This note is for Toronto Councillor Giogio Mammoliti. He complained to the news media that he is tired of the “whiny left-wing gripers’ and “communists” who contact him. No, this is not from a communist, Mr. Mammoliti. Far from it. The only real communists we have ever met were totalitarian. They did not believe in democracy. They saw people such as you as corrupted by a weak, self-indulgent society.
But if you want to think of this writer as a ‘whiny left-wing griper,’ that is fair comment. Mind you, we will resist the temptation to refer to you as one of Mayor Rob Ford’s ‘storm troopers.’ Name calling is not our game.
When Don Cherry made his silly speech about ‘left-wing pinkos’ back at Ford’s inauguration, everyone recognized that Cherry was just trying to be entertaining. In very small doses, he can be amusing. Sorry, you do not have the élan of a Don Cherry.
It is good to see that you are using the new Internet media. It proves that you are not entirely the Neanderthal that you make yourself out as. We can only assume that your new Facebook page is an attempt at humour. In analyzing Facebook when it was first popular, we tested a few concepts and came to the conclusion that any idiot can use Facebook and often does. It is not our favourite venue for intellectual discourse.
But the problem with Facebook, Twitter and other social media is the time it takes to edit an active page. A cost-benefit analysis can show that the time spent is worth maybe 72 cents per hour. As long as millions of people are willing to contribute their labour, we keep creating more dot-com millionaires. As you have told the media that you can smell the wrong people on your page, you have an obvious advantage.
But getting back to us whiny left-wing gripers: If you think we whine too much, we will try to do better. We will henceforth be straightforward and keep our baritone at a reasonable pitch.
We cannot do anything about being left-wing. It is our nature. Frankly, we should envy you your ability to ignore and disparage the poor and disadvantaged in our society. It must be so refreshing for you not to be concerned for any of those poor souls who voted for you. No doubt they will correct their error in judgement, next time around.
And we promise to try not to gripe. It is probably a waste of time anyway. We will continue to make the case for politics of caring. We believe that a man can only stand tall if he is not standing on others.
-30-
All material in this blog is copyright © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]