He’s been battered and bruised. Secretly photographed in bad rooftop patio situations, faced vocal union protests, been bashed relentlessly by both pro and anti-vaxxers. .The Eastern media mafia hates his guts and attacks him at every chance..Even that Charles Adler radio guy loves beating him up — because it’s so damn easy isn’t it?.I would venture that even some cats and dogs hate him too. .I’m speaking, of course, of Alberta’s beleaguered premier, Jason Kenney, head of the UCP..Reviled by many if you believe in popularity polls..Let me start by saying I don’t really like or hate the guy — but I appreciate the unprecedented situation he has inherited. Believe me, a global pandemic is unprecedented..If you don’t believe that, I’ve got some swampland in Florida to sell you. .I voted for the guy, I did. The only thing that had me worried was this so-called War Room, which turned out to be one of those good ideas at the time kind of things..The other thing is some of the people placed in that War Room made my head spin but that’s as far as I’m going to go on that front..Getting back to Kenney. He and his party appeared to have stumbled from one mess into another. .Not unusual, for wacky Canadian provincial politics, but … he seems to have misread the hearts and minds of ordinary Albertans who, for example, don’t want their parklands sold off..Nor do they want giant open-pit coal mines in the beautiful, Unforgiven foothills of the Alberta Rockies..These and other missteps — yes, the COVID-19 holiday he took, disappearing for several weeks, was probably another mistake. It surprised me. I had actually expected better of him..But all those bleeding hearts who say his antagonism of the Court Jester In Chief in Ottawa is a bad thing, go jump in a lake..You think Notley’s pussy-footing with Trudeau led to anything good for our province? Give me an effing break..I was hoping he would kick JT harder — much, much harder. Right in the squares. I would also like to hear some tough separation talk and new confederation deal talk..Let’s scare the hell out of those Laurentian bastards, I say..Getting back to the Elephant in the War Room, let’s talk Kenney and COVID-19..My God, the factions over this issue are just insane. Both sides, IMO, have no claim to the moral high ground, not even close..As my good friend Alex, a talented Cowtown investment guy told me this week: “Even if Jesus Christ came down on this earth to take the reins of the UPC party, he would not be able to keep the peace” in the Wild Rose province..Not to say Jesus would jump into the UCP, he might have other ideas..Nevertheless, as Sherlock Holmes would say maybe, just maybe, we need to cut Kenney some slack. .What drives me to this conclusion is the horrible vilification of Kenney by the medical union types. Listening to these guys you would think Kenney personally dropped the vial of SARS-CoV-2 in the Chinese lab..Kenney is not Peter Lougheed, nor will he ever be. But he is not evil personified either, for crissakes..Whichever stand he takes, he’s going to be pilloried — it’s a no-win situation..As one friend confided to me: “If Notley had been in charge, people would have been confined to their homes and allowed an hour a day of exercise …”.Perhaps a bit of an exaggeration but I get his drift. .While I am Pfizer vaxxed, and, quite glad that I am, I personally, don’t think anyone really knows why there is a COVID-19 resurgence in Alberta. .Anybody, absolutely anybody, who thinks they know all the answers should be treated with a grain of proverbial salt..There is great speculation, especially among science experts, whom I respect, but … I really don’t think anyone knows for 100% certainty..So go ahead. Blame the anti-vaxxers, blame the phases of the moon, blame Jimmy Buffett. I don’t care. Froth at the mouth and unfriend me on Facebook. Do your worst..All I can tell you is that sooner or later we will get through this. And that’s going by history, not a bunch of guys thinking they know everything..According to our friends at Wikipedia, the Great Plague of Marseille was the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in western Europe. .Arriving in Marseille, France in 1720, the disease killed a total of 100,000 people: 50,000 in the city during the next two years and another 50,000 to the north in surrounding provinces and towns..France actually built a wall to contain it..It is reassuring, though, that economic activity took only a few years to recover as trade expanded to the West Indies and Latin America..Check it out for yourself, it’s history. Although we seem to be vilifying history too these days, don’t we? Tearing down statues and such..Bad, bad statue!.So next time you decide to throw stones at Alberta’s Premier, check out the walls of your glasshouse. Do you think you could do better? .I sure as hell know I couldn’t. I wouldn’t take that job for all the tea (or rare earth metals) in China..Dave Makichuk is a Western Standard contributor. .,He has worked in the media for decades, including as an editor for the Calgary Herald. He is also the military editor for the Asia Times.,.makichukd@gmail.com
