Ignatieff's Beloved Family Tree

Liberal leader Mike Ignatieff was on Question Period Sunday crying foul about the Conservative Party commenting about his ancestry. While Iggy has been trying to sell that his father came to Canada on a boat with nothing (for his own political gain), the Tories pointed out that he came from Russian aristocracy and were quite wealthy for quite a long time on the backs of the Russian people. Should we be looking at overthrown despots fleeing to Canada as endearing symbols of our culture? Because that has been the picture Ignatieff has long been trying to paint.

Iggy claims virtual victim status about his family losing everything in the Russian revolution. Yeah, but they were doing pretty well for themselves working close to the Czar, exploiting and pillaging their own people to the tipping point where Communism was thrust upon the world. Well done Ignatieff family! Your failures helped spawn the "Iron Curtain", but this is something which should be celebrated as a symbol of Canada? If Gaddafi's henchmen flee to Canada and one day one of their decedents runs for Prime Minister, would it be out of line to point out that the sanctity of their legacy is a question mark?

This is not an attack on Iggy's modern family, his wife, or his children, but rather on the legacy of the entire Ignatieff family tree. I'm sure if we look closer at what the Ignatieff family did under their service to the Czar prior to the revolution, it wouldn't be all sunshine and lollipops. These were the guys punching in with Rasputin every morning.

By these standards, the following music video must damn-near be slander!

Iggy's Dilemma; Russia Or Canada?

As Canada prepares to face Russia Wednesday in the championship final of the World Junior Hockey Tournament, who do you think Iggy will be cheering for? That is today's poll question. We know that he has a deep romanticism with his Czarist ancestry, and that he once wrote "between my two pasts, the Canadian and the Russian, I felt I had to choose. I chose the vanished past, the past lost behind the revolution. I could count on my mother’s inheritance: it was always there. It was my father’s past that mattered to me, because it was the one I had to recover, to make my own." That summarizes Iggy Pop on his Canadianism.

I know that I will be cheering for team Canada tomorrow, but who will Iggy be cheering for?

Venezuela Going Nuclear

On the list of the all-time bad ideas, Russia is going to help Hugo Chavez go nuclear. This story did not make headlines in the Canadian media, but the world must be concerned about a nut like Chavez getting a nuclear bomb. This is nearly as troubling as Iran going nuclear, except that Venezuela has not threatened to wipe any countries off the map...at least that I'm aware of. Hugo likes to conduct his warfare through a proxy FARC, and I think has a lower probability of using a bomb than does Arachnidinijad. Granted Iran conducts its crusade against Israel through its own proxy Hezbollah, but the distance between Tehran and Tel Aviv is much larger than the distance from Bogota and Caracas. If Iran deployed a bomb against Israel, at least Syria and Jordan would soak up most of the radiation.

I think Hugo is less likely to use a bomb, but if he gets one, he will give leverage and aggressive diplomacy a new name.


http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/10/15/russian-vows-help-venezuela-build-nuclear-power-plant/

Why We Need An Air Force

The Russian air force feels that it is prudent to deploy bombers on practice runs towards the Labrador coast, requiring Canadian fighter jets to scramble and shadow the Ruskies. According to the agenda being set by Jane Taber et all at the Globe and Mail, using this incident to justify the need for new fighter jets is just a shameless PR campaign. Honestly, the Russian desire to send bombers towards Canadian soil is absolutely a justification for us maintaining an active air force, and our current fleet is as old as I am and crashing at air shows. It isn't just partisan politics to declare the obvious, unless the agenda you're trying to set is that everything the Tories do is wrong.

When somebody finally tells Russia that the cold war is over and they don't need to send their bombers on runs to the Canadian coast, then perhaps the need for a modern air force will be diminished. It would seem to me that they are testing our response times and readiness, and it is imperative that we pass the test and discourage them from deploying them on actual bombing missions in the future. I support Canada having a modern air force and if that makes me a blind partisan puppet, then so be it. Ring a bell, and I'll salivate...

