I laugh at the required finger-wagging at “some” in the convoy from the same people who defended the burning and looting of 250 American cities and made GoFundMe donations to a literal armed rebellion and self-proclaimed secession that killed 4 people and destroyed part of a major American city for months. “The truckers have a point maybe, but they’re still pRoBLemAtic.”
The Babylon Bee has the best headline: “Socialists condemn workers of the world for uniting.”
To borrow from The Ragin’ Cajan James Carville, “It’s the mandates, stupid!” The self righteous PM has painted himself into a small corner. And yes, with black paint, something he’s familiar with.
So expecting the government to honour the charter of rights and freedoms makes one a "populist extremist" now? Why are you using such disparaging language to describe people who are only demanding what is rightfully theirs?
This article seems like a graceless way of saying that while Candians were initially tricked by the media calumnies against the Freedom Convoy, they eventually came to see the Convoy was what it claimed to be and came to support it.
> In early days, many of us associated the whole project with anti-vaccine activism
So you initially believed nonsensical slurs against it.
> Even many vaccinated-and-boosted centrist Canadians (I’d put myself in that category) are eager to get on with post-pandemic life, and don’t have much time for the hectoring of double-masked puritans who denounce all strong political dissent as emanating from (in Trudeau’s words) “misogynists and racists.”
So it turns out lots of Candians do in fact favour freedom, which is what the convoy is quite explicitly pushing for.
I respect Mr Kay's journalism and I mostly like his magazine Quillette, but they've gone deranged over Covid, and I hope this article is a hint that Quillitte will calm down and return to rational reporting on the topic.
(even if, technically, this was about mandates, not vaccination itself), a highly unpopular cause in Canada,
I was disappointed to read that Mr. Kay felt the need to declare his bona fides as a "vaccinated-and-boosted Canadian," lest he be mistaken for a deplorable anti-vaxxer. I hope you're right that Quillette will "calm down and return to rational reporting" on Covid. Sadly, when I read the intellectually dishonest attacks on Bret Weinstein that Quillette published, I wrote Quillette off.
Agreed. Quillette lost me over its hand-wringing about how some people really, really are "trans." Every once in awhile I dip my toe in again, and remember why I left. It's made up of people who, although claiming to have been betrayed or abandoned by political leftism, can't seem to follow that reasoning to it's logical conclusion: that maybe they should rethink their knee-jerk assumptions about those whom they consider to be "right-wing" (using their term, with tongue planted firmly in cheek).
The "but both-sides-are-just-as-bad" nervous tic that comes at the end, like a magical invocation, every time the post-woke acknowledge the hideous behavior of their former political allies is hampering their recovery from ideological addiction. Let's hope FAIR doesn't succumb to the same fate.
Apparently the vax authoritarians cannot conceive of anyone making the decision to take a Covid "vaccine" themselves but not wanting to mandate it for others. I once tried to moderate some of the vitriol I was seeing in a "discussion" on my local Nextdoor blog, where pro-vaxxers were wishing painful deaths and no health insurance on unvaxxed folks, while also blaming them for the appearance of variants. I tried to tamp down the emotion by presenting reasoned arguments about the potential risks of vaccinating in the middle of an ongoing pandemic, points made by the likes of Geert vanden Bosche and Luc Montagnier. I did not disclose that I myself had taken the "vaccines" early on because of my own health circumstances. The verbal attacks were merciless, e.g., shame on you, you're just trying to make excuses for being irresponsible. When I responded that I was in fact "vaccinated," the same hateful people snapped that it was wrong for me to have "concealed" that fact, that I had "tricked" people. Sad to say, all the hateful responses came from members of my former tribe, local Democrats.
He's definitely part of the old order of journalism.
I found him through the Convoy news and it's so nice to find someone who is considered mainstream, who is not a government sponsored outraged activist.
He is definitely part of the old order our world is lacking so much right now
that includes voices like Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi.
I'm disgusted with government across the board in all of our countries.
How can you not cheer for the truckers and other freedom protestors when most politicians are taking order from the very evil Klaus Schwab?
(I attended Davos for many many years so I know those players too)
Leftist politics and authoritarianism is the religion of many “progressives”. It is their animating spirit. Liberals have principles and try to live their lives to benefit their families, communities and countries. I don’t agree with their policies but I understand them as I was raised along side them and “get them”. They aren’t malignant.
