A Dangerous Game Of Semantics

I have not weighed in on the Charlie Hebdo, Hyper-Cacher attacks, or on subsequent topics that have arisen as a result.

I have stayed silent - and part of that is because I have learned, through experience, that those who speak up - those who do not agree with the populist (aka leftist) view - get vilified.

Well, I've been vilified before. Many times. I've been accused, blocked, unfriended, and cyberbullied. I'm still being cyberbullied (from what I've been told) in groups I've left because my views didn't mesh with theirs and toeing the line was necessary in order to be part of them.

Sure it's easier not to speak out. It's tiresome to be the conservative voice among so many liberal friends. It's tiresome to be attacked for my views and just as easy to simply discuss them with those of like mind.

But if I don't speak out, I'm just as bad as the cowards who claim "Je Suis Charlie" but don't dare publish one cartoon from Charlie Hebdo. I'm just as bad as those who claim "Je Suis Juif" but won't dare speak out for Israel's right to stand up for herself. I'm just as bad as those who share hashtag slacktivist photos because all it takes is a click of the "share" button but no further effort needed.

If I don't speak out, I am complicit. And that isn't who I am. I've learned that speaking out will not always win me friends or influence people, but that's not why I speak out. I do so because with the writing skills I possess, with the opinionated pieces I can produce, and with my feet squarely on the ground, I can have the voice I was given and which is my right to use, freely and without persecution. Well, without formal persecution. There are those who have persecuted me in social media venues. They were, and remain, inconsequential.

The people at Charlie Hebdo who died for their fearlessness knew the stakes. Those who blame them for any perceived line they might have crossed are just as bad as the government officials who coddle their assassins.  I salute their courage and their commitment to their opinions. There are many who stay silent out of fear the same will happen to them. That's their choice.

But I have a voice, and much to say. And have decided to break my silence in honor of those who died for being cartoonists, or Jews, or soldiers or Westerners. And besides, when has any of you ever known me to stay silent?

Recently, after the State of the Union, a focus group on (hold your nose, liberals!) Fox News was given the microphone to state their impressions. One topic that arose was the administration's abject refusal to call it "Islamic Extremism" or "Radicalized Islam".

Those who identified as conservative were very vocal in their condemnation of the administration. The new, verbose term, uttered almost verbatim by every single staffer, is "individuals who commit violence based on their warped view of Islam." Because of course, there are other extremists (though I've yet to see Jewish extremists yelling  "Baruch Hashem" {"thank G-d"} as they assassinate those who utter anti-Semitic rhetoric - and Charlie Hebdo has its fair share of Jewish caricatures).

One woman in the focus group, an Obama voter, steadfast in her support, stated, "There's so much going on in the world, why are we so worried about the semantics? That's all it is, semantics."

That's the moment at which I decided to get up and work on this piece.

It may seem like semantics but it is a very real representative of the bigger problem with this administration and those who follow its ideology. And the problem is threefold:

Fear of offending Muslims/Political Correctness Run Amok

Barack Obama has stated, time and time again, how he will not allow for the denigration of the Muslim world. His words, in 2012: "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam." Those words have been heard by those who take offense at satire, offhand remarks or perceived slights.

I use the term "take offense" in italics because it is, indeed, a choice to take offense. And when the president of the United States makes a statement that the future does not belong to those who have been perceived to have slandered Islam, you can be sure the result will be an immediate death plot afoot.

Why are people living in fear? Because Islam is the only religion which punishes apostasy by death. Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Mormons, Buddhists - they choose to convert to other religions or to simply stop practicing altogether, without consequence.  And with such a violent reaction against Muslims who choose another faith, imagine the backlash against anyone who dares speak against Islam?

We live in times where words can be troublesome. Being in the field I am, I know that as strongly as anyone. But we also live in times where political correctness run amok has overtaken any freedom of speech rights. One absurd example is the use of peanut butter sandwiches as a racist slur. I kid you not. Here's the story.

