Saturday 17 September 2011

RE: THE SOURCE with Ezra Levant (Aug 26, 2011)


I am fascinated to hear Ezra Levant stating that “The one thing they (CBC) will never tolerate is a diversity of opinion” and “Only now that the Sun News Network is alive has there ever been any other points of view on TV.”   Of course Mr. Levant realizes this is an over-the-top exaggeration.   Still, the game – and it clearly is a game – it to present any even vaguely leftish comments uttered by anyone on the CBC as representing the views of the entire institution. 

One has to assume that when our not-so-trusty-reporter talks about the left-wing-NDP-supporting-CBC he is somehow managing to avoid the voices of folks such as Kevin O’Leary, Don Cherry, Rex Murphy and Tom Flanagan.  Why, I even seem to recall that Prime Minister Harper appointed a former CBC journalist to the Senate.  How is this possible?  Perhaps these conveniently omitted journalists and commentators are not true conservatives in Mr Levant’s view.  One wonders if he is questioning their conservative credentials.  Clearly Mr. Levant needs to take this issue up with Mr. Cherry. 

Of course to maintain their underdog/oppressed/lone-voice-of-reason status Sun editorialists must present the CBC as a monolithic left-wing conspiracy … and most insulting to these pseudo-mavericks of journalism is that this media monopoly scheme is supported by tax dollars.  Public institutions - the horror!  One has to assume the logic is that only rich private individuals are entitled to publicly express their opinions on the airwaves.  Yes, that is what democracy is all about.  In the view of many Sun editorialists, the sin of the CBC is that they don’t always offer an unquestioning conservative viewpoint – the nerve of those Commies!   Mr. Levant just can’t seem to imagine news stories which are multifaceted and nuanced.  Why have range and complexity when yelling and props are so easy.  

Of course Mr. Levant realizes this is how the ‘oppressed little guy’ game is played.   It is all about Sun media elites (and they are elites whether they like it or not) taking cheap shots at an exaggerated/invented enemy.   Perhaps Mr. Levant feels his boringly-predictable overt biases will be ignored if he constantly accuses others of bias.  This is the dull edge of journalism. 



Sunday 4 September 2011

Ezra Levant – The great Obama cover-up’ (Sunday Sun, Sept. 4, 2011)


It is interesting to read that Ezra Levant is not above employing immigrant, religion and race-related fear-mongering when discussing President Obama this week.  He even manages to squeeze in the suggestion the President is a Commie ... or at least influenced by Commies.   Anyone who has followed the saga concerning the President’s birth certificate will know that there has not exactly been a lack of scrutiny.  And what exactly does Mr. Levant mean by ‘exotic’?  Levant also notes that “Barack Obama is going down as the worst president in American history.”    I wonder if our fearless journalist is referring to the fact that democracy is breaking out all over the world.  If Levant is making reference to the dismal state of the economy, anyone with an ounce of honesty knows that these issues both pre-date the current President and are linked to the current Congress.  

I have nothing against scrutinizing the President – particularly when it comes to policy and actions – but it seems clear there are shadowy motives at work in Levant’s column.     Incidentally, I don’t know or care how many children the Prime Minister of Canada has ... or anything about his personal life.  I don’t know anything about his family background or even his religion.  Why is that Mr. Levant?  Frankly the Prime Minister’s deeds are my sole concern. 

The attacks on the President (and media) remind me of the constant swipes directed toward the CBC in the Sun pages.  There is an assumption in the Sun editorials that there is one truly Canadian identity and perspective – a conservative one.  All others are kooky, or worse, traitorous.   The type of populist dissention the Sun writers routinely cough up is patriotic and noble, but other forms of critique or protest are down-right un-Canadian.   This is a neat, if partisan, twist.  

The constant assumption that there is a left-wing media conspiracy – which our intrepid reporter calls the ‘Media Party’ – is also pretty laughable.  Perhaps Mr. Levant doesn’t realize that he and his cohorts are the mainstream media … not the rabble-rousing under-dogs they make themselves out to be.  Sun editorialists are the elites of today no matter how hard they might try to pin this tag on others.  Even with a television network, the Sun columnists persist in playing the ‘we-are-an-oppressed-minority’ card.  Well, which is it: oppressed minority or wildly successful media chain?   I’m not sure that you can have it both ways.  Besides, this ‘valiant little guy’ claim is getting old and boring.   I implore Sun editorialists find some fresh material!