A Coren Clip: Michael on NDP Candidate Anthony Marco’s Anti-Christian Comments

With the death of Jack Layton, it is becoming quite clear that the New Democratic Party (NDP) is slipping, even at the provincial level. Jack wouldn’t think that he could make comments like those made by the NDP’s candidate for Niagara West-Glanbrook, Anthony Marco, and not spark outrage. What’s even worse is that Marco continues to defend his comments, unable to realize the political damage he is doing to his campaign by not apologizing for and quickly distancing himself from them. Here is Michael Coren starting last night’s episode of ‘The Arena’ by addressing these comments (hat-tip Blazing Cat Fur).

It should be noted that Marco also drew parallels between religious beliefs and Nazi Germany during the podcasts in question.

…But there are a couple that I would suggest burning, and it’s not even from an ideological perspective. Like ‘oh, burn stuff by Adolph Hitler …’ Whatever. If you want to read that stuff, read that stuff. For some people, the old politics of Nazi Germany might be their religion. And just as I can’t condemn other people’s religion, I can’t, I don’t agree with them, but you can’t stop somebody from believing in something. And to bash your head against the wall trying, is not their fault, it’s your fault. You’re the one who is pretty messed up if you’re going to devote your entire life to trying to convince somebody not to believe what they believe…

Despite what his supporters say, Marco is neither brave nor intelligent for making such statements. Insulting those who believe in God isn’t bravery, it’s socially fashionable. Canada is a far cry from the any Middle East country where such comments would lead to imprisonment and death. In fact, when you consider the context of his comments, it displays outright cowardice because Marco clearly states that he couldn’t condemn someone who followed the teachings similar to those of Nazi Germany. A modern day Neville Chamberlain? Urgh…

As for intelligent, where to start? The differences between Catholicism and Protestantism are far deeper than the differences between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. This isn’t brand loyalty, it’s a matter spirituality and the meaning of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Last time I checked, there wasn’t political and social upheaval with the release of New Coke, as there was with the Protestant Reformation. Aside from that, Marco brags about not being molested during his time as a Catholic. I’m a Catholic as well, so is my entire family, and none of us have been molested either. In fact, as Newsmax’s Jon E. Dougherty wrote previously, you’re safer with a Catholic priest than you are with a public school teacher (hat-tip James Hudnall from Andrew Breibart’s Big Journalism). A national survey for the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation in 2000, which examined incidents from 1991-2000, estimated that roughly 290,000 students had been physically sexually abused by their teachers. Considering there have been approximately 11,000 cases of abuse by about 4,000 priests and deacons since 1950, you’re a far more likely to be molested at school than you are in a Catholic Church. I wonder why we don’t see Marco bragging about getting through primary and secondary school without being molested?

Anthony Marco’s comments weren’t simply offensive, they were ignorant and, considering that he continues to defend them during a political campaign, downright stupid. Aside from costing him any chance he had of being elected, Marco demonstrates his lack of intelligence, as Michael Coren clearly pointed out. In fact, when you consider the recent political missteps made by the NDP, most notably Libby Davies’ effort to eliminate the 10-year residency requirement to qualify for old age pension benefits, this incident highlights the mental deficiencies of those now running the NDP, especially since Andrea Horwath, the leader of the Ontario NDP, hand picked Marco for the Niagara West-Glanbrook riding. Once again, Jack Layton wouldn’t have made these kinds of mistakes. Pathetic…

UPDATE: As soon as I finish this post, I find this story from the Ontario Liberal Party’s Newswire.ca site concerning recent comments made by Anthony Marco on his blog, lovehatethings.com.

…In one posting titled The Real Reason, Marco takes a shot at all Ontarians, calling them lazy: “The real reason the economy is so messed up is because we’re lazy.” (The Real Reason blog post, lovehatethings.com, undated)

In a podcast, Marco says Canadians are just pretending to be polite: “Foreigners often call us polite but really we’re just making fun of you behind your back so we don’t hurt your feelings.” (Anthony Marco, Podcast 95, 2:25, lovehatethings.com)

When discussing a made-up game show concept, Marco discloses what he thinks tourists do in Thailand: “…and the winner gets a trip to Thailand where they get to engage in one of the great Thai pastimes, auto-erotic asphyxiation.” (Anthony Marco, Podcast 98, 9:00, lovehatethings.com)

On the importance of voting, Marco says: “If you’ve never found cause to drag your ass off your couch to get to a polling station and cast a ballot, I’m going to be the last one to criticize because I’ve been there and my couch has the indentation to prove it. My last word on the elections is that I hate the electoral process…” (Anthony Marco, Podcast 17, lovehatethings.com)…

If I were Andrea Horwath, I would have already dismissed Marco over his previous comments. The longer she waits, the more damaging these comments will be to not only her campaign, but the campaigns of other NDP candidates. Simply put, Marco’s a serious liability and must be dealt with as such.

