THE CONSERVATIVE HIPSTERS

So, Toronto Councillor and TTC Chair Howard Moscoe has told Canadians they have nothing to fear. As reported in the Toronto Sun:

First, they have to find us

By Rob Granatstein, Toronto Sun

LEAVE IT to TTC chairman and Toronto Councillor Howard Moscoe to put the situation in perspective. Moscoe told TTC riders yesterday not to panic.

"I would wonder if the terrorists first would have to find where Toronto is before they attacked it," he said. "Canada is not as vulnerable as the U.S. or Britain or Spain.

"We don't have any troops to pull out of Iraq."


In truth, even though his comments above are crass, idiotic and out of touch, former art teacher Howard Moscoe is not an idiot.

He's one of the more wily politicians I've come across. But his comments are instructive for the kind of thinking that has enveloped lefty politicians in Canada and especially Toronto. Here's what Moscoe is telling me:

1. Apparently Toronto is unknown to most, if not all of the free world, tourism campaigns be damned.
2. A City Councillor obviously has anti-terrorism intelligence at his disposal that CSIS and the federal government doesn't. How else would Howard be clearly confident enough to dismiss evidence that Canada is at risk:

"Human targets sorted by level of importance," reads a list in the al-Battar Military Manual, a training manual masterminded by Saif al-Adel, one of al-Qaeda's most senior leaders, and distributed to supporters over the Internet.

Jewish targets top the list. Then, in a separate category called "the Christians," the manual states: "The grades of importance are as follows: 1. Americans, 2. British, 3. Spaniards, 4. Australians, 5. Canadians, 6. Italians."

Taking steps to prevent terrorism in Canada's largest city is clearly a waste of time. Howard would rather spend his time fighting the real threats to society. Let's take a quick look at Howard's causes d'jour, shall we?

• Licensing body rub parlours.
• Eliminating tax breaks for veterans.
• Licensing bicycle couriers.
• Designating special "pizazz buses" for the TTC that will feature poetry readings, jazz and stand up comedy.
• Giving himself a raise.
• Licensing clothing drop boxes.

Ah, yes. This is the kind of politican we want to be giving heaps of "new deal" responsibility to. Why worry about things like protecting your transit system, when we have unlicensed clothing drop boxes running rampany on our streets!

What an embarassment. Maybe ol' Howie is right. I don't think the terrorists have much to worry about from the leadership of Toronto.

On a related note, shout out to Girl on the Right. She's fired off a letter to ol' Howard for his assinine comments. I would encourage all to follow suit.

# posted by Anonymous : 10:01 a.m.