The rhetoric is warming
Thursday, May 3, 2007 | 09:44 PM ET
It's not just the planet that's warming, it's the rhetoric on the subject of the planet's warming.
Elizabeth May, the Green leader, in a sermon preached this past weekend in London, Ontario, invoked the words of an activist British journalist who has likened the governments of Tony Blair, George Bush and Stephen Harper and their response to global warming as worse than Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of the Nazis.
May cited his words but now claims on the Green website she did not compare Nazi government and the Holocaust to any current issue.
In a purely literal sense, perhaps she did not, but if you are preaching a sermon in a church on global warming, you are not chatting loosely with friends in a coffee shop, and invoking Chamberlain and appeasement in reference to those who do not share your views makes it fairly clear you want to invoke the unqualified moral authority of what followed appeasement, the Holocaust, on your side of the rhetorical ledger.
Rex Murphy is one of Canada's most recognizable broadcasters. His political insights, viewed with his Newfoundland sensibilities, are showcased regularly on The National where he contributes feature documentaries and political commentary. He also hosts CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup, a national open-line radio program.