First Round in ‘The Arena’: Michael Coren’s New Show Debuts

Thanks to Blazing Cat Fur for putting the debut episode of Michael Coren’s ‘The Arena’ up on his Youtube channel.

I have to say I’m pretty impressed. The debut episode had some of the most controversial figures on various issues, which really helps set the tone for the show going forward. That said, it’s not without its issues.

Having been critical of Michael Coren previously for his jabs at Sarah Palin and her supporters, I wasn’t impressed by his assertion that Palin’s following is similar to the cult-like following those like Barack Obama have. I was also not impressed with Ann Coulter comparing Palin’s followers to those of Ron Paul, followers who, in my opinion, are very similar in their blind loyalty to Obama’s supporters. Considering Coulter’s loyalty to Chris Christie, despite his ever growing list of political faults, it’s almost like the kettle calling the pot black. Truthfully, I’m an adamant supporter of Sarah Palin, and while I would like to see her in the race for Republican presidential nominee, my fear is that she may split the conservative vote between her and Rick Perry to the point where a non-conservative like Mitt Romney gets the nomination.

Another gripe I had is Coren’s relentless questioning of Tarek Fatah on the foundations of his religious beliefs. I understand that Tarek and others like him follow a “moderate Islam” which rejects Mohammed’s teachings of violent jihad and hatred towards non-Muslims, so what’s the point in hounding him on aspects of his faith he doesn’t subscribe to? Considering Tarek had just won his battle with cancer and it appeared to be rather frail, I found it troubling to watch Coren go after him like this.

In any event, I will keep watching this show. In my opinion, ‘The Arena’ is much better than ‘The Michael Coren Show’. I prefer this format because it allows Michael Coren to discuss various issues, really get to the heart of them without being constantly interrupted by twits like Maureen Meed Ward who demand a strict adherence to political correctness. Well done.

Stupid: Theo Caldwell and Michael Coren Prove That They Are

I haven’t been doing much blogging with final exams, but now that they’re over, I figured that I would get back to doing what I enjoy. The issue that got me writing today was SunTV’s Theo Caldwell and his guest Michael Coren, the host of ‘The Michael Coren Show’, bashing Sarah Palin during a discussion about the Middle East. Thanks to SDAMatt2 for the video clip.

How do Coren’s comments about the history of the term “blood libel” prove that he is smarter than Sarah Palin? It doesn’t. This doesn’t show anything but their political leanings, but let’s humour these two twits for a few minutes.

Stupidity is defined as “a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason, wit, or sense.” The lack of understanding is what we’re looking at here, particularly the context in which the term “blood libel” was used. Following the shootings in Tucson, Arizona, Sarah Palin, along with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, etc were blamed for the actions of Jared Lee Loughner. After numerous statements by members of the press that Sarah had “blood on her hands,” she responded and correctly stated that her detractors were manufacturing a “blood libel” against her. Why was she correct? Let’s take a step back to examine the term itself.

As Coren stated, “blood libel” is a term that originated in 12th century Europe, but it has evolved overtime. Now, as liberal Havard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz pointed out, it’s used to characterize any false accusation that relates to the killing of human beings.

…The term blood libel has taken on a broad metaphorical meaning in public discourse. Although its historical origins are rooted in theologically based false accusations against the Jewish people and individual Jews, its current usage is far broader. I myself have used it to describe what I believe to be false accusations against the state of Israel by the Goldstone report. The fact that two of the victims are Jewish is irrelevant to the propriety of using this widely-referenced term…

…Sarah Palin was accused of being responsible for the death and wounding of multiple human beings. She reasonably believes that accusation to be false in fact and politically inspired. She is entitled, in my view, to use the term “blood libel” in the context of an accusation of responsibility for bloodletting, without regard to the religion or ethnicity of the perpetrator, the victims, the accusers or the accused…

The question is whether or not Coren truly understood the context of Palin’s comments. Surely he couldn’t be so petty as to constantly find excuses to assert his belief that the former Alaskan governor is an intellectual inferior, could he? I have sent him a few e-mails in the past, one with a link to Alan Dershowitz’s article, but he hasn’t replied to me nor made an effort to apologize for his mistakes on his show. I guess Michael isn’t the courageous intellectual he would have his audience believe.

