Thu Apr 7/05
Gee, that's rich, Vol. II

So disgraced native Canadian leader David Ahenakew is sticking with "diabetes medication and wine made me do it" — go on his anti-Semitic tear, that is. Fair enough. Just the other day, an unfortunate combination of Sudafed, unagi and Asahi Super-Dry sent me off on an anti-native rant down at the sushi place. So embarrassing. Wait, no, that was a dream. Regardless, wine is not composed of 12.5 percent anti-Semitic sentiment. No contraindicated combination can produce insane racism out of whole cloth. Alcohol simply lowers one's inhibitions: thus, just as drunken assholes are assholes who struggle to hide it when they're sober, drunken anti-Semites are also sober anti-Semites. Judge them as you see fit.

But this isn't to say that the drunkenness and the medication aren't a legitimate defense. The crime isn't thinking what Ahenakew said, but saying it, and thus mitigating factors such as what caused him to say it should be taken into account… if we're going to prosecute such crimes at all. But as I said yesterday, I think this case and its silly attendant arguments are proof enough that we should allow people to say whatever they want, and let the chips fall where they may. (Except if it's under a publication ban, of course.)

Even if we had gone a little more wild-west with our freedom of speech laws, though, Ahenakew should still lose the Order of Canada. "Wait and see what happens at the trial" wasn't an incorrect position to take, but now that he's admitted to saying what he said, admitted to believing it, and offered only the fact that he's a pill-popping drunk as a defense, I think we've got more than adequate grounds for dismissal.