The leftists have taken over the leadership of formerly liberal parties and orgsnizations. Note the communist party USA doesn’t run a candidate for POTUS. They just vote democrat and work to get what influence they can by infiltration.
The coming bloodbath in the mid terms is a result of the left overplaying their hand. But, it is just a bump in the road to them. Commies and rust never sleep. Once they have loosened the traditional moorings of a people and their institutions then it is only a matter of time. The current flows downstream to the dirty and ugly—abortion, sexual license, broken families and corruption. The ugly as sin (pun intended) modern art is an example. Broken society produces ugly.
Principled liberals, continue demanding truth and fairness.
Myself, I would move to the Dom Rep and live in a shack on a Coffee finca and read books, go to church, drink coffee and smoke cigars until someone macheted me.
Jonathan, if you bothered to stick your head outside the tinted windows of your Toronto house or your BMW, you would have realised much sooner what was going on. Also, your initial impression (which you claim, without evidence, was the impression of most centrist Canadians) that the convoy was anti-vaccine, was formed because you tuned in only to the same mainstream media, which you so deride towards the end of your article.
Terrible article and brings absolutely nothing new to the conversation. I would have expected better from Jonathan in providing some journalistic integrity, but Jonathan was unable to disguise his absolute disdain for the working classes. This was personal for him. FAIR is quickly becoming what they told us they would a least try not to be a force against intolerance. It appears it is becoming a dumping ground for self-flagellating progressives to promote their books and podcasts. I think we've all been scammed by the FAIR mob.
Can you ignore the huge sums of money that have backed the protests, though? That's the part that takes me aback. I was happy to see some pushback to the covid policies at first, and I agree media coverage has been untrustworthy. But the amount of money coming from outside the country and what looks to be an event much more organized than you'd expect raises my hackles. It turned me around on it. Not to mention holding a press conference and saying (what sounded like) they'd be fine with sharing power with the opposition parties.
I don't see how those elements shouldn't get mentioned at all. Though, ultimately, the maddening thing is, they're organized enough to close a border and occupy a city, but have chosen to be so impolitic in their demands that they probably delayed removing the restrictions. You might even say they overplayed their hand.
If you bothered to check the lists of donors on GoFundMe you would have seen that there were a few multi-thousand dollar donations but the vast majority of the funding came from many thousands of small <$100 donations. People just felt compelled to show their support with their dollars.
Well said Jonathan, although I don't quite see O'Toole in the same light, I think he was edging further and further across the center line of left/right. Maybe a politically savvy move if it wasn't that most on the left would not even look toward the cons without something like this to steel them.
Anyway, hopefully we see some change. I for one, out in Alberta look forward to a superbowl party with some friends tomorrow. Fully vaxd and boosted as well. Looking forward to maybe playing some boardgames with friends again soon.
I wondered which rock career grifter JK had been hiding underneath throughout this pandemic, looks like I've found it. When not trying to overthrow democratically-elected socialist leaders in South America (Foundation for Defence of Democracies/National Endowment for Democracy, interchangeable American right-wing propaganda machines) or dictating what grad students in Canada are allowed to study, ("Why are we funding 9/11 conspiracy theories on our campuses?" - National Post circa 2007) he has made a profitable living in a variety of propaganda-spewing outlets, essentially birthing, growing, and feeding "movements" like the current one suffocating our economy. Now it's "FAIR" ('just like CAIR, without the empathy'), comical. This latest salvo - using the exact same techniques of indoctrination Kay has spat out for decades - leans heavily on the 'equivalence' argument of "good people on BOTH side". A few unhinged nut jobs quickly become 'some', then 'many', then most, a 'populist' uprising that represents an infinitesimally-small percentage of the Canadian populace. Despite the convoy undergoing a Hindenberg-esque crash over the last week, the movement is 'picking up steam' in propaganda-speak. The rudderless Conservatives are a 'wild card', rather than a leaderless party wearing MAGA hats. Provincial Conservative leaders such as Kenney and Ford continue to bumble their way to historically low levels of support, which Kay doesn't seem to be aware of. Yet the description of 'right-wing extremists' "has a grain of truth to it". (because a group with a stated mission of 'replacing the government' couldn't be extreme) It took me about fifteen seconds to recognize and deconstruct Kay's familiar fallacies, as it does anyone with a high-school level of critical thinking.