Is Ignatieff A Russian Spy?

With the smell of conspiracy theories in the air today, I would like to share my own concern that the leader of the Liberal Party Mike Ignatieff may in fact be a Russian spy. Canada's top intelligence official recently announced that foreign governments had infiltrated our political class, which occurred prior to a team of Russian spies being captured operating in the United States. We know that Ignatieff's father and grandfathers were deeply involved in the Russian government helping to usher in an era of communism before coming to Canada. Now we have the son of a Czarist campaigning to become the leader of our Country. If you are alarmed, you should be.

There are just too many coincidences for this to not at least be considered plausible. It is certainly more plausible than our police torching their own cruisers to try and make the anti-globalization protesters look bad. One of the spies captured in America attended Harvard while Iggy was there. Each coincidence you add to the pile makes the conspiracy more likely. We know that Iggy is obsessed with his Russian album, even publishing a book about how awesome his forefathers were. He lived and worked for a while in London England, which has a very high Russian population. He also bears a shocking resemblance to Count Dracula, which is further evidence that he is a foreign operative.

Then there was that time he said:

“Between my two pasts, the Canadian and the Russian, I felt I had to choose. I chose the vanished past, the past lost behind the revolution. I could count on my mother’s inheritance: it was always there. It was my father’s past that mattered to me, because it was the one I had to recover, to make my own.”

If that's not a confession, I don't know what is... :O

Who Is Earth's Most Evil Leader?

Who do you think is the most evil leader in the world? There are two metrics to consider, 1) total amount of evil, 2) capability of causing harm. As Conservatives we all agree that the world is going to be destroyed by an anti-Christ in the near future, so who is that ultimate bad guy most likely to be? Being a Conservative has nothing to do with personal freedoms and small government, it is about preparing everyone to die. I don't know about you, but that's why I'm a Conservative. (that's sarcasm by the way)...

Here is my starting list, am I forgetting anyone? I am looking for leaders currently leading a country. Obama doesn't count. I don't believe he's evil, just wrong.

1) Kim Jong Ill (North Korea)
2) The Ayatollah (Iran)
3) Hugo Chavez (Venezuela)
4) Vladimir Putin (Russia)
5) The Burmese Military junta
6) That guy in the Sudan
7) Qadaffy (Lybia)

When Parliaments Attack! (the Ukraine is weak)

I just saw the latest video footage from the Ukrainian Parliament where protestors pelted eggs at the Government for their latest agreement with Russia to expand Soviet military presence in the former republic. If you ask Ignatieff about it, he will certainly tell you how the Ukraine is better off as a Russian vassal state. I don't know very much about the new regime, but I can tell that they are not off to a good start. Personally, Rocky 4 had a profound impact on my childhood. I don't trust the former Soviet Union. Those puny Ukrainians would regard Iggy as a "Great Russian" and if you don't think so, just ask him.

Ignatieff the Terrible

Last night I watched a documentary on the History Channel about the first man ever to name himself "Czar", none other than Ivan the Terrible. Trust me, that sick nut earned his moniker. His widespread use of brutal torture methods was used with his aggressive military to forcibly expand his kingdom. It was a chilling account of the dark under-belly of the Czarist line. The whole time that I was watching it, I couldn't stop thinking about Liberal leader Mike Ignatieff.

Iggy has written books and several papers on his Czarist ancestry, obsessing about his family's great contribution to a terrible reign. It seems odd to brag about a failure, though I suppose Bob Rae does it all the time. I had distant relatives in Germany during both world wars. You don't see me running around the world bragging about how my great uncle shined shoes for Otto Von Bismarck. Actually my great grandparents left Germany while Bismarck was "unifying the Empire", so that might have been a bad example.

But back to Ignatieff and Ivan the Terrible. Watching them outline in detail Ivan's brutal acts of torture to "unify" his empire, I was reminded of a video I watched on a recent visit to the site of my colleague Canadian Sense. Watch and learn. I would be curious to know if any Ignatieff's were employed by Ivan the Terrible?

