The Vancouver Scrum

CJOB talker Charles Adler, the original host of Global Sunday, also has a wekly smear column in the Winnipeg Sun. He uses it to bash the same three targets: Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Winnipeg Mayor Glen Murray (possibly the most repected big-city mayor in the country) and Manitoba Premier Gary Doer (cruising along to an easy win in next month’s election.). This week, he’s decided that Jean Chrétien is to blame for mad cow disease. Is attributing this belief to Adler an unfair accusation on my part? Probably so—but it nicely illustrates his brand of cheap shots.

A friend of mine whose father works in the livestock industry in southern Manitoba writes, “Hi, Charles. My dad found it quite interesting, when he tried to ship a huge load of bulls to the States a few days ago … and the semis were turned back at the border. One of the guys (don’t think it was the guard … more like an inspector guy) told the driver that if perhaps our prime minister didn’t have such a big mouth, we wouldn’t be running into problems like this. It sounds like mad cow disease is a bit of an excuse to help get an important point across to Canadians … no?”

I wonder if the Winnipeg Windbag actually bothered to check out his third-hand anecdote about a border inspector claiming that the PM’s words are causing some sort of crackdown. Most of the people telling these sorts of stories have a political axe of their own to grind, and the story may have been torqued by the time it hit Adler's Inbox. Might be worth actually confirming these tales before you run with ‘em, Chuckles. I recall that a good rule of thumb in journalism is to get confirmation from two mutually independent sources before you call something a fact. Well, Adler says it’s proof that Liberal actions are harming the Canadian agriculture trade, and I say it’s an unconfirmed story.

The truth-twisting questions that Adler poses in his column are ridiculous. When did Jean Chrétien ever claim that the US was to blame for the September 11th attacks? Should Chretien have invoked some God to bless America when he does not publicly do the same for his own country? Did Adler forget the September 11 service on Parliament Hill after the attacks, or that we not only supported the campaign against al-Qaeda but contributed troops to the campaign in Afghanistan?

Maybe I ought to ask Adler why he thinks that Saddam was behind the September 11th attacks. Adler has insinuated as much even as the evidence for a Saddam-al-Qaeda connection has been little more than a meeting or two between envoys. Adler exploits the deaths of thousands in order to promote his political agenda. Perhaps, to be as unfair as he is, he should be forced to explain why he wants every “Mohammedan” deported or at least placed under permanent police surveillance. Hey, if he can dish out accusations based on faulty inferences, he ought to be able to take them... right?

Oh, right. He’s a loudmouth talk-show host with a column in a Sun tabloid. My mistake for thinking that he might still have standards.