Richard Nixon? Willam Randolph Hearst??!?
Nixon is hardly one of our heroes, although he did have some powerful Foriegn Policy chops and was instrumental in opening up relations with China. He turned a potential enemy into a friend and trading partner....and sowed the seeds for the end of Communism in that huge country. He ended the war in Viet Nam (you know...the one that was started by JFK) and had the class to resign when it looked like he would be impeached....unlike Clinton, who actually
was impeached.
William Randolph Hearst was an excremental media manipulator and I doubt if anyone on the Left or Right would want to claim him as a hero. The Left certainly doesn't seem to mind using his methods, interestingly enough. It would seem that a great many on the Left at least look to him as a mentor...if not an actual hero.
Now, on to some of the others on your list:
Pierre Trudeau...don't even get me started there. The massive Federal debt that he started will take generations to pay down, he presided over a giant devaluation of the Canadian dollar (it was worth
more than the US dollar when he first came to power) The National Energy program almost bankrupted Alberta and led to one of the biggest recessions that Canada has ever experienced....I could go on.....
Yeah, he made a difference all right.
Norman Bethune- A very controversial character at best and well known for his demanding dictatorial style....oh, wait! I see why you admire him now!
Tommy Douglas- Not a bad choice, but we need to establish here that his biggest accomplishment is the National Health Care program....and that is currently falling to bits all around us. It is unsustainable in it's current form and has left Canada heavily in debt. Unsustainable and debt-ridden....hmmm...that
does sound like something near and dear to a Socialists heart!
The Kennedys- Wow...talk about a bunch of badly tarnished heroes! The whole dynasty was started by a bunch of bootleggers running illegal booze down from Canada and selling it through their mafia connections. They used those Mafia connections to stuff ballot boxes and steal a Presidential election....then turned on their Mafia buddies and started to have them arrested. The two brothers paid the ultimate price for that doublecross, as we all know.
What about the rest of the family? Let's see...drug addiction, alcoholism, public humiliation, rape charges, untimely deaths...the list goes on. And their brightest hope, JFK Jr. was such a brain trust that it took him 27 tries to pass the New York Bar. He never did actually practise law. He wasn't much of a pilot, either.
Yep...quite a bunch, those Kennedys.
Ralph Nader- Heck, Mark....he's one of
our heroes! He was instrumental in defeating Al Bore...er, Al Gore during the 2000 Presidential election with his ill-advised run at higher office.
Tony Blair- same as above! He points Left but moves Right! I like the guy. He sounds more conservative than Margaret Thatcher. If this is the New Left, then bring it on!
Abraham Lincoln- I wasn't aware that he was considered "Left". Everybody looks up to this guy. A truly historic figure.
Harry Truman- Wasn't he the guy who actually dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, twice? He ended the Pacific war early and probably saved my Dad's young life by doing so. A hero in my book, fer sure!
Albert Einstein-A good choice! Truly a giant among us and the man who....with very little formal education, managed to figure out how some of the basic forces in the universe worked. His calculations and theories have given us some of the greatest advances of our modern time. Like the atomic bomb. (see above)
Now for my list:
Margaret Thatcher
Ronald Regan
Ralph Klein
Gordon Campbell
All of the George Bush's...past, present and future.
Newt Gingrich
Rush Limbaugh
Charlton Heston
Arnold Schwartzenegger
Bruce Willis
Preston Manning
...and that's just a short list !
Care to comment?
