Shut Up And Listen 89

Distorted Priorities
I am fucking sick of the war on drugs. I am very, very fucking sick of America’s fucked up priorities. I was just subjected to the most disgusting commercial I’ve ever seen. You may have seen this monstrosity, but for those who haven’t, I’ll break it down for you.
	Two teens are in what looks to the office or den of one of their father’s. One is on a couch, the other behind the desk, spinning around in the chair. The one of the couch has a bong of some kind, and smoke is coming from it. So they’re just having dumb conversation and eventually they get to the take where the one in the chair says “Hey, look at this,” and picks up a handgun. His buddy goes “Cool. Is it loaded?” So, the other tilts while saying he doesn’t think so and it goes off.
	AND THIS IS A COMMERCIAL AGAINST DRUGS.
	Yeah. Drugs were the problem here. Apparently marijuana distorts your reality so you can accidentally shoot your friend because your father carelessly left his handgun lying around. Because that’s what happens when you smoke pot: you blow your friend’s head off.
	Also, the only way that accidents like that can happen is if a person is stoned. It’s just not possible for someone to carelessly leave a gun around and then have someone accidentally shoot someone else in the head. That never happens.
	America is fucked up. They are okay with alcohol and guns, but a little pot is the end of the fucking world. It’s something I’ve never understood and just makes them come across as brain-dead hicks. I mean, ignore the fact that guns and alcohol kill a shitload more than any other drugs, why don’t you?
	I agree that drugs are a problem, but fighting them in such a manner is dumb. They’re ignoring the heart attack and embolism in the brain, and just treating the skinned knee. For fuck’s sake, learn what’s the more dangerous things in the world.

Bush Is A Fucking Moron!
I am in the minority that the comments of Jean Chretién’s former communications advisor were totally appropriate. In fact, Françoise Ducros’ comment at the recent NATO summit in Prague was right on the money in the eyes of a hell of a lot of people all around the world.
	The thing I find funny though is that apparently, she was defending Bush when she said he was a “moron.” It was probably something like “Sure Bush is a moron, but he’s got a point this time.”  But that fact makes no dent in the world’s seeming outrage.
	I hate the hypocrisy of that. Sure, anyone else could call him a moron and it’s fine, but an aide of Canada’s Prime Minister can’t? Come on, people! Hell, I think world leaders and their aides should express opinions like that. Especially when a large group of their citizens think that way. I mean, we do live in a democracy, right? One would think the US would respect our leaders representing us.
	Also, it’s not like American Presidents don’t have a history of calling Canadian Prime Ministers rude names. JFK and Diefenbaker traded barbs back in the day; LBJ practically assaulted Pearson over his views and criticisms on Vietnam; and Nixon and Trudeau practically hated one another. That’s the thing about Canada and the US: we’re siblings. Two countries sired by the same father (Britain) with two different mothers (France and Spain). We have a history of fighting in such dumb little ways like two brothers would. People make too much of a big deal over it, and just ignore the simple fact that countries as a whole behave a lot like people, and Canada and the US are two perfect examples of that. (I could elaborate further on the whole sibling analogy, but I think that’s a column for another time.)
	Also, I’d almost disapprove if more than 20% of the Americans I’ve talked to haven’t expressed the exact same opinion of Bush.

Political Genius
Ernie Eves is either a political genius or has advisors who are.
	Eves, the Premier of Ontario just made another move to distance himself from his hated predecessor, Mike Harris, for whom he took over for earlier this year (Harris retired and Eves was elected leader of the party in office, and therefore took over for Harris). You see, Ontario recently privatized our hydro, and as some people predicted (but who listens to us?), it has caused numerous problems. The most public of which is the higher costs for everyone.
	But Mister Eves has made everything right by retroactively lowering the price of electricity back to May when it became privatized (meaning nice rebate cheques for all) and also setting that as a fixed rate until 2006. This is not the first instance where he’s managed to set right a Harris mistake in the eyes of the people of Ontario.
	So far, Eves has managed to stick with his right-wing piece of shit views and distance himself from Harris, and it pisses me off to no end, because if he decided to call an election right now, he could win. That really pisses me off.
	But I must say that I admire his skills. He’s played the game well, so I toast him.