Sunday digest II

- G n' R has a snippet from the NDP and Liberal public safety critics regarding the alleged attempt to mass murder innocent civilians by Islamic extremists:

The Liberal and New Democratic public safety critics agreed with Day on the importance of engaging the Islamic community.

"This should be a big issue for us," Liberal Public Safety Critic Derek Lee told Question Period. "Ninety-nine per cent of the broader Islamic community is out there, very sensitive about this and waiting to hear some reassurance that they are Canadians just like everybody else.

"A few bad apples, should there be some...shouldn't be allowed to taint the whole community," Lee said. "There are as concerned about our public safety as anybody else."

Joe Comartin, the New Democratic Public Safety Critic agreed. He said Canadians need to react with calm and sensitivity to the recent arrests, and must protect the Islamic community from retaliation.

"They're the major victims when something like this happens because of what seems to be the inevitable backlash," Comartin told Question Period. "Canada has been good about the limited nature of that backlash, but it certainly is there. There's the bigotry and the racism that comes to the surface at these points."

"The Muslim community here has every right to expect Canadians will respond with moderation, apply our values, our judicial and justice system to the facts that are in effect here, (and ensure) we don't over react and we don't panic."

Note to Lee: If the broader Muslim community is feeling under suspicion and wants to be reassured that they are Canadian like everyone else, than I suggest you advise them to do the following:

1. Speak out against fundamentalism in your own communities for all to hear. This includes reporting incidents that may be questionable in their intentions to the authorities;
2. Stop changing the subject to Israel every time you're asked the hard questions;
3. Accept and promote Western values like equality of the sexes, freedom of speech and the rule of law WITH ENTHUSIASM. That means no demanding Sharia law, no bitching about cartoons, and no hiding behind Trudeaupia to justify the excesses of your brand of multiculturalism.

Note to Comartin: If you NDPers looked for ways to increase the safety and security of the country as much as you looked for examples of racism, we'd all be a lot better off. I'd like to know if it's still your position that the Anti-Terrorism Act, under which these men were charged, should be scrapped?

And disappointingly, Stockwell Day had this meagre offering:

"Tomorrow I'll be meeting with our cross-cultural round table on these types of issues, and they report to the public safety department." Day said on Sunday.

"These are individuals who represent a variety of our ethnic and cultural communities across Canada, so the message goes out very clearly that what we're talking about is people who have criminal intentions on other Canadians."

Does anyone who has not yet been suckered in by the lure of "dialogue" believe that a cross-cultural roundtable has ever, will ever or possibly could ever dissuade a suicide bomber from carrying out his mission?

Please.

The naivete continues.