The all-or-nothing, with-us-or-against-us polarization of public issues is part of our problem. Why should intellectual and integrity standards for a popular sportsman be different from those for political, church or social leaders representing similarly wide ranges of interest as ours every day? I don't have to agree with Mr. Zumbo to make him welcome in my home.
The US isn't the only country with a Constitution and Bill of Rights. Our systems of government representing all the people violate their fine print every day. Canada and the US are in violation of human rights charters with respect to handling prisoners taken in Afghanistan and Iraq. Mr. Bush was recently set down by the US Supreme Court in this respect. Executive fiat fills the loopholes.
The whole stately edifice of our democratic system rests on the inviolable right to dissent. A few years ago our countries went to war with popular consent; today the percentage of support is almost the reverse because publics see national interests in cost of lives with a positive resolution uncertain at best. People change their minds. To deny or diminish that right denigrates our institutions and ourselves.
Bless Canada, the United States and Mr. Zumbo---and let's move on.