Nice to see that you are now in the big leagues here at "FAIR". Me and the six other commenters here, along with that blogger in Hanoi and the WaPO, show how relevant, popular, and important you continue to be. The enlightened comments below demonstrate the intellectual exceptionality of your followers. (p.s. Before you delete my comment, I challenge you to a public debate, any place, anywhere, and any time. We can use your latest nonsense as a starting point)
So you won't even debate an 'AI bot'? That's pretty brave of you, nice to see the conviction you have for your 'journalism'. I can't wait to see your next headline: "AI Bot launches anti-Semitic assault on freedom-loving journalist, welcome to the future." Comical. But I noticed you didn't answer a single issue raised. Was Reuther alive during ANY of the events identified? "Walter Reuther's ghost is attacking me," says the brave, Freedom-fighting journalist. Anyways, my challenge remains, even if I am a ghost... Who ya gonna call?
Of course your not. There must be hundreds of others named 'Jonathan' on this site, replying in seven minutes, with the same anemic, and in your case literally 'ghosting', arguments I've identified. I'm not particularly interested in debating you about the existence of ghosts or UFOs, my area of interest is corporate media propaganda.
1. Substack is quite a large place, and Jonathan is a fairly common name. AI is not particularly adept at dealing with coincidences, so I sympathize with your error. But please note that the author's Substack username is "Jonathan Kay," not "Jonathan," so if he actually bothered responding to your pissant ramblings, that is the username that would appear.
2. Substack has this nifty little feature where a user receives an email when someone replies to their comment. Hence the reply within 7 minutes.
3. In the only comment you've ever seen from me, I offered zero arguments about anything; just a non sequitur off-the-cuff joke. How you inferred from this any arguments you previously identified is a mystery to me, but not one I care to know the answer to.
4. I get the sense you don't get much contact with people in the real world. Consider going outside.
I laugh at the required finger-wagging at “some” in the convoy from the same people who defended the burning and looting of 250 American cities and made GoFundMe donations to a literal armed rebellion and self-proclaimed secession that killed 4 people and destroyed part of a major American city for months. “The truckers have a point maybe, but they’re still pRoBLemAtic.”
The Babylon Bee has the best headline: “Socialists condemn workers of the world for uniting.”
To borrow from The Ragin’ Cajan James Carville, “It’s the mandates, stupid!” The self righteous PM has painted himself into a small corner. And yes, with black paint, something he’s familiar with.
So expecting the government to honour the charter of rights and freedoms makes one a "populist extremist" now? Why are you using such disparaging language to describe people who are only demanding what is rightfully theirs?
This article seems like a graceless way of saying that while Candians were initially tricked by the media calumnies against the Freedom Convoy, they eventually came to see the Convoy was what it claimed to be and came to support it.
> In early days, many of us associated the whole project with anti-vaccine activism
So you initially believed nonsensical slurs against it.
> Even many vaccinated-and-boosted centrist Canadians (I’d put myself in that category) are eager to get on with post-pandemic life, and don’t have much time for the hectoring of double-masked puritans who denounce all strong political dissent as emanating from (in Trudeau’s words) “misogynists and racists.”
So it turns out lots of Candians do in fact favour freedom, which is what the convoy is quite explicitly pushing for.
I respect Mr Kay's journalism and I mostly like his magazine Quillette, but they've gone deranged over Covid, and I hope this article is a hint that Quillitte will calm down and return to rational reporting on the topic.
(even if, technically, this was about mandates, not vaccination itself), a highly unpopular cause in Canada,
I was disappointed to read that Mr. Kay felt the need to declare his bona fides as a "vaccinated-and-boosted Canadian," lest he be mistaken for a deplorable anti-vaxxer. I hope you're right that Quillette will "calm down and return to rational reporting" on Covid. Sadly, when I read the intellectually dishonest attacks on Bret Weinstein that Quillette published, I wrote Quillette off.
Agreed. Quillette lost me over its hand-wringing about how some people really, really are "trans." Every once in awhile I dip my toe in again, and remember why I left. It's made up of people who, although claiming to have been betrayed or abandoned by political leftism, can't seem to follow that reasoning to it's logical conclusion: that maybe they should rethink their knee-jerk assumptions about those whom they consider to be "right-wing" (using their term, with tongue planted firmly in cheek).