So, the semantics problem speaks to the fear of offending those who would act violently in response. Living in fear is what the government would prefer to do instead of standing up against intimidation.

Refusal to name the reality

The Obama government refuses to face reality. Radical Islam is NOT on the run as he stated over and over in order to win the 2012 election. They've grown out of control in the Middle East. They've hit Paris, Australia, and my home here in Canada. They're going to hit again. They've got every "infidel" country in their sights and they won't stop.

But if you listened to the State of the Union, you would think extremism is contained. Because this president believes that if you don't talk about it, it doesn't exist. Those of us living in the real world know that it is not only a very real problem, it is quickly turning catastrophic.

Sticking to talking points

This is what the Obama administration does best. Whether it's to create them, change them à la Benghazi, or obstinately stick to them, reality has no basis as long as the words come out right.

Right back to semantics. Saying something - or not saying it - does not make it true. Using the words that accurately depict any situation not only gives it credence, it shows strength.

But avoiding reality, avoiding words out of some misguided sense of loyalty to terrorists doesn't sit well with me.

First, it weakens the United States of America. It makes the USA look afraid, cowed, intimidated. The superpower is subdued. And that leaves the USA vulnerable. It is dangerous.

Second, it is dishonest. It's the equivalent of sitting in the middle of a crowded room with one's hands over one's eyes, chanting, "You can't see me!"

Third, it insults the intelligence of every single person who knows the facts. That includes Americans, Canadians, Israelis, Europeans, anyone who knows that changing the words doesn't change the reality.

It does, however, change the narrative. That's the danger of this: if the administration can so easily change the narrative by tweaking the wording, what else are they doing to hide the truth from you?

Dancing around the truth for political purposes is not leadership. It is deception. (Don't get me started on that - totally different blog piece brewing)
 
Playing with semantics for political purposes or out of fear is a feeble attempt to solve a problem without a resolution. This situation will be raging out of control long after Barack Hussein Obama leaves office (726 days!). All he is doing, with his word games and hidey-hands is kicking the can down the road for the next person to deal with when s/he takes office.

Let us pray that the next president is strong enough to stand up against radical Islam, look it square in the face and state, unequivocally, "You can't scare us off. We know your name.

"And we will say it."

The Emotional Tidal Wave

I created this last night when I needed to express my love for Canada

*Note: I won't get political here; that is for another time. But I will also not stand idly by and allow Prime Minister Harper to be denigrated by those who hate him merely for their own reasons and refuse to see all the good he stands for, and has brought about in Canada.

On September 14, 2001, I stood in my kitchen on crutches, having fractured my fibula 2 weeks earlier, watching the television on the counter, in tears of the deepest emotions, and watched a worldwide prayer service unfold on the screen. It was 3 days after the worst terrorist attack on United States soil, and I remember when the services in Canada were shown.

There was a beautiful blue sky, and the majestic clock tower of our Parliament building stretching up into the sunlight. Still picturing those planes flying into the World Trade Centers, I remember thinking, "We're not immune. We are so vulnerable."

I never lost that - I never fooled myself into thinking Canada would never be attacked. In fact, I think I was just waiting for that shoe to drop.

Yesterday, it did. In events that shocked the world, and shattered mine, we were attacked.

It wasn't a massive attack in terms of lives lost. It wasn't loud or smoke-filled or broadly chaotic or (for want of a better word) grandiose.

But it was a very profound statement to our country, by someone who stood for much more than the lone-wolf stereotype being put forth in analyses.

It came 2 days after another attack - one that took place just 45 minutes away from my sleepy suburb. One that killed a soldier, and one that was classified "terror" just hours after it happened. That was shocking enough.

But there was something so surreal about seeing the capital of Canada, an iconic building in that capital, and the symbol of our very democracy, under attack; chaotic in its own right as a citywide lockdown remained in place into the nighttime hours.

There was something so bizarrely shocking about seeing our country's capital city portrayed on U.S. news networks in a terrorist attack framework, broadcasts that lasted through the entire day, many without even taking a commercial break.

