I’m going on a field trip today. A field trip. I’m 24 years old, working on my second bachelor’s degree, and I’m going on a field trip. How cool is that? I just gotta remember to get mom to sign my permission slip and I’m Montreal bound!
Schwartz’s Deli is a historical site, right?
Charles Gordon is a filthy hypocrite
Charles Gordon complained today that the world has ignored Darfur. He blames the media and its fixation on trivial events. Really Charles Gordon? It’s good of you to get on the bandwagon – 18 months late.
Charles Gordon gets three columns a week. That’s roughly 12 columns a month, as a low-ball estimate. Keeping on the rough estimate track, Charles Gordon has written 215 or so columns since the crisis in Darfur began.
What were those columns about?
Pop stars like Hilary Duff (Jan. 18, 2005). The demise of the “I. Am. Canadian” beer commercials (March 19, 2005). Golf balls as gifts, thanks to the sponsorship scandal (Feb. 12, 2005). The difficulty of being a speech writer at election time (Jan. 6, 2004).
In fairness, Gordon writes some more hard-hitting pieces as well, but there’s an inherent hypocrisy in criticizing the media for focusing on sensational stories rather than legitimate crises when you yourself have written sensational stories while a crisis rages.
It’s good that Darfur is in the media, it really is. More columnists should write about the failure of the Western world, but even Gordon’s column decrying the media’s pandering to gossip and celebrity spends more time talking about the gossip buzzwords than about the situation in Darfur.
Canada gets in on the Wolfowitz lovefest
So Canada’s apparently down with the Wolfowitz for World Bank vibe.
A spokesman for Finance Minsiter Ralph Goodale said “at this point, we welcome Mr. Wolfowitz’s nomination.” He also said “Mr. Wolfowitz is a serious and credible candidate.”
At which point, Canadian journalists asked. . .
Nothing, evidently.
No “Why is he credible?” No “What relevant experience does he have?” No “What about his penchant for bombing brown people?”
Just the sound of scribes furiously logging the government line.
Okay, the file is short today, I have to get rolling. If I miss this field trip, I won’t get to go to the class party at the end of the term.
But it’s not Charles Gordon’s job to be hard-hitting. He writes about stuff like music piracy and trends. I think the fact that he broke out of what he normally does to write something insightful should be applauded, instead of calling him a filthy hypocrite.