Strong and Free

Babble on.

I read blogs for their content. That may seem self-evident, but what I mean is that I don't read a blog simply because the person writing it is a big-shot in some field or another. The Monger may or may not be a good doctor (personally, I'd guess he's quite good - if you're actually sick. I wouldn't bet against a sharp tongue if you're not, though), but he's a good blogger, so I read him. I have no idea if Matt Fenwick is a good engineer, but I know Jerry Aldini's a damned good read, and that's all that really matters to me.

I have recently discovered Strong and Free - Lawrie Hawn's blog. Many of you will recognize LCol (R) Hawn as the Conservative candidate in Edmonton who came so tantalizingly close to defeating our current sock-puppet of a Deputy Prime Minister in this past summer's federal election.

That's not why I read him.

This is why I read him:

...The Prime Minister and Pierre Pettigrew are not suddenly masters of international human rights negotiations because Muammar and his officials give them a "yeah, sure, whatever" when they raise the issue.

Should they try? Of course, they should. They should also note that the Iraqi embassy in Tripoli is Ba'ath Party Headquarters-in-exile, from which they continue to fund and direct the terrorists operating in Iraq today. Muammar the Peaceful has granted to a career Saddam thug, Anwar Mawlud Dhiban, political asylum and unhindered use of the embassy. Dhiban is ably assisted by Abdul Aziz Al Najm, the Tripoli head of that great charity organization, Hamas.

...and this:

I’m not accusing the Government of Canada of complicity and corruption in this unacceptable activity [sexual slavery], nor am I accusing Canadian police forces of being less than vigilant and dedicated in enforcing our laws. I am suggesting that the Government of Canada is complacent and has lost sight of the objectives of a good immigration program. One of them should be to promote the immigration of people who can play an important role in making their own lives and the lives of Canadians, in general, better. My money would be on doctors, nurses, scientists, teachers, technicians, etc., long before it would be on strippers...What Madame Sgro was really caught at is the longstanding Liberal practice of using immigration to prop themselves up at election time. It happens all across Canada and it is unethical and immoral. That doesn’t seem to bother “the natural governing party”, but it should bother Canadians.

...and this:

[addressed to the Prime Minister] If it's not possible to get DART to where they're needed today on Canadian Forces aircraft, find a way to get them there on someone else's. I suspect that most readily available aircraft are already being hired, but we should try. The deployment of DART, and a lot more money, would demonstrate some national leadership and will that used to be our hallmark, and which we have lost.

Please stop pretending and actually fund the Canadian Forces requirements in the areas of strategic airlift and strategic sealift. This will take several years but, like so many overdue programs, they simply have to start immediately. You may recall that a previous Minister of National Defence, John McCallum, quietly cancelled the strategic airlift program. I doubt that he did that alone. You may also recall that potential new strategic sealift assets were misrepresented as traditional aircraft carriers during the last federal election. I understand the politics of that, but it is counter-productive to what should be our national objectives.

Were Lawrie Hawn my boss, he'd get my loyalty. Were he my candidate, he'd get my time and effort. Right now, he's just a simple blogger, and as such he gets my attention, as he should get yours.

Babble off.