I won't be cheering for Germany...

I would like to let everyone know that despite my 1/4 German lineage, I will not be cheering for Germany against my motherland of Canada in the ice arena on Tuesday. I will not brag about how my great grandparents had the good sense to get the hell out of Deutschland about 20 years before World War I for the dream of building a new life in the new world. I don't take any solace in Germany's 21 medals at our Olympics, and I don't feel any nostalgia that I share a common ancestry with many of the athletes dominating in Vancouver. The best compliment I can pay to the Deutschland today is that I watched an interview with Katarina Witt, and I still adore her. I also adore Angela Merkel, but not in the same way.

Should Canada defeat the Krauts and advance to the next round against Russia, I will be left wondering where Mike Ignatieff’s loyalties lie. Iggy has an obsessive compulsion with his Czarist ancestry that he "lost" to the Bolsheviks. As he once wrote himself "Between my two pasts, the Canadian and the Russian, I felt I had to choose. I chose the vanished past, the past lost behind the revolution. I could count on my mother’s inheritance: it was always there. It was my father’s past that mattered to me, because it was the one I had to recover, to make my own."  It is a curious obsession considering the massive failure of their governance, and the millions of deaths that Stalinism brought to the northern hemisphere.

So if Canada advances to the next round against Russia, will Iggy count on his mother's inheritance; or will it be his father's past that matters, that he has to make his own? True, he is half Russian and I am only a quarter German, but I am willing to turn a cold shoulder to my proud heritage. Well, am I proud to be 1/4 Kraut? I will at times take credit for their propensity to build top quality manufactured goods, but generally I like to blame all my mistakes in life on my Krautish ancestry. My ancestors chose to leave in pursuit of a better life; they weren't forced to leave because their own incompetence ushered in the Iron Curtain.

I am 3/4 Scottish with some Irish scattered throughout the family tree. There is surprisingly little British in my blood, despite several of my forefathers actively participating in the overthrow of a Catholic King from the British throne once upon a time. Orangemen I believe they’re called. Adam Smith was Scottish, and Karl Marx was German. I am an interesting breed.

Day 6 Wrap-up: Canada 6, Russia 3, Britain 0

I would like to remind everyone in the international media gallery that another day of Olympic games has passed us by, and Canada has accumulated another medal. The Brits are still waiting for their first. I can see where Ignatieff was so distraught with the Games that he had to leave, his precious mother Russia is off to a slow start with a paltry 3 medals. Although the probability of the United States owning the podium is growing daily, we still have twice as many medals as the next two Olympic host countries combined. I just wanted to point that out, with curling and hockey yet to come.

Today was a beautiful day in Vancouver, and it is even chilly outside. If we are to have any chance remaining at owning our podium, our athletes on alpine skis and speed skates need to start acquiring more metal. And even if they don't, I applaud their dedication to their cause.

Who will Iggy be cheering for in Vancouver? Russia or Canada?

Be warned Canada, a Red Army of Russian athletes are descending on Vancouver as we speak with the malicious intention of owning our podium. Who will Ignatieff be cheering for? Well he did once write: “Between my two pasts, the Canadian and the Russian, I felt I had to choose,”  “I chose the vanished past, the past lost behind the revolution. I could count on my mother’s inheritance: it was always there. It was my father’s past that mattered to me, because it was the one I had to recover, to make my own.”

This Russian invasion includes a hockey team loaded with a frightening assemblance of offensive power, not unlike Ivan Drago's "coming to America." I would like to send a cheer of encouragement to our Canadian athletes preparing to compete against the invading Sputniks, and reiterate my desire to see us own our podium. With the Olympic Games drawing closer by the day, I would like to renew my rivalry with mother Russia, to share the joy I felt watching Lemieux and Gretzky win the Super Series once upon a time. I recall the state of jubilation that overcame me when Rocky Balboa knocked out Ivan Drago, against all odds. The Ukraine and Georgia can represent Apollo Creed.

