Look, I expect politicians to lie. And I expect them to contradict themselves. And quite frankly, I consider the abilities to change your mind, recognize mistakes, and consider contradictory notions to be signs of intelligence. But I have very little respect for people who contradict themselves from one sentance to the next.
Regarding the Canadian woman detained in Kenya and charged (and subesquently cleared) of identity fraud, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff is being quoted saying: "Canadian citizenship is indivisible. [She] is a citizen in good standing and she should never have to prove her citizenship with a DNA test."
Iggy, Iggy, Iggy... if citizenship is indivisible, then how are you distinguishing between citizens in "good standing" and otherwise? I'm sure what you meant to say was "Canadian citizenship is indivisible, she should never have to prove her citizenship with a DNA test." ... because we certainly wouldn't want to raise questions about what makes a "citizen in good standing", eh? Maybe "bad citizens" could write books about their true patriot love to gain "citizenship points" and become "good citizens" again? Okay... I took it too far.
This story gave me a chill. I once travelled overseas for eight months, when I left I had a passport photo which showed my shaved head, a goatee, very pale skin, and made it pretty clear that my weight was hovering just under 240 lbs. When I came back I was clean shaven on my face, sported a "normal" 3 or 4 inches of hair, was tanned, and had dropped to a much healthier 180 lbs. I was pulled out of line at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and grilled by... well, I don't know who. They had maple leaf lapel pins and their accent was more Quebecois than Parisienne. They never identified themselves, but they let me board the flight and come home after some questions and pouring over every piece of ID in my wallet. I have to wonder, if under the same circumstances I, a white male with an anglo-saxon name, would have had the same treatment as Ms. Suaad Hagi Mohamud got from Canadian consular officials.
Dang... did I take it too far again?