The "but both-sides-are-just-as-bad" nervous tic that comes at the end, like a magical invocation, every time the post-woke acknowledge the hideous behavior of their former political allies is hampering their recovery from ideological addiction. Let's hope FAIR doesn't succumb to the same fate.
I forgive him his throat clearing about being vaxxed. I would do the same.
As for Quillete, only ttlime will tell if they return to honesty.
Apparently the vax authoritarians cannot conceive of anyone making the decision to take a Covid "vaccine" themselves but not wanting to mandate it for others. I once tried to moderate some of the vitriol I was seeing in a "discussion" on my local Nextdoor blog, where pro-vaxxers were wishing painful deaths and no health insurance on unvaxxed folks, while also blaming them for the appearance of variants. I tried to tamp down the emotion by presenting reasoned arguments about the potential risks of vaccinating in the middle of an ongoing pandemic, points made by the likes of Geert vanden Bosche and Luc Montagnier. I did not disclose that I myself had taken the "vaccines" early on because of my own health circumstances. The verbal attacks were merciless, e.g., shame on you, you're just trying to make excuses for being irresponsible. When I responded that I was in fact "vaccinated," the same hateful people snapped that it was wrong for me to have "concealed" that fact, that I had "tricked" people. Sad to say, all the hateful responses came from members of my former tribe, local Democrats.
I really appreciate Jonathan Kay's analysis.
He's definitely part of the old order of journalism.
I found him through the Convoy news and it's so nice to find someone who is considered mainstream, who is not a government sponsored outraged activist.
He is definitely part of the old order our world is lacking so much right now
that includes voices like Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi.
I'm disgusted with government across the board in all of our countries.
How can you not cheer for the truckers and other freedom protestors when most politicians are taking order from the very evil Klaus Schwab?
(I attended Davos for many many years so I know those players too)
Leftist politics and authoritarianism is the religion of many “progressives”. It is their animating spirit. Liberals have principles and try to live their lives to benefit their families, communities and countries. I don’t agree with their policies but I understand them as I was raised along side them and “get them”. They aren’t malignant.
The leftists have taken over the leadership of formerly liberal parties and orgsnizations. Note the communist party USA doesn’t run a candidate for POTUS. They just vote democrat and work to get what influence they can by infiltration.
The coming bloodbath in the mid terms is a result of the left overplaying their hand. But, it is just a bump in the road to them. Commies and rust never sleep. Once they have loosened the traditional moorings of a people and their institutions then it is only a matter of time. The current flows downstream to the dirty and ugly—abortion, sexual license, broken families and corruption. The ugly as sin (pun intended) modern art is an example. Broken society produces ugly.
Principled liberals, continue demanding truth and fairness.
Myself, I would move to the Dom Rep and live in a shack on a Coffee finca and read books, go to church, drink coffee and smoke cigars until someone macheted me.
Jonathan, if you bothered to stick your head outside the tinted windows of your Toronto house or your BMW, you would have realised much sooner what was going on. Also, your initial impression (which you claim, without evidence, was the impression of most centrist Canadians) that the convoy was anti-vaccine, was formed because you tuned in only to the same mainstream media, which you so deride towards the end of your article.
Terrible article and brings absolutely nothing new to the conversation. I would have expected better from Jonathan in providing some journalistic integrity, but Jonathan was unable to disguise his absolute disdain for the working classes. This was personal for him. FAIR is quickly becoming what they told us they would a least try not to be a force against intolerance. It appears it is becoming a dumping ground for self-flagellating progressives to promote their books and podcasts. I think we've all been scammed by the FAIR mob.
Can you ignore the huge sums of money that have backed the protests, though? That's the part that takes me aback. I was happy to see some pushback to the covid policies at first, and I agree media coverage has been untrustworthy. But the amount of money coming from outside the country and what looks to be an event much more organized than you'd expect raises my hackles. It turned me around on it. Not to mention holding a press conference and saying (what sounded like) they'd be fine with sharing power with the opposition parties.
I don't see how those elements shouldn't get mentioned at all. Though, ultimately, the maddening thing is, they're organized enough to close a border and occupy a city, but have chosen to be so impolitic in their demands that they probably delayed removing the restrictions. You might even say they overplayed their hand.
If you bothered to check the lists of donors on GoFundMe you would have seen that there were a few multi-thousand dollar donations but the vast majority of the funding came from many thousands of small <$100 donations. People just felt compelled to show their support with their dollars.
