A new Web site called Republicans for Ignatieff makes things much easier for those who don't have the time or the inclination to read what the Canadian Liberal leader wrote in the post-9/11 period.
It's a slick spoof designed to highlight Ignatieff's right-wing leanings.
The site includes videotaped clips of Ignatieff expressing support for targeted assassinations and preventive detention.
Earlier this year, I interviewed retired political scientist Denis Smith, author of Ignatieff's World Updated: Iggy Goes to Ottawa (James Lorimer & Company Ltd., $19.95).
Smith exhaustively researched what Michael Ignatieff wrote over the past 20 years, and his book includes some disturbing revelations.
Here's just one of the quotes that Smith unearthed:
"Permissible duress might include forms of sleep deprivation that do not result in lasting harm to mental or physical health, together with disinformation and disorientation (like keeping prisoners in hoods) that would produce stress," Ignatieff wrote in his book The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror (Penguin Canada, 2004).
So far, Ignatieff has avoided much scrutiny in the mainstream media on his pronouncements justifying Bush administration tactics in the post-9/11 era.
However with former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney coming under increasing fire for his support for targeted assassinations, can criticism of Ignatieff, a former director of the Carr Center for Human Rights at Harvard University, be very far behind?
The federal Liberals chose Ignatieff as their leader in haste. The biggest beneficiaries could turn out to be the federal NDP and Bloc Quebecois, whose natural supporters won't take too kindly to what they see on the Republicans for Ignatieff site.
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Comments
The fine print on the site says it has no affiliation with the GOP. Indeed, GOP republicans would not have constructed a site that is clearly designed to criticize Ignatieff's conservative leanings. Genuine Republicans would hide or cloud or make more flattering Iggy's more repulsive historic stances on the war and torture.
Personally I can't stand Ignatieff. But if I were a journalist I'd make every effort to root out the authors of the web site. If genuine Republicans authored it, they'd identify themselves.
People who put up web sites that pose as support sites with the intention to discredit - and furthermore, don't identify themselves - are nothing but slandering gutless assholes.
My suspicion is this is a Harper engineered slander site. He's not above doing this kind of thing, as his attack ads show.
That is a very poor showing for the Leader of the Opposition (Harper, when in Opposition met frequently with Chretien and Martin to discuss the nation's business.)
But as long as the press/media gives no useful information about either himself or the proposed Liberal agenda, I suppose we will have these rogue sites trying to fill the void in order to educate Canadians about just who is this appointed person who wants to be the next P.M. We have a right to know. As for attack ads, the Liberals did some nasty ones after Harper was elected as Conservative Leader in 2004. What's good for the goose, is good for the gander.
"Although the current Canadian Prime Minister is a conservative, he has challenged the United States on the Arctic, he is charting Canada's own course in the Americas, and he has failed to demonstrate a deep emotional connection to America like Michael Ignatieff."
Phrases like "challenging the United States" and "charting Canada's own course" as straight from Conservative party media machine. The hyperlinks are obviously directed to Canadian viewers as they portray a very positive picture of the Conservative Party and one link has a terrific picture of Harper.
In addition, " ... in 2005 he [Michael Ignatieff] returned to Canada to seek the job of Prime Minister" is going to be the basis of the Conservative Party's next election campaign. The idea being he is "Just Visiting". This idea pervades the entire website.
It pretty much political death in Canada to be supported by the Republican Party (except in Alberta), so if you view the "How you can help" tab, it encourages Republicans to make their views known to the Canadian media. The site asks its supporters to "Send letters to the editor of Canadian newspapers telling them why Michael Ignatieff is the right choice for Americans and the right choice for Republicans".
The Conservatives play political hardball as Canadians go and I see their figure prints all over this one. I do not like how the Conservatives and their Republican allies really, screw-up politics/democracy with these type of tactics, but you gotta tip your hat to the intelligence behind website. If only all this brain power was not put toward misdirection and deceit.
Liberal, Conservative, Republican, Democrat, whatever -- names mean little -- it's the actual policies that count.
Thanks for this website.
May more people realize this and abandon the phony Left-Right Paradigm.