**For the record, the contents of this post are not to be taken too seriously.  It is what I like to call, "sincere sarcasm"**

The Ukraine is weak

I am disappointed to see the pro-Moscow movement of Viktor Yanukovich is projected to win the Presidential election held today in the Ukraine. Despite the fact that the guy with the purple face was largely impotent as leader of a divided party, that Orange Revolution of 2004 towards the pro-Westernization of another former Soviet Republic was exciting. In response, Russia drastically increased the price of petroleum exports which had a crippling effect on their economy. I don't blame the people for voting as they did, I'm just sad that it came to this. I suppose that given the dependence of the Ukrainian economy on Russian natural resources, this is probably the best move for their country. The Soviets transformed from communist colonialism to totalitarian oligarchy with a resource abundance.

Oh well, it is what it is. Not much that I can do about it.

French Animosity Towards Ignatieff?

I am curious to know where this myth that Mike Ignatieff is very popular in Quebec came from. It seems like from the very moment that the Liberals flew him in from Boston, the spin doctors were citing his popularity in la Belle Province as justification for pumping him to be the Liberal leader. I feel like sending an e-mail to the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters with the question "Mike Ignatieff very popular among the French, fact or myth?" It is as though we were being told the French loved Iggy pop long before most Quebecers even knew who the Hell he was! Have we seen any evidence of any popularity in Quebec? None, except the opinion of Chantal Hebert, and even she is wavering now.

I would like to go back to the theme where Iggy was proclaiming any Tory policy initiative which included Quebec to be a "national unity crisis"; because with a new Tory blue seat near Quebec City, the only thing I'm seeing is a "Liberal unity crisis". I believe that Iggy's French popularity is about as believable as Enzyte growing my "package". Not only is Iggy not popular in Quebec, he appears toxic. Maybe that's what happens when you let a bunch of kooks in an office at Toronto run your Quebec policies?

Let's also not forget that nearly 200 years ago Iggy's beloved Czarist ancestors were locked in mortal combat with the French. Hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen died on Russian soil in 1812, and with them died the dream of global French supremacy. Let's be clear, those Frenchmen were killed because of the cowardice of the Cossacks and the ferocity of the Russian winter. Rather than engage the French in battle, Iggy's forefathers decided it would be a better idea to retreat, retreat, retreat, and torch their own country as they fled. Scorched earth was born because a bunch of scared cowards where too chicken to stand and fight. You can see parallels with how Donolo is running the show out of the gate.

They lured the French deep into Russia, and when a particularly harsh winter hit, the loss of French life was devastating. The French resorted to eating their own French horses. Yes, Ignatieff's ancestors inflicted this suffering upon innocent farm animals by acting with careless malice! Napoleon's great miscalculation was assuming that no sane leadership would torch their own country. But the Czars and the goofs working for them had a unique brand of depraved incompetence that was highlighted by their surrender of power to the Bolsheviks that would inflict death upon untold millions.

And to think Ignatieff is proud of his family history, so much so that he writes books about how great he is and how we should all envy his lineage. Is that not the ultimate act of vanity? Vanity, definitely Ignatieff's favourite sin.

Liberal Bolshevik Revolution?

You have to know that Bob Rae and the Bolshevik wing of the Liberal party smell blood in the water. Ignatieff is free, free falling, and Liberals have to be asking themselves, if the Czar can't win a general election, should we go ahead and replace him now? I'm sure it is very similar to how the people of Russia felt in October of 1917. The Czar and every dipshit working for him are incompetent, and while I have some concerns about where this Vladimir Lenin might take me, anything is better than this! Such is often the fate of inept aristocracies. Iggy could experience his own red December.

