"Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things." — Winston ChurchillLast week, Saddledome boos rained down on Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek before a hockey game.She was there to celebrate the Flames' South Asian Celebration Night, but it all went bad when her name was announced.Not since commissioner Gary Bettman visited has there been such a ruckus.Frankly, I think she had it coming, but the expected reverberations then followed.The self-appointed bleeding hearts came to her rescue.Someone called Kara Westerlund, vice-president of Rural Municipalities of Alberta — clearly someone more intelligent than us, and more holy and wise than us — jumped into the fray with angelic wings."Nobody deserves to be treated like that. My heart does go out to the mayor of Calgary," she told Global News."I absolutely don't mind constructive criticism, but when people are just downright rude and swearing at you in front of your children it's quite difficult. It's hard on your family too," she said.What's that famous saying? If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. It's old, but it's true.Nobody forced her to run for mayor of Cowtown.In typical Gondek fashion, she downplayed the incident, calling it “a small distraction” — she never listens, not ever. Not even if 19,000 fans are booing her. Like I said, she had it coming, she earned every single one of those boos. She's a terrible mayor and she'll continue to be.Westerlund then offers us a lesson in motherhood. Bad Saddledome fans, bad! Go to your room!"Being a mom I would never, ever let my kids behave like that in public. It's incredibly disrespectful. I try to teach them the best I can that we may not always like somebody and you might not always agree with them, but there should be a level of respect when you're dealing with those situations," Westerlund said.At a hockey game? Where people cheer one Neanderthal beating the crap out of another Neanderthal?Lady, they paid $200 and up for their tickets. They can yell and boo all they like. This was a hockey game, not a church picnic, LOL!Had I been there and paid my $200 and up, plus a bland hot dog and a watery beer, I would have booed lustily too.Then, someone named Sarah Biggs, piped up.Apparently, a political strategist with Olsen + Biggs who worked on Gondek's campaign in 2021, Global reported.It turns out that Biggs is an expert at hockey game booing. Imagine that. Did she take a university course in sports booing? Cool!Poor thing. Poor, poor thing.She's concerned a lack of decorum is driving people away from running for office. A lack of decorum, are we? Lady, it was the lack of decorum types who built this bloody city! Detriments and sinners, one and all."We are not attacking ideas anymore. We are just straight up attacking human beings now," Biggs said."We have lost the capability of having discussion and respectful discourse and we are at the point now where a lot of people feel like they need to take the hammer to make their point and belittle people."Nonsense. And I'll tell you why.The one who has never had the capability of having discussion is Gondek herself. She never answers phone calls or returns e-mails of the very people who put her into power.I know, because she never returned a single one of my messages, when she was in my district. While a fellow named Jeromy Farkas did.In short, she's turned a blind eye to Calgarians and their concerns and they gave her what for. Everything she got that night was deserved.All I can say is, she had it coming. In spades.The only respectful discourse at a hockey game is when it's intermission, and the media talking heads in their expensive suits over-analyze everything to death until there's no flavour left in the game.Folks, this is big-time wrestling, where we cheer someone for driving another guy's head through the glass.We want blood and plenty of it.And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact Johnny Hockey signed with Columbus, setting in motion an exodus of all-stars, as one young pundit suggested. To suggest that's why they were booing is absolute nonsense.Look, what happened to Mayor Gondek may have been regrettable, not something to be proud of. I would not wish it on any woman.But, by my way of thinking, it was inevitable and nobody was attacked. Anyone who thinks different needs to drink more Ensure.After having been described as the least popular mayor in Calgary history, she leaps into the Roman Colosseum, expecting to be cheered like a victorious gladiator?I'm afraid that's not how it works and it has absolutely nothing to do with respectful discourse or attacking ideas.People have had enough; they're fighting to survive and stay alive and they have no time for a mayor who ignores their concerns.The people who booed have the right to boo. And, the bleeding hearts have a right to bleed. And columnists have a right to write about it.Isn't life grand?
"Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things." — Winston ChurchillLast week, Saddledome boos rained down on Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek before a hockey game.She was there to celebrate the Flames' South Asian Celebration Night, but it all went bad when her name was announced.Not since commissioner Gary Bettman visited has there been such a ruckus.Frankly, I think she had it coming, but the expected reverberations then followed.The self-appointed bleeding hearts came to her rescue.Someone called Kara Westerlund, vice-president of Rural Municipalities of Alberta — clearly someone more intelligent than us, and more holy and wise than us — jumped into the fray with angelic wings."Nobody deserves to be treated like that. My heart does go out to the mayor of Calgary," she told Global News."I absolutely don't mind constructive criticism, but when people are just downright rude and swearing at you in front of your children it's quite difficult. It's hard on your family too," she said.What's that famous saying? If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. It's old, but it's true.Nobody forced her to run for mayor of Cowtown.In typical Gondek fashion, she downplayed the incident, calling it “a small distraction” — she never listens, not ever. Not even if 19,000 fans are booing her. Like I said, she had it coming, she earned every single one of those boos. She's a terrible mayor and she'll continue to be.Westerlund then offers us a lesson in motherhood. Bad Saddledome fans, bad! Go to your room!"Being a mom I would never, ever let my kids behave like that in public. It's incredibly disrespectful. I try to teach them the best I can that we may not always like somebody and you might not always agree with them, but there should be a level of respect when you're dealing with those situations," Westerlund said.At a hockey game? Where people cheer one Neanderthal beating the crap out of another Neanderthal?Lady, they paid $200 and up for their tickets. They can yell and boo all they like. This was a hockey game, not a church picnic, LOL!Had I been there and paid my $200 and up, plus a bland hot dog and a watery beer, I would have booed lustily too.Then, someone named Sarah Biggs, piped up.Apparently, a political strategist with Olsen + Biggs who worked on Gondek's campaign in 2021, Global reported.It turns out that Biggs is an expert at hockey game booing. Imagine that. Did she take a university course in sports booing? Cool!Poor thing. Poor, poor thing.She's concerned a lack of decorum is driving people away from running for office. A lack of decorum, are we? Lady, it was the lack of decorum types who built this bloody city! Detriments and sinners, one and all."We are not attacking ideas anymore. We are just straight up attacking human beings now," Biggs said."We have lost the capability of having discussion and respectful discourse and we are at the point now where a lot of people feel like they need to take the hammer to make their point and belittle people."Nonsense. And I'll tell you why.The one who has never had the capability of having discussion is Gondek herself. She never answers phone calls or returns e-mails of the very people who put her into power.I know, because she never returned a single one of my messages, when she was in my district. While a fellow named Jeromy Farkas did.In short, she's turned a blind eye to Calgarians and their concerns and they gave her what for. Everything she got that night was deserved.All I can say is, she had it coming. In spades.The only respectful discourse at a hockey game is when it's intermission, and the media talking heads in their expensive suits over-analyze everything to death until there's no flavour left in the game.Folks, this is big-time wrestling, where we cheer someone for driving another guy's head through the glass.We want blood and plenty of it.And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact Johnny Hockey signed with Columbus, setting in motion an exodus of all-stars, as one young pundit suggested. To suggest that's why they were booing is absolute nonsense.Look, what happened to Mayor Gondek may have been regrettable, not something to be proud of. I would not wish it on any woman.But, by my way of thinking, it was inevitable and nobody was attacked. Anyone who thinks different needs to drink more Ensure.After having been described as the least popular mayor in Calgary history, she leaps into the Roman Colosseum, expecting to be cheered like a victorious gladiator?I'm afraid that's not how it works and it has absolutely nothing to do with respectful discourse or attacking ideas.People have had enough; they're fighting to survive and stay alive and they have no time for a mayor who ignores their concerns.The people who booed have the right to boo. And, the bleeding hearts have a right to bleed. And columnists have a right to write about it.Isn't life grand?
