"Ipperwash Inquiry Inconveniences Mike Harris"

Yeah, today's the day that up here (or over here, depending on your reading location) in Canada a former provincial Premier (and all round dickhead) Mike 'Golf Course' Harris goes on trial to testify to his involvement in the death of the Ipperwash protester Dudley George. For those of you who haven't heard of this story, check it out, and feel free to smack your head against something hard in confusion, frustration and shame. No way at all to justify it. A senseless death that the families hope can be investigated with enough integrity and sense of justice to prevent anything like it from happening again.

There are accusations that the former Premier had ordered the police to "get those fucking indians out of the park" a mere hours before a police sniper took out George (and then fellow officers beat band councilor Slippery George to within an inch of his life for trying to talk the police into stopping the raid). (and for more on the police' real attitude towards the events, check out this site and this site and wonder why the punishment hasn't been more severe). (and check out the "backgrounds" on the right side of some of these pages for more on the story in general).

But you know, regardless of whether Harris used these exact hate-filled words, he did order the police to raid the park, he was not enough of a good and responsible leader to bring this to a peaceful settlement, so he is ultimately responsible whether he likes it or not. The blood is on his hands and on the hands of everyone from him on down the chain of command to the officer who fired the gun (who got a mere two years community service btw!!! WTF!!!????) So, in this sense, it was a legion of people that killed George, not even a one on one shoot out (though he didn't himself have a gun), and it was our votes that killed him, it was our society that killed him for not electing better, visionary leaders and holy crap we have to take responsibility for it. Our leaders should know that with power comes responsibility, intelligence and accountability. In every situation where the use of force is an option they should know that if it isn't damn clear that is was required that they will pay a price for exercising it without due cause. Otherwise, those who seek office or employment in policing will always be free to be tempted to abuse it. The use of force against citizenry is not a light issue and we need to demand that there are steeper penalties for its abuse. Okay, I'm straying, but this is way bigger than one dumb cop going all SWAT sniper macho on some unsuspecting peacenik. This is a clear example of how the same racist, euro-supremacist values that leveled this country into a parking lot waiting to happen are alive and kicking today and channeling the psychopathology of that long dead wacko Pedro de Alvarado (see Ronald Wright's Stolen Continents for his take on this supposed military genius of the Spanish invasion of the Americas).

Anyway, here's to hoping justice prevails and that someday soon, though not soon enough, we come to terms with our deadly stupidity and ignorance. (oh yeah, and that Mike Harris goes to prison for the rest of his life with no chance of parole or golf!)