I'm just curious how many different ways Bob Rae could leapfrog Iggy before the next General Election? Iggy was never elected by the party membership, and I can't say that I am an expert in Liberal Party dogma. The one safety net that Canada has over 1917 Russia is democracy. Bob Rae and the Bolsheviks would actually have to face the electorate before ascending to leadership of the country. I'm sure myself and lots of other right minded people will have something to say about that should we need to cross that bridge. If Bob Rae ever becomes Prime Minister of Canada, I'm moving to Scotland.

I Remember Red October

I would like to take a moment to remember the victims of Communism. I remember the October Bolshevik revolution of 1917 in Russia. By virtue of the complete incompetence of the Czar and his staff, the first significant opportunity for the disciples of Marx to capture a country was successful. When the Czar administration pathetically ceded the reigns of power to the Communists and the USSR was born, it was a dark day for liberty. That revolution would curse Eastern Europe worst of all, states that were violently subjugated into strict communist membership. The powerful communist state on China's northern frontier undoubtedly benefited Mao's movement with money, weapons, and man power.

How many victims of communism are there throughout the world and throughout time? Ultimate responsibility for that darkness rests at the feet of the Czar and the people who ran his government. As Joey Stalin once said, "a single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic."

I don't hold a grudge against all people with a genealogy from this aristocracy, just the people who write books bragging about the magnificence of their ancestors who worked for the Czar and had to flee during Red October. The incompetence of your ancestors brought the world communist statehood, how in the name of Christ can you justify writing a book about how great your family tree is when they gave us Josef Stalin and Mao Zedong??? Christ, the people of North Korea are still suffering to this day!

For context, read True Patriot Abandonment...

Sly Stallone tore down the Berlin Wall

I have been reading my National Post today, and there are a selection of articles about the fall of the Berlin wall. Historically Ronny Reagan gets the most credit for "Mr Gorbachev, tear down that wall", while many historians completely overlook one of the most powerful forces contributing to the collapse of the Iron Curtain; and that is Sylvester Stallone. This theory was first introduced to me by my favourite sports pundit ESPN'S Bill Simmons. Like the "Oracle of ESPN" one of my favourite movies of all time is Rocky 4. I watched as Rocky Balboa single handedly sparked the fire that collapsed the Soviet Union. That speech, "if I can change...and you can change...everybody can change!!!" That inspiring, tear jerking melody by Prophet Stallone personified the first crack in the Berlin Wall. Do you believe for a second that they did not watch Rocky IV at the Kremlin? I bet they had group screenings of it! Within a month of the release of Rocky IV, a panicked Gorbachev appointed the revolutionary Boris Yeltsin to a powerful post in the Politburo, and so the seeds of demise were planted.

"There are cheers now for Rocky Balboa! Suddenly Moscow is pro-Rocky!"

The pressure from that force of nature was too much for the Iron Curtain to bear.

If the cheers for Rocky Balboa were not enough, the death blow to international communism was Rambo III; where Rambo single handedly takes on an entire Soviet combat battalion in Afghanistan. The Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan began literally the exact same month as the theatrical release of Rambo III! Seriously, Rocky 4 leads the big promotion of Boris Yeltsin, and then Rambo III coincides with the exact month of the Soviet withdrawal? Two independent extreme coincidences are rarely a coincidence. It points to evidence of cause and effect.

I want to personally thank Sly for liberating Eastern Europe from the iron grip of communism.

"I'm also what Ukrainians would call a Great Russian"

I am currently running a web poll on the dumbest thing Ignatieff has said since becoming a Liberal, but I really should have broadened it to his entire public work and included "I'm also what Ukrainians would call a Great Russian and there is just a trace of old Russian disdain for these little Russians". As of right now "if you mess with me, I will mess with you until I'm done" is holding a slight lead over "the government is sending the message that they want aboriginals to die."

Somehow I suspect that Mr. Ignatieff is not very popular with the Canadian Ukrainian community.