As for Caldwell, what can I say? He spent a part of yesterday’s show admitting his mental deficiency, so I don’t see the point in spending anymore time to prove his stupidity. I’m not a fan of Caldwell nor his politics. It’s only been two days the start of his show, ‘The Caldwell Account’ on SunTV and I have lost interest in anything he or his guests have to say. Be it his childish antics when introducing guests, his inability to maintain composure, or his uneducated and ill-conceived opinions on issues like American politics, he isn’t worth watching. It’s almost like he and his show are the personification of the myths and lies spread by the left about Fox News. Even on their worst days, Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity are far more professional than this twit.

In the end, this nonsense not only speaks volumes about Theo Caldwell and Michael Coren, but it also says a lot about SunTV. The left is always criticized for its dedication to a group of intellectual elites, but that doesn’t mean the right is lacks a similar intelligentsia. These are the pseudo-conservative pundits, like David Frum who believe themselves better than anyone who doesn’t share their educational pedigree or upbringing. This is where this hatred of Sarah Palin and other like her comes from on the right. People like Sarah haven’t achieved fame and political power as these elites have, and their ability to connect and rally the conservative base scares them. Instead of emulating Palin, instead of sticking to core conservative principles, they would prefer to brand her and others like her as “stupid” and “radical” to appease their left-leaning colleagues. That demonstrates real stupidity.

If SunTV wants to claim it speaks for the average Canadian, Caldwell and Coren aren’t helping them. Such ill-informed pseudo-conservative nonsense demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of their audience. That’s real stupidity.

UPDATE: I want to add this video from uffdamega52. It’s a clip from Glenn Beck’s radio show discussing another book smearing Sarah Palin, but it’s the last minute of the segment which I want my modest readership to pay attention to.

It isn’t just Beck saying this. Mark Levin as well as many other conservative pundits have pointed out that Palin and others like her are a threat to their political power. This is the exact same nonsense we see when Theo Caldwell and Michael Coren take cheap shots at the former Alaskan governor.

I’m hoping this nonsense won’t be common as SunTV goes forward. If it is, I won’t be wasting my time watching it.

A Coren Clip: Panel in Agreement on Muslim Riots

I posted on this the other day, but I still wanted to discuss the panel discussion on ‘The Michael Coren Show’. Here is the clip of the segment thanks to SDAMatt2.

Like I said, much of what was said I discussed in my last blog post. The panel is in agreement on who is to blame and who isn’t to blame. They also raise the point about why we are even in Afghanistan after this betrayal by President Hamid Karzai who used Terry Jones’ actions to score political points with Muslim radicals, as well as the brutal murder of those who are there trying to help the Afghan people. I could spend hours writing for and against our mission there, but this isn’t the point of this post.

What I want to point out is that both John Downs and Laura Babcock have apparently changed their minds on Islam. Instead of relying on political correctness, they both seem to have taken into account that this religion is far more violent than others. While it is remarkable that neither of them didn’t simply blame the Florida pastor and free speech, as Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has done, they also didn’t try to defend this barbarism through an ill-conceived moral equivalency as they have in the past. Let’s not forget that this is the same John Downs who blamed humans for the September 11th attacks.

Maybe John’s new beard has provided him the ability to reach rational conclusions without resorting to politically correct talking points. If any good is to come from the brutal riots still going on in the Middle East it’s that many on the left, formerly staunch defenders of Islam, are giving up on defending the indefensible. The evidence is so overwhelming at this point that no rational person can excuse this violence as the work of a few extremists. Once again, I am not saying that all Muslims are violent extremists, but let’s stop pretending that these radicals are fringe elements.

If those like John Downs and Laura Babcock really wish to educate themselves on the nature of Islam, Pajamas Media’s Hege Storhaug’s recent column is a definite must read (hat-tip Blazing Cat Fur). In order to combat this barbarism, we not only have to acknowledge it, but educate ourselves on it. It’s a shame that these lessons are only being learned now after so many have been murderer in the name of this “religion of peace.”

A Coren Clip: Coren on the Kennedys

Here’s a clip from yesterday’s episode of ‘The Michael Coren Show’ via SDAMatt2. If you haven’t already subscribed, I recommend doing so as ‘Mississauga Matt’ has a variety of videos of this nature, not just clips of this show. This clip is actually about two stories, both of which I will address later.

The first story refers to a column put out by The National Post’s Tasha Kheiriddin concerning a column written by Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. about Fox News and Canada’s political environment. Kennedy’s column is here, and suffice to say, it isn’t coherent, let alone well researched. It is simply a collection of rhetoric, misinformation and outright lies, typical fare for a Huffington Post columns. I have serious trouble taking this man seriously, especially considering his lengthy history with substance abuse and his support of radical environmental policies. I could go on to discuss all that is wrong with this column, but Tasha, who I’m not particularly a fan of (she’s too much like David Frum), already did an excellent job.