Well said Jonathan, although I don't quite see O'Toole in the same light, I think he was edging further and further across the center line of left/right. Maybe a politically savvy move if it wasn't that most on the left would not even look toward the cons without something like this to steel them.
Anyway, hopefully we see some change. I for one, out in Alberta look forward to a superbowl party with some friends tomorrow. Fully vaxd and boosted as well. Looking forward to maybe playing some boardgames with friends again soon.
I wondered which rock career grifter JK had been hiding underneath throughout this pandemic, looks like I've found it. When not trying to overthrow democratically-elected socialist leaders in South America (Foundation for Defence of Democracies/National Endowment for Democracy, interchangeable American right-wing propaganda machines) or dictating what grad students in Canada are allowed to study, ("Why are we funding 9/11 conspiracy theories on our campuses?" - National Post circa 2007) he has made a profitable living in a variety of propaganda-spewing outlets, essentially birthing, growing, and feeding "movements" like the current one suffocating our economy. Now it's "FAIR" ('just like CAIR, without the empathy'), comical. This latest salvo - using the exact same techniques of indoctrination Kay has spat out for decades - leans heavily on the 'equivalence' argument of "good people on BOTH side". A few unhinged nut jobs quickly become 'some', then 'many', then most, a 'populist' uprising that represents an infinitesimally-small percentage of the Canadian populace. Despite the convoy undergoing a Hindenberg-esque crash over the last week, the movement is 'picking up steam' in propaganda-speak. The rudderless Conservatives are a 'wild card', rather than a leaderless party wearing MAGA hats. Provincial Conservative leaders such as Kenney and Ford continue to bumble their way to historically low levels of support, which Kay doesn't seem to be aware of. Yet the description of 'right-wing extremists' "has a grain of truth to it". (because a group with a stated mission of 'replacing the government' couldn't be extreme) It took me about fifteen seconds to recognize and deconstruct Kay's familiar fallacies, as it does anyone with a high-school level of critical thinking.
Nice to see that you are now in the big leagues here at "FAIR". Me and the six other commenters here, along with that blogger in Hanoi and the WaPO, show how relevant, popular, and important you continue to be. The enlightened comments below demonstrate the intellectual exceptionality of your followers. (p.s. Before you delete my comment, I challenge you to a public debate, any place, anywhere, and any time. We can use your latest nonsense as a starting point)
Didn’t you die in a plane crash in 1970 Mr. Reuther?
"Walter Reuther" is an AI bot constructed from comments uttered by the man during his organic lifespan. Welcome to the future.
So you won't even debate an 'AI bot'? That's pretty brave of you, nice to see the conviction you have for your 'journalism'. I can't wait to see your next headline: "AI Bot launches anti-Semitic assault on freedom-loving journalist, welcome to the future." Comical. But I noticed you didn't answer a single issue raised. Was Reuther alive during ANY of the events identified? "Walter Reuther's ghost is attacking me," says the brave, Freedom-fighting journalist. Anyways, my challenge remains, even if I am a ghost... Who ya gonna call?
Hi there. Happy to debate you, if you like. But I should clarify I'm not the author of this article despite having the same given name.
Of course your not. There must be hundreds of others named 'Jonathan' on this site, replying in seven minutes, with the same anemic, and in your case literally 'ghosting', arguments I've identified. I'm not particularly interested in debating you about the existence of ghosts or UFOs, my area of interest is corporate media propaganda.
Okay, a few comments.
1. Substack is quite a large place, and Jonathan is a fairly common name. AI is not particularly adept at dealing with coincidences, so I sympathize with your error. But please note that the author's Substack username is "Jonathan Kay," not "Jonathan," so if he actually bothered responding to your pissant ramblings, that is the username that would appear.
2. Substack has this nifty little feature where a user receives an email when someone replies to their comment. Hence the reply within 7 minutes.
3. In the only comment you've ever seen from me, I offered zero arguments about anything; just a non sequitur off-the-cuff joke. How you inferred from this any arguments you previously identified is a mystery to me, but not one I care to know the answer to.
4. I get the sense you don't get much contact with people in the real world. Consider going outside.
Grad school level of critical thinking here: personal animus is hardly 'thinking'.
Who pissed in your cornflakes, chief?