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Oh Santa, you shouldn't have... (12.21.07)
There are many things on my list. A healthy, happy family and friends, a vibrant downtown, clean drinking water … But on that list addressed to the jolliest of Coca-cola logos, Santa would definitely find a request for a picture to go on my trophy wall. Tee-hee-hee.
You’ll have to excuse me but my Christmas came early and I must do the happy dance. It’s a shame this is print and you can’t see; but I assure you it’s the most delightful jig/shuffle with a conga twist. The reason for this moment of enjoyment is expressed in the accompanying song to the dance as sung to the tune of “na-na-na-na-na” it goes “Conrad-Black is going to pri-son!”
Now the photo of Conrad behind bars will take its rightful place at the top of my trophy wall where he will join his protégé Gordon Campbell with his delightful mug shot, and of course the ever festive Ralph Klein throwing dimes at the homeless. Oh it’s just too good.
Now I know this euphoria won’t last but damn it neither will the eggnog and I’m going to live for the moment.
After a while we’ll realize, yeah, he’s proven to be a criminal but the damage is done. The cultural seeds he planted will be growing in our halls of power for many, many years to come. Conrad of course is the media baron who used his publications to spout the hateful neo-con ideology. He made it fashionable to honestly believe “if you cant’ afford it, you don’t deserve it”. Of course the “it” can be anything from education and healthcare to water, food, shelter, and of course, justice.
As if to shine an all too unpleasant light on how this ideology has shaped our world we need only look to the same day conviction of the Abbotsford pig farmer, Willie Picton. Now it’s no secret Picton was allowed to get away with murdering people for so long only because he specifically chose to torture and mutilate East End prostitutes. And let’s face it; to many he was providing a public service. It’s not hard to find people in power that see one less “poor” as one less problem.
In the end they got Al Capone on tax evasion and they got Conrad on fraud. Granted I would have preferred a more scrooge-esque ending where Conrad would admit he was a hurtful bastard. But his ideology allows him to insist he’s done nothing wrong and I suppose throwing this scrooge in prison will have to do. Oh, and as if it couldn’t get any better, there’s a chance Lyin’ Brian (Mulroney) could be joining them soon enough. Nice.
But listen to me talking all this reality when it’s Christmas. For shame. What’s say in proper Christmas tradition we just tinsel over reality and celebrate all the reasons we have to happy dance. Not least of which is the fact that today is Winter solstice and the days are nothing but brighter from here on in. Merry Christmas indeed.
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