After Michael Coren set’s up the panel discussion, Laura Babcock begins it by demonstrating her ignorance and political bias. Fox News is problematic to the dialogue? This is typical liberal speak. The problem is that Fox News doesn’t echo her point of her and thus mustn’t be allowed to be part of the dialogue on any issue. Don’t we always hear from the left that more dialogue is better than less? She then goes to compare Fox News with Al Jazeera, a network that is, at the least, strongly connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. Last time I checked, neither Rupport Murdock nor Roger Ailes are connected with any terrorist organization. Also, unlike Al Jazeera which has a consistent anti-American/anti-Israel slant to its stories, Fox News does a far better job than most other news networks at providing balanced coverage. Even on their opinion shows like Bill O’Reilly’s ‘The Factor’, you hear from both sides of the political aisle. Laura should have taken her own advice on this and not commented on a news network that she has previously admitted she doesn’t watch.

Aside from tearing into Laura for her bias and ignorance, I would also like to point out something Michael Coren said. The reason why Al Jazeera has such “good” coverage of events in the Middle East is because they get their information from those carrying out terrorist attacks. Does this mean that we should ignore the network’s “news” reports? Of course not. At the very least, it provides us with a look into the minds of terrorists and their supporters. It is important, however, to understand that Al Jazeera is a support of Islamic extremism and that anything they report should be subjected to the harshest scrutiny.

The second story deals with the release previously redacted material from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) file of the late Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy. Judicial Watch broke this story, highlighting points of interest from the FBI files, with only one of them being discussed by the panel. Besides not discussion the whole story, which may or may not have been accidental, what irritated my about this discussion was that, knowing how misogynistic Ted was, something highlighted by his disgraceful, if not murderous actions at Chappaquiddick, July 18, 1969, which resulted in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, Laura still defends him, blaming his behaviour on Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr., the late Senator’s father. “Sins of the son”? Last time I checked Laura, it wasn’t Joe that left Mary Jo to suffocate in that submerged car, it was Ted. This act alone outweighs most, if not any sin committed by Ted’s father. Twit…

Aside from the Ted’s sexual escapades at a brothel in Santiago, Judicial Watch points to another disturbing trend. During these visits to Latin America, Ted insisted on talking with the “the angry young men” of the country, specifically the communists and others who held similar left-wing views. While in Bogota, Ted demanded to meet with Lauchlin Currie,the Canadian-born economist and former economic adviser to President Franklin Roosevelt who was suspected of being a Soviet spy. While in Mexico, Kennedy demanded that Ambassador Mann invite various left-wing radicals to the Embassy residence so he could conduct interviews. Mann strongly opposed this, stating that if Ted wanted to interview these people, he would have to make the arrangements himself.

As Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey stated in his post on Judicial Watch’s findings, taking into consideration the “Yuri Andropov incident” in 1983, this shows Ted Kennedy to be, at worst, “a malicious political opportunist willing to sell out anything for his own personal ambitions.” I would go further, stating that, when one considers his support for Irish Republican Army (IRA), a Irish nationalist terrorist group founded in 1916, it is easy to see that the late Senator wasn’t simply a malicious political opportunist, but a far-left ideologue who was dedicated to forwarding a variety of radical fringe causes. Instead of discussion his sexually deviant behaviour, the panel could have discussed these findings. It would have been interesting to hear Coren’s and David Menzies’ opinion of this issue.

In the end, the true Kennedy legacy is far darker than the ‘Camelot’ fiction the media clings to. While dedicated leftists like Laura Babcock will continue to defend the media fiction, their efforts can’t prevent the information on the sins of the “American Royal Family” from getting out. It will take time, but history won’t remember the Kennedys for there “political accomplishments.” Pathetic…

UPDATE: Forgot to add this to the original post, so I will put it in as an update. Doug Powers at Michelle Malkin’s blog also posted on this, but with a focus on the millions of taxpayer dollars being spent on the Edward Moore Kennedy Institute, a “shrine” built to honour the disgraced late Senator. In my opinion, the Kennedy family and their supporters should pay for this institute. If they want to honour Ted’s memory, as well as ignore his countless shortcomings, they should foot the bill.

This waste of taxpayer money of Ted Kennedy’s behalf should surprise anyone, especially when you that the man himself, as Powers put it, “spent his political life handing out somebody else’s money and taking personal credit for the philanthropy”? Pathetic…