He’s been battered and bruised. Secretly photographed in bad rooftop patio situations, faced vocal union protests, been bashed relentlessly by both pro and anti-vaxxers. .The Eastern media mafia hates his guts and attacks him at every chance..Even that Charles Adler radio guy loves beating him up — because it’s so damn easy isn’t it?.I would venture that even some cats and dogs hate him too. .I’m speaking, of course, of Alberta’s beleaguered premier, Jason Kenney, head of the UCP..Reviled by many if you believe in popularity polls..Let me start by saying I don’t really like or hate the guy — but I appreciate the unprecedented situation he has inherited. Believe me, a global pandemic is unprecedented..If you don’t believe that, I’ve got some swampland in Florida to sell you. .I voted for the guy, I did. The only thing that had me worried was this so-called War Room, which turned out to be one of those good ideas at the time kind of things..The other thing is some of the people placed in that War Room made my head spin but that’s as far as I’m going to go on that front..Getting back to Kenney. He and his party appeared to have stumbled from one mess into another. .Not unusual, for wacky Canadian provincial politics, but … he seems to have misread the hearts and minds of ordinary Albertans who, for example, don’t want their parklands sold off..Nor do they want giant open-pit coal mines in the beautiful, Unforgiven foothills of the Alberta Rockies..These and other missteps — yes, the COVID-19 holiday he took, disappearing for several weeks, was probably another mistake. It surprised me. I had actually expected better of him..But all those bleeding hearts who say his antagonism of the Court Jester In Chief in Ottawa is a bad thing, go jump in a lake..You think Notley’s pussy-footing with Trudeau led to anything good for our province? Give me an effing break..I was hoping he would kick JT harder — much, much harder. Right in the squares. I would also like to hear some tough separation talk and new confederation deal talk..Let’s scare the hell out of those Laurentian bastards, I say..Getting back to the Elephant in the War Room, let’s talk Kenney and COVID-19..My God, the factions over this issue are just insane. Both sides, IMO, have no claim to the moral high ground, not even close..As my good friend Alex, a talented Cowtown investment guy told me this week: “Even if Jesus Christ came down on this earth to take the reins of the UPC party, he would not be able to keep the peace” in the Wild Rose province..Not to say Jesus would jump into the UCP, he might have other ideas..Nevertheless, as Sherlock Holmes would say maybe, just maybe, we need to cut Kenney some slack. .What drives me to this conclusion is the horrible vilification of Kenney by the medical union types. Listening to these guys you would think Kenney personally dropped the vial of SARS-CoV-2 in the Chinese lab..Kenney is not Peter Lougheed, nor will he ever be. But he is not evil personified either, for crissakes..Whichever stand he takes, he’s going to be pilloried — it’s a no-win situation..As one friend confided to me: “If Notley had been in charge, people would have been confined to their homes and allowed an hour a day of exercise …”.Perhaps a bit of an exaggeration but I get his drift. .While I am Pfizer vaxxed, and, quite glad that I am, I personally, don’t think anyone really knows why there is a COVID-19 resurgence in Alberta. .Anybody, absolutely anybody, who thinks they know all the answers should be treated with a grain of proverbial salt..There is great speculation, especially among science experts, whom I respect, but … I really don’t think anyone knows for 100% certainty..So go ahead. Blame the anti-vaxxers, blame the phases of the moon, blame Jimmy Buffett. I don’t care. Froth at the mouth and unfriend me on Facebook. Do your worst..All I can tell you is that sooner or later we will get through this. And that’s going by history, not a bunch of guys thinking they know everything..According to our friends at Wikipedia, the Great Plague of Marseille was the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in western Europe. .Arriving in Marseille, France in 1720, the disease killed a total of 100,000 people: 50,000 in the city during the next two years and another 50,000 to the north in surrounding provinces and towns..France actually built a wall to contain it..It is reassuring, though, that economic activity took only a few years to recover as trade expanded to the West Indies and Latin America..Check it out for yourself, it’s history. Although we seem to be vilifying history too these days, don’t we? Tearing down statues and such..Bad, bad statue!.So next time you decide to throw stones at Alberta’s Premier, check out the walls of your glasshouse. Do you think you could do better? .I sure as hell know I couldn’t. I wouldn’t take that job for all the tea (or rare earth metals) in China..Dave Makichuk is a Western Standard contributor. .,He has worked in the media for decades, including as an editor for the Calgary Herald. He is also the military editor for the Asia Times.,.makichukd@gmail.com
