A bit of private black humour has the sanctimonious seeing red
In the past week, I flew with one airline where the salted snacks were corn nuts (WestJet) and with another (Air Canada) where they were sesame crunchies - anything but real nuts, which are the new cigarettes, so verboten that the mere sight of them in their sealed foil-wrap bag in someone else’s possession is deemed dangerous and offensive.
I spoke at a college campus (North Island College, Courtenay, B.C.) where the sign in the women’s loo announced that the campus has gone scent-free and that I was in a “scent-free zone,” due to the rising number of people who are uncomfortable with (not allergic to, let alone seriously allergic to) perfume.
And now, or should I say still, this Gerry Ritz business, which for the third consecutive day was yesterday dominating the election news in print and on the airwaves.
(Lest you doubt me, Thursday’s broadcast of The National, and this was Day 2 remember, devoted five minutes and 10 seconds, an eternity in television, and no fewer than three reporters to its coverage - chief political correspondent Keith Boag, on the so-called main story, Susan Ormiston reporting on the reports from blogland and Laurie Graham interviewing those whose relatives died in the listeriosis outbreak.)
The whole thing - Mr. Ritz’s black humour and the attention it continues to receive - is the epitome of the insufferable, sanctimonious orthodoxy which now reigns in the land, and which makes me rue for my country far more than any looming world financial fiasco.
For the record, a quick summary of the facts: Mr. Ritz, the federal Agriculture Minister, late last month had a conference call with his staff and department officials in which they were discussing the listeriosis situation. At one point, Mr. Ritz noted that the crisis was causing the government a “death of a thousand cuts - or should I say cold cuts.” When someone informed him that a death had occurred in Prince Edward Island, Mr. Ritz replied, “Please tell me it’s [PEI Liberal MP] Wayne Easter.”
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