A response

I rarely do this and would prefer not to, but I feel I should respond to comments made on Amy Kishek's blog made by someone with the Screen Name “The Pirate”. But really, this can give an insight into where I am coming from, and why I do this.

It was on her post comparing the events of our current crisis to the actions of Hugo Chavez. The Pirate took offense to this, and also called me out for making fun of Mr. Haldenby for being short. I believe they are referring to my post "Napoleon Complex".

I will say, that the post in question was meant to be humourous, and I meant it to be separate from the other posts, comic relief, or a dénouement if you will. I also don't see it as making fun of Mr. Haldenby's height. Here's the deal, Mr. Haldenby is shorter than average, and what I saw on Friday was nothing less than an abuse of power. So read the article!"

"Napoleon complex is a colloquial term describing an alleged type of inferiority complex which is said to affect some people who are physically short. The term is also used more generally to describe people who are driven by a perceived handicap to overcompensate in other aspects of their lives."

It's supposed to be funny, get over yourself.

"Does that mean I can start calling you Bill O'Reilly?" fyi: on more than one occasion I have called myself the Fox News of uOttawa blogs, publically and on CHUO no less. I would likely take it as a compliment.

But by far my biggest issue with your criticism is the hypocrisy you allow, and in fact advocate for.

Here's the deal. They people may only be "students", they may be young, and this may not be a national crisis. Anyone who doesn't care what the SFUO does and is against anyone calling them out and would rather not get involved in anyway because they think that the SFUO doesn't matter because we are only young people and nothing like a national crisis could happen, they can send me $72 a semester. Seriously, I'll take it and do a terrible job! And remember, I'm only a student, and this isn't a national crisis!

Face it, we are adults. These people who are trying to be our elected representatives do so by their own volition, and get PAID for it. It is a full-time job for a year. Like it or not, our University is a "nation" (A nation is a cultural and social community). Next time we decide to go to the University administration demanding to be heard, I think they should respond with "It's that [you're] just young people". How about when we request to meet with a Provincial Minister of Education? "It's that [you're] just young people". We cannot in one breath claim to be old enough, mature enough, and developed enough to be ends in ourselves, and in the next breath blame all of our mistakes on our youth, immaturity, and underdevelopment.

Oh, and you are being pretty mean spirited in your comments urging people to not be mean spririted but rather be critical. And I suppose you make the same sort of complaints about every single newspaper and television news station, since compared to them, we are overly nice.

A final point, you don't like what I write? Don't read it! I don't get paid for this and you don't pay a cent for this. There's a reason I don't have a counter here, I don't care how many people read this. I am pleased that people are reading, and most people enjoy the commentary, even if they don't always agree with it. But I do not do it to increase readership, I do it since I felt there were not many critical voices in the fray. There were many blogs during the campaign that did an excellent job giving a play-by-play or providing behind-the-scenes news, but I saw a shortage of traditional political commentary.

Oh, and before I forget, one of your comments intrigued me: "But whatever. Not like I can change anything. Free speech blah blah blah." We should get together, I've been looking to start an authoritarian themed political club on campus, and was looking for like-minded people. (That's only supposed to be a half-jab, since I do lean towards less positive liberty in the spectrum of rights, but it's hard to find people who completely agree with me in that regard).

See, I can be "critical". :)