The Spectator’s cartoonist has missed the mark. Had someone really been pumping “stupid gas” into the NDP convention, party leader Jack Layton would have praised Prime Minister Stephen Harper for providing exemplary leadership and U.S. President George W. Bush for defending democracy against terrorism. Now that’s stupid! Geoff Ondercin-Bourne, Ancaster Jack Layton and the delegates to the NDP national convention are anything but stupid! I presume your cartoonist is taking exception, in his own childish way, to the convention decision demanding Canadian troops be withdrawn from Afghanistan, which, by the way, is the majority opinion of Canadians according to recent opinion polls. The delegates, of whom one was my son, have the integrity to stand up and speak loudly against the injustice of invading and occupying a country that has done absolutely nothing to harm us. That war is illegal, immoral and unwinnable. If your cartoonist is looking for stupidity, he should check out the prime minister’s office because the decision to sacrifice the lives of young Canadian soldiers for U.S. President George W. Bush’s stupid dream of empire was made there. By taking this bold decision, the NDP has made itself the only real parliamentary opposition in this country. Canadians who wish to see peace, justice and an independent foreign policy would be wise, not stupid, to support the NDP in the next election. Kathryn Basham, Hamilton
From the leftist website Raise the Hammer: “The war in Afghanistan, and Canada’s evolving role in it, is anything but clear-cut. Unfortunately, people like [columnist Andrew] Dreschel and Graeme McKay [sic], whose recent editorial cartoon had the NDP breathing “stupid gas” for its principled opposition to the war, would rather shout down that opposition than engage in a productive debate. Ironically, the inevitable result of ignorance is dumbed-down policy that’s immune to the facts.”
More irate, albeit stoned people at the Cannibus Culture Forum forgetting that I’ve been their biggest hero in the past by glorifying several of their pot activists. Anything but mellow reaction from the commentators!