And there was something so profoundly moving about the tweets and Facebook messages I got from American, British, and Aussie friends offering love and support to my country. By the early evening, there was a flood of red and white across social media as scores of people - of all nationalities - changed their display photos to our flag.

I cried too easily yesterday. I didn't even try to stop or explain it.

I broke down inconsolably when the Pittsburgh Penguins organization announced, prior to a game against Philadelphia, that in solidarity with Canada, they would sing the National Anthem, and the voices from the stands rang out in the familiar strains of "O Canada". I watched the video twice. And broke down both times.

And I just saw that Boston did the same. And I reacted the same way. Again.

I am sad that our military personnel across this gorgeous land are being told not to wear their uniforms in public. The pride they feel in their stature, their place in the fabric of our guard, the joy they get from donning those garments must now be closeted because they may be in mortal danger for merely showing their roles in our lives. When I read the announcement that this should become the current norm, I broke down yet again.

I've tried to analyze my feelings. I've heard many people diminish the incident as "one mentally ill man". Well, yes. Anyone who does something this heinous is mentally ill.

I've heard it relegated to a "just one guy died, and while that's tragic, it wasn't like 9/11."

One is too many, first of all. And two soldiers died, when Patrice Vincent was mowed down by another Jihadist terrorist two days earlier. And I know those who say that kind of thing don't mean to downplay Corporal Cirillo's death. But they are looking at what did not happen.

I don't see it that way.

In two short days, we have had two men take the lives of military heroes, in the name of Jihad.

We can't diminish this to numbers of dead vs. other terrorist attacks. Anytime we see terrorists take lives, threaten lives, harm others, it is bigger than the act itself; it is what that act symbolizes. And it stands for hatred. Hatred born of an ideological way of thinking. Extremism that goes beyond simple disagreement.

I want to ask those people who downplay the death toll, where does the line start, for this kind of emotion? Must it be 10 people who die? 20? 50? 100?

The families of Nathan Cirillo and Patrice Vincent don't think 1 is manageable.

And nor do I.

This was an attack on me, personally. I love my country. I have come to feel more patriotic, more proud and more protective of her than ever before, as I've grown more politically and ideologically aware.

And this was an attack on my home. Ottawa was the place it happened, but Canada was the target.

If you want to talk numbers, think of what was averted. Were it not for the overwhelmingly heroic actions of Sargent-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, wholesale slaughter would have been the headlines, including perhaps our incredible Prime Minister and the leaders of the opposition, along with all the other elected officials who were in active meetings on either side of the hall the terrorist took on his last run.

I don't believe there is - or should be - a mandatory minimum dead before we react emotionally.

I make no apologies for my tears, my hair-trigger emotions, or my deep sadness at what has transpired, and what it means for my country.

I embrace those things; because their presence in my life this week reminds me of how much I love Canada, and how desperately I want to see her - and us - thrive in the freedom our soldiers have died to protect. That now includes Corporal Cirillo and Warrant Officer Vincent.

Honoring those men means we do not allow their deaths to become murder statistics or stars on a wall. It means we stick to our resolve not to allow the terrorists to win. It means we support the strength our government is showing and the mission Canada has undertaken to play a major part in helping to rid the world of these monsters.

Downplaying the meaning of this week's attacks dishonors their memory.

And I won't do that - nor will I stand idly by while others attempt to boil it down to "mental health issues" or "lone wolf acting alone in an isolated incident" theories.

Not facing the reality just leaves us open to more attacks. We may yet see more, in short order, or in the long run. But playing ostrich is foolish and ignorant.

And while I continue to struggle in trying to find the balance between vigilance and paranoia, I stand more proudly alongside our military, our citizens, and our government, as a Canadian through and through, who loves and honors her country and all it has to offer.

I'll get a handle on my emotions. But like Canada, I have changed forever. I plan to take that change and make it work in my favor.

For now - I just need to allow the easy tears to flow. 

G-d keep our land glorious and free.