Province-wide Opinion Section.
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Obsequious Much?
| The Editor Winnipeg Free Press Dear sir: Two very interesting things in today’s WFP: Paul Samyn’s P.2 ‘We’re listening–…’ and the letters about Tom Brodbeck’s use of the word feckless to describe for Premier Stefanson. There is absolutely no doubt that ‘feckless‘ was a particularly accurate description of Stefanson, however gentle and constrained as that word is. However, Samyn’s column does not address criticism of the WFP editorial and columnist history. Brodbeck and Niigan Sinclair being the exceptions, most editorials and columnists traditionally and repeatedly avoid critical comment on Conservative Governments or Parties to the detriment of our democracy. In many ways commenting on past events and past governments is often nothing more than obsequious pretense of journalism… Kick the corpse but cower before the scowling emperor! Given the umpteen examples of feckless, absurdly inaccurate, blatantly irrational, and downright false statements by Conservative leader Poilievre and the total lack of any criticism of his rhetoric by the WFP it is hard to read Samyn’s column today without referring to this paper as The Winnipeg Obsequious Press. Shane Nestruck |
Why must the children cry?
| Falling Bombs and Falling Tears A little boy cries because his father dies and his heart keeps pounding like the bombs. A little girl cries because her brother dies and her tears keep falling like the bombs. Why-oh-why must the children cry? Why must their tears keep falling like the bombs? To help them all the Universal Declaration of Human Rights must never grow old, never erode, never melt, shrink or fade, it must not fail, it must prevail, it must stand the test of time. It was adopted in Paris on 10 December 1948. Since then it has paved the way for the adoption of more than 70 human rights treaties and it is now accessible in 531 languages and dialects. Article 1 of its 30 articles states: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” In Israel, in Palestine, and in many other parts of the world, the tears have been falling like bombs for far too long. Whenever and wherever leaders fail to fix the broken parts in the workings of the world, we must demand change, organize and lobby and fight tirelessly to give voice to the voiceless and bring peace. If the world will respect and follow the wisdom of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the bombs can stop falling and our future can be the best that it can be. Robert Hicks |