It's so good to see real-time karma in operation. And in this case two ugly vultures have come home to roost.
First, it was First Nations youth, possibly/probably aligned with Idle No More, who instigated it. Arnell Tail Feathers (I've seen two spelling of that) recorded and uploaded it. Levi Little Moustache (again, two spellings) did the research and asked the question.
Little Mustache, a youth on the Blood Tribe reserve southwest of Lethbridge, said everyone was shocked when Flanagan repeated his view.Flanagan's views on First Nations are simply loathsome. He's been used as a more than willing apologist for colonialism in court cases and the media. In his role as Asshole-in-Residence at CBC, he's been very vocal in dissing the Idle No More movement.
“The whole crowd just kind of gasped,” Little Mustache said. “Everyone was just taken aback by that. And then the moderator just kind of shook his head.”
He said four people in the audience walked out. His friend, Arnell Tailfeathers, recorded Flanagan’s remarks and posted the video on YouTube.
So that's kind of sweet.
Next, the issue: child pornography, which should rightly be called crime-scene evidence.
Flanagan was national campaign manager for the Corrupt Party in 2004, a campaign that will be remembered for its general narstiness and in particular for the attempted smear of Paul Martin for his 'support' of child pornography.
What goes round, comes round, eh, Tom?
So, hoist on his own petard by a couple of savvy yet somehow 'less advanced' young First Nations men.
Yes. A good day.
Update by deBeauxOs: CBC backgrounder on Canadian case law with regard to child p0rn0graphy. Also, Flanagan's tactic to smear Paul Martin and Jack Layton in the 2004 federal election.
9 comments:
As someone in a tweet you RTed noted, the loathsome opponents of Idle No More are not doing well: John Duncan, Patrick Brazeau, Tom Flanagan.
If something happened to Ezra Levant's career as StunTV's resident hater, I'd start believing in righteous karma again.
Had it not been for these two young men who reported on the comments, we would not have know. My thanks go out to them. It is people like them who will lead this country to a better place.
That would be sweet.
Also another exploiter of First Nations, Bruce Carson, is coming to trial soon I think.
Maybe The Times They Are Really Fucking A'changing.
Ezra is on his way though not as spectacularly.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2012/10/24/roma_groups_complaint_against_ezra_levant_prompts_toronto_police_investigation.html
Yet again I find myself wondering not why someone in such a position holds a stupid belief, but why on Earth they would express it in a public forum.
@Sixth. One word -- arrogance. He thought he could bluster/argue/finesse any potential fall-out.
Ha.
What impressed me most was the speed of the take-down. BOOM! Social media getting stronger every minute.
repost from comment board: Mr. Harris, I am a computer forensic examiner that works for the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in the USA. Having been chronically exposed to child exploitation material for years during the performance of my job duties, I can only gather from Mr. Flanagan's statements that either, a) he is severely ignorant of what "child pornography" really is (not generally cutsie naked kids, but instead graphic depictions of the true rape and assault of children as young as infants in diapers)
or, b) he is making a very poor attempt (as pedophiles often do) of masking his own predilections. In either case, his statements were disgusting, though my gut instinct (which is very finely tuned these days) tells me the professor has dabbled in this type of material way more than he is stating, and has the warped sense of a true pedophile who does not classify the memorialization of sexual abuse as a big deal. His statements, I venture, had nothing to do with politics, but an ill attempt to justify his own "tastes." It's too bad that search warrants can't be based on pure observational experience, because Mr. Flanagan would not only lose his jobs, but his personal freedoms as well. Thank you very much for the article.
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2013/02/28/where-does-tom-flanagan-think-child-porn-comes-from/
Nadine, did you read the blogpost I did on the CPC dumping Flanagan?
I linked to Michael Harris' piece there
.
As for Flanagan, unlike the burnt-out forensic technician who sees pedophiles everywhere as a result of the horrific work he or she does, I think the only thing he revealed about his proclivities when he pontificated on the *harmlessness* of child exploitation images, was his adherence to extreme Ayn Rand libertarianism.
I agree with deBeauxOs's diagnosis of burn-out. (Though obviously our diagnosis is as baseless as the technician's of Flanagan.)
Flanagan has more than enough libertarianism, entitlement, and showmanship to account for the gaffe. And his astonishment at its reception.
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