The Co-opting of Remembrance

Today is a day for reflection.

Reflection on the cost of our freedom. Reflection on the unconditional love of those fellow citizens who stand in the ranks of our military and put themselves on the line for those of us who do not, will not or cannot for ourselves.

And yet there are those amongst us who -- for one reason or another -- can't put self-interest and self-importance aside. Even for one occasion of such importance.

Put simply, they just don't get it.

These are the people who feel the need to co-opt every important message for their own interests. Whether it be animal activists who dilute the merits of our soldier citizens by distributing purple poppies to honor animals that died during war or peace activists who hold such self-importance that they cannot leave well alone by distributing white poppies to promote peace through non-conflict, something I'm sure every Holocaust survivor thanks the maker never happened while they were lined up in the death camps.

These activists clearly don't get it.

Remembrance Day is already about peace. Does the fact that ceremonies and our quiet reflections take place at the moment that the war ended mean nothing? It is already about the lives of all those who served and all that is protected or lost, whether man or beast.

Do these groups need another version of the poppy? Unless they are trying to draw attention to their activism -- which ultimately means they value self-promotion over self-reflection -- the answer is clearly no.

Our soldiers stand on a plane of citizenry that most of us will never quite fathom. Their families know all too well the cost. It is unfortunate that self-centered activists just cannot put their self-interests aside... even for one day.

Perhaps if these activists reflected on exactly what Remembrance Day is, they might just realize that the red poppy already symbolizes what their co-opt poppies are supposed to mean. This lack of understanding only turns their co-opt poppies into a exercise in self-mockery; turning a day of selfless remembrance into a day of selfish ignorance and obliviousness.

Lest we forget... Clearly some of us already have.

Slavery by any other name...

Next year will mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War. Of course, slavery sat at the heart of this war and it is a given in these times that slavery was, is and shall always be a crime.

So, let's look at what slavery is.

Slavery is by definition the system of turning one person (a slave) into an unpaid laborer without freedoms or rights by another person (a master). In the traditional sense, the owner gains profit by imprisoning the slave and employing them into forced labor. The owner of course pays for the slaves living quarters, their food and their general welfare with the expectation to gain profit over time by their work.

Now, what would be the easiest way to make that process more efficient and profitable for the master? Quite simple: remove the need to house, feed and take care of the slave. The result would be slavery with little cost and almost pure profit.

This is where we find ourselves today with the arrival of hundreds of Tamil "refugees" on our Pacific coast. As many would have us believe, these are simple folk trying to make a new home. And from their end, that may be true. However, the more likely case is that this is a case of organized human trafficking with the organizers making millions of dollars in the process.

Unfortunately, this puts the Canadian government in a bind. Do we let these innocent people in as refugees? The unfortunate truth is that if these people were the product of a human trafficking operation, we may very well be inviting a repeat performance if we let them stay. In essence, allowing them to say may be tacit approval of what is for all intents and purposes the perfect slave operation. One with little maintenance cost and high profit.

Never mind that this case could be a part of a much larger Tamil Tiger operation. In fact, this is one of the ways they have financed their military operations in the past. To make no effort to rectify this situation is simply a matter of diverting responsibility in making a rational decision, no matter how difficult.

As much as I mourn the situation these people face, I fear for the many others who will follow only to become slaves in the process. Turning a blind eye to what could be a very profitable human smuggling operation is simply tacit approval of modern slavery. As difficult as it is, sometimes you have to amputate a limb in order to save the body. And in this case, to prevent condemning countless Tamils to the fate of being in eternal bondage to the smugglers, we may very well be forced to make that difficult decision of turning this group away.

This is a very difficult choice for our government. But the right choice isn't always the easiest. And if we don't make a decision now, we are all responsible for the sign we send out of an open invitation for smugglers to abuse not only our charity but also the innocent Tamil civilians who will place their fate in the hands of these lesser men.

I certainly won't miss Mr. Margolis... not in the least.

Eric Margolis always struck me as somebody who is certainly intelligent but unfortunately also willfully blind to facts in order to maintain his well-documented position.

Case in point, last week I was listening to the John Oakley show on AM640. Mike Stafford is presently sitting in for John and was interviewing Eric about the whole Omar Khadr/Guantanamo Bay affair. Eric was certainly well-informed about many aspects of Omar Khadr's path to imprisonment. He even claimed to have met Omar's father Ahmed Said Khadr while Ahmed was still very much involved in aid-related projects.

Margolis sited Ahmed's relief work as being the primary reason he didn't believe that Omar Khadr could possibly have been involved in any resistance movement or military activities. However, anybody who has spent time looking at the news surrounding Omar would most certainly have seen the now famous images of Omar with an AK-47 assault rifle in the background or Omar assembling an improvised explosive device.

You can even watch the episode of 60 Minutes that demonstrated this quite clearly.

Now, I have a hard time believing that Margolis with his well-informed positions would have missed this bit of information. So, the question really is, why does he ignore it?

The same as anything else when it comes to political posturing: ideology

Eric certainly has a right to his opinion. He certainly has a right to believe that the war in Afghanistan is a sham or some kind of shell-game devised by George W. Bush to get control over the Middle East in order to lower oil prices. He has the right.

But, truth is a... well... we know what it is. And obvious facts are obvious facts. Eric can claim all he wants that Omar Khadr is a victim that would never have been involved in military activities. However, I've never been convicted with drug dealers. I've never been shot at as part of a gang. And I've never been arrested at violent G20 protests. Why? Because I don't associate with those groups.

Omar was arrested in a structure where resistance fighters had gathered. And when the dust had settled, he was one of only two people who could have lobbed the grenade that killed US Sgt Christopher Speer. Video shows him playing with detonation cables and land mines. Can't say that any of those situations would be something your average Canadian would be a part of.

As such, I can hardly cry for Mr Margolis as he says good-bye to the opinion column he wrote for the Sun media. He's cried that his ouster is simply a matter of right-wing zealots trying to hush him.

I simply call it quality control.