"Little Russians"

I was considering a web poll for which "breed" of "Little Russian" would be most offended by the words of Iggy and the actions of his "Great Russian" forefathers that he so diligently celebrates in his written work. In terms of what Iggy has said himself, obviously the bit on Ukrainian independence is likely the most offensive thing that he has ever written in reminding us how his "Great Russian" ancestors have disdain for all these "Little Russians" running around screaming independence.

"My difficulty in taking Ukraine seriously goes deeper than just my cosmopolitan suspicion of nationalists everywhere. Somewhere inside I'm also what Ukrainians would call a great Russian and there is just a trace of old Russian disdain for these little Russians."

"From my childhood, I remember expatriate Ukrainians nationalists demonstrating in the snow outside performances by the Bolshoi Ballet in Toronto. 'Free the captive nations!' they chanted. In 1960, they seemed strange and pathetic, chanting in the snow, haranguing people who just wanted to see ballet and to hell with politics. They seemed fanatical, too, unreasonable. Hadn't they looked at the map? How did they think that Ukraine could ever be free?"

In an interview Mr. Ignatieff describes Ukrainian culture as "embroidered peasant shirts, the nasal whine of ethnic instruments, phony Cossacks in cloaks and boots."

But then you also have to wonder, wouldn't somebody of Polish descent revile Ignatieff lamenting in the magnificence of his lost Czarist roots? Those "Great Russians" did some very horrific things to the Polish people. The Poles know first hand how it feels to live under the iron fist of the "Great Russians". First under the Czars who invaded Poland in 1792. Napoleon liberated Poland from the merciless Czars some 20 years later, creating an independent Polish state, until the Grand Army froze to death and the Congress of Vienna gave Poland back to the Czar in 1815. It stayed in the hands of the Czar despite several Polish uprisings until the Communist Revolution and World War 1 set them free. Then the Nazi's invaded, and the "Great Russians" came back for another 44 years of oppressive dominance.

I can't imagine Ignatieff and his love of "Great Russian leadership" is terribly popular among Canadian-Poles. How about Hungarians Mike, are they Little Russians too? Are Georgians just Little Russians? Are Fins just Little Russians? Are Serbians Little Russians or Great Russians? I'm certain that Poles and Hungarians don't feel warm and fuzzy inside when they read your "Russian Album".

When "Scorched Earth" does not work

I have no doubt that Ignatieff's decision to "scorch the earth" in parliament was influenced by his Czarist ancestors defeating Napoleon's "Grand Army" with that same tactic. The problem with that strategy is that if your opponent doesn't stretch his supply lines too far too fast, the tactic doesn't work. If Napoleon did not press for Moscow and march right into the Czarist trap, they might very well be speaking French in modern day Stalingrad. While we could never know the actual data, as a student that studied Napoleon's invasion of Russia, it is reasonable to say that as many French soldiers froze to death in the winter as were killed by Russian troops. Had Napoleon decided to winter in Vilnius and gathered his force and supplies instead of marching on Moscow, the results of the campaign would have been different. Ironic that one of the coldest winters in the history of Russia came before the invention of the modern internal combustion engine…

To the Conservatives, I say build your strength in Vilnius and do not march on Moscow. Let the "Ruskies" burn their supplies and suffocate themselves.

The "Lost" Czar and the French

Ironically it was not until after this Coderre insurrection happened that I began to remember how much Ignatieff adores his own Russian roots. He has studied his own family tree more than a Mormon on "speed". He loves his Czarist ancestry. Again with the irony; at University I minored in History because "those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it" right? I took a course in the History of France: Revolution to De Gaul. My term paper was titled "Scorched Earth: Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia." I earned an A+.

I of all people should have seen the parallels. I'm sorry that I didn't see this yesterday. Those Czarist ancestors that Iggy loves so much were mortal enemies of the French and ended the French Golden Age by innovating a "scorched earth" policy. Is that not what he's doing right now? He is obsessed with what his grandparents did, how can that not seep into his political strategy? I'm just saying...

I would direct you to my post True Patriot Abandonment...I think it is some of my best work.