ferguson for not apologizing. The editorial was entitled, "If he only said sorry." Councillor Ferguson apparently transgressed a political correctness and said something that seemed to be stereotyping. All the furies of fascist thought control were released upon him: the condemnation of other Councillors, this editorial, demands for apology, public shaming, and demands that he to be sent to Dachau for re-education. (Okay, the last didn't really happen because Dachau was abolished in 1945.)
What started this whole thing was an enthusiastic comment by a city staffer at a budget meeting about the progressivism of the city of Bogota, Columbia, in respect of public transportation. Apparently, both rich and poor ride buses in Bogota, and this is supposed to be a good thing. Councillor Ferguson put these inappropriate and inadmissible comments into perspective by observing that in Columbia chickens also ride buses, and the rich of Columbia are more than likely drug lords - facts he observed personally in a visit to that country about a dozen years ago.
When dealing with fascist ideologues like progressives, facts don't matter and truth is no defense. Councillor Ferguson was attacked by a host of dwarfs, and yet he refused to bent to their demands! This makes the offence even more egregious, and one wonders when the attacks will cease, or how dirty the campaign will become.
Wisely, Ferguson has refused to budge, perhaps knowing it will gain him no respite.
Below is my reply to the Spectator editorial.
Sirs;
At a recent budget meeting, a city staffer made some
favorable remarks about socialism and social levelling. The remark
approved of the seemingly progressive views on public transportation of some
third world country famous for its excellent coffee and its exports of other
stimulants.
While revealing of the staffer’s personal opinion and its
potential effect on the advice he offers, no staffer has business offering
unsolicited and irrelevant personal opinions of a political nature at a public
meeting. Progressivism may be fashionable nowadays, but to me
progressivism represents fascism with a smiling face. Councillor Lloyd
Ferguson was quite right to put the staffer’s remarks into context, for a
variety of reasons. Now, progressivists are trying to extract their
revenge.
The usual methods of progressivist revenge are being
applied: public shaming, calls for apology, and demands for re-education.
This is all very tiresome, and the overuse of this technique is what had
led to the Trump phenomenon in the United States. People are tired of
politically correct speech and other forms of fascist thought control, and
yearn for robust debate in which what is on their minds is actually spoken in a
public forum. The argument from the progressive side is always “shut up!”
The bad days for democracy are when free speech is
attacked. I hope Councillor Ferguson tells them all to go to hell.
-30-
February 18th, the Spectator reported that Councillor Ferguson capitulated and issued his apology.
February 18th, the Spectator reported that Councillor Ferguson capitulated and issued his apology.
No comments:
Post a Comment