The PenOpticon

When it comes to public relations and spin management, the Canadian government, under Harper’s watch, is extremely proactive. This is obvious from the DND media relations archive. The Canadian Forces PR group went into high gear yesterday when Master Corporal Jeffery Scott Walsh was killed after a fellow soldier’s gun “discharged”. On the same day six other Canadians were also hurt when their armoured vehicle hit a truck 30km south of Kandahar. Yesterday’s terse announcement does not say much about Scott’s death, however, the military released an additional statement to selected media. This included a short statement from the fallen soldier’s parents: “Jeff believed in his job and felt he could make a change in Afghanistan… We, his parents support Jeff and all the Force’s members in Afghanistan and all our peacekeepers.” According to the Toronto Star, the family also thanked Canadian Forces staff, neighbours, family and friends for their support “at this difficult time”.

I feel for the Scott family and hope they truly believe in the Canadian Force’s role in Afghanistan (though I have my own reservations about the whole project). But, it is a little galling that the DND appears to have pounced on Scott’s family to extract the above statement so soon after their son’s death. Perhaps it is just me, but I would need more than a day to process such tragic news before I could make comments to the media. What was the rush? I would still be seething with anger and would be asking why? and how did this happen? And I sure as hell would not let the Canadian Army filter anything I wanted to say.

Samantha Bee knocked one out of the park tonight in her Daily Show report on good ol’ Joe Lieberman’s defeat in the Connecticut primary. In her droll way, she articulated the rage of millions of Americans who see the war in Iraq for the sham that it is. She may be Canadian, but Samantha has become Auntie Sam for a lot of Americans. She compared Lieberman’s refusal to admit defeat to male stalking, saying “We just don’t want to go out with you anymore, Joe”. However, Bee’s line of the evening was a riff on the Sherman Statement: “If not nominated, he will run. If not elected, he will serve.” She even suggested that if he loses his seat, he’ll go so far as to form his own Senate. Ouch!