Musings

Happy Birthday today to America and Jim.

The latest fatalities in Afghanistan are, as always, nothing short of tragic, and will inevitably be politicized by all of Canada's political parties. Rather than being accepted for what they are--an unfortunate consequence of military action in hostile territory--they will end up being spun as either "senseless" and indicative of why Canada shouldn't be in Afghanistan, which will in turn spark a row from the Tories. These deaths are always hard to digest, my heart goes out to the families, and I hope that their deaths will not be in vain. There is so much at stake for Canada in Afghanistan, and hopefully political wrangling will not come before our national interests.

The outrage overthe commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence sure has been a sight to behold. As usual, it is right down partisan lines, which makes it far less fun. Listening to Republicans going on and on about what Clinton did 8 years ago is tedious, and listening to Democrats castigating Bush in hysteria mode is equally so. He broke the law, and he'll be severely punished for that, even in the absence of jail time. A quarter-million dollar fine is nothing to sneeze at. Lesson: don't lie to the judiciary, no matter who your friends in government are.

The weather in Haligonia is doing its unpredictable thing again. You just never know if it'll turn out to be a day of sun or rain--usually both. Meanwhile, it's 28 and not a cloud in the sky in Kelowna. No fair.