Patriotism Week, On and On!

Today, July 1, is Canada Day in Canada; but last week, on June 24, it was also Canada Day in Canada. That’s the day that Quebecers and perhaps Francophones more generally celebrate Canada Day by celebrating Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (John the Baptist), and also for those of a mind, by celebrating the summer solstice a few days earlier, just to be genuinely ecumenical, I guess, according to the Canadian Heritage homepage .

The Globe and Mail is celebrating Canada Day today on its front pages by noting that the the B.C. government has increased gas taxes by 2.34 cents as of today, bringing the local prices to $1.52/liter (which is to say over $6 for four liters which is a little more than a U.S. gallon). It is also pointing out that Prime Minister Steven Harper once again apologized to the First Nations people for having forced all their children to go to residential schools, where they were very badly treated, in the early 20th century. The idea was that by separating them from their parents and putting them in government-run and religious-run residential schools, it would be possible to integrate them into Canadian society more effectively. I suppose it might have worked but there was a substantial amount of physical and sexual abuse, which is bound to ruin a lot of hopes. So, this past month, Prime Minister Harper issued a formal apology, and today he did a little more of it.

I’m not sure this is what is meant by Canadian patriotism, but it is consistent with the country’s sense of responsibility about taxing gas to make the price of gas reflect its real costs to the society, and about trying to do right—albeit often ineffectively or downright badly--by the people they displaced when the Canadians decided it was their own country and not that of the First Nations, and about accommodating its multicultural realities, even if it means including the Wiccans.

By Friday, of course, we will be moving on to U.S. patriotism. Although actually we seem to have our heads full of it already with General Wesley Clark’s scandalous suggestion that having been shot down in a plane and becoming a prisoner of war was not a particular qualification for being president. Was he talking about John McCain? Well I guess so. And did anybody ever think that having been a prisoner of war meant you’d be a good U.S. president? These days, it’s hard to imagine what would qualify you to be president, other than being related to some other president. I wonder what Amy Carter is doing? Somebody ought to stuff a sock in cable TV if this nonsense about John McCain’s patriotism being questioned by Wesley Clark is going to keep being repeated.

I hope that by Friday, we might be able to remember that of all the freedoms that we are celebrating on July 4th, the first of them is Freedom of Speech. Wes Clark can say what he wants, but if he is to be criticized for it, then it ought to be for what he actually did say, rather than for what the Fox and CNN hysterics would like him to have said in order to justify their ‘oh my god, the sky is falling’ performances. Maybe Fox people think that being a prisoner of war is a TERRIFIC qualification for being the president of the U.S. They are surely free to say so, but, of course, we would all laugh at them if they did. That idea is just silly. On the other hand, being a prisoner of war who endured torture might be the perfect qualification for a presidential candidate.