A guest column by Meaghan Champion of Somena Media.
Real Censorship
by Meaghan Champion
When I read Warren Kinsella’s screed about Robert McClelland, I simply thought to myself… “oh dear, Warren’s having another temper tantrum and needs to lash out at somebody, and this time it’s Robert.
I have periodically commented on McClelland’s blog because I am not from the left, and yet I found friends there who were willing to put up with somebody with a different point of view. I was sick of the echo chamber, The radical right. It amazed me that Robert’s comments which Warren tries dishonestly to paint in the worst possible light, were met with the kind of furor that they were by Msr. Kinsella, when comments about Aboriginal Peoples in Canada are regularly more spiteful and in fact offer nothing but oozing contempt towards an ethnic group of people… spite and hatred for it’s own sake, whereas Robert’s now infamous “fuck the ****” post was an attempt, albeit poorly executed to ask the question “Is this hate speech” and to provoke commentary on what is hate speech in Canada.
Clearly, hate-speech laws exist for everybody in Canada, except for Indians. When you have the Minister of Immigration, while campaigning for re-election blogging, and making cheery remarks about a famous blog in Canada that has a) Called for a return of the Residential Schools for Canada’s Aboriginal children, and b) Proposed that “Canada needs institutions to lock up Indian activists…” this was met with a resounding silence from the right-wing. If the blog in question was a fringe blog with next to no readers, one could understand not being alarmed about it. But to see a Canadian Cabinent Minister thrice urge people to view the site in question, and claim that said blogger is somebody who “inspires him”.
When I protested this egregious commentary about Aboriginals, I was mostly alone, with few exceptions. One such exception was Robert McClelland who found the remarks as offensive as I did. He also found it odd (like I did) that a member of parliament, (no Minister of Immigration) was posting such mash notes about this particular blog. I railed against this woman’s hateful commentary. I was mocked, I was harrassed. This woman implored her readership on her own blog and others to contact members of my family, because I had protested her commentary.
In the end, I simply built a parody site, using the offending blogger’s own words to highlight her sick and vile contempt towards aboriginals. I also made a wikipedia page where I tried to make sure people were aware of the colourful past of this character.
But at a certain point I realized it was a losing proposition. This woman and her winged monkeys (followers and friends) set upon me to attempt to discredit me in any fashion they could. They ferreted out details about my life, and made jokes about such matters as the death by suicide and sex life of my biological Aboriginal mother. They have mocked my children. And on many occasions have also dragged my husband into the fray, even though he doesn’t blog much. He mostly has better things to do. Nontheless, he was a source of amusement for these people… they mocked his salary, and his work for 15 years as an investment banker, part owner of a broker dealer.
These are the rules of blogging people. Get used to it. Offend a bully, like the one I battled, or Warren Kinsella, and fully expect such people to reach past their computer screens and into your life. They are not content to debate ideas. The blogger who harrassed me and my family for months was found to be using her abilities to edit people’s comments on her own site and that of the Shotgun.(Ezra Levant’s Magazine blog).. so that if it looked like she was losing an argument, she conveniently edited away evidence of a counter position… That is, until 18 months after I first aleted Ezra Levant to this practice, and somebody he respected told him that it was not an acceptable practice. For some reason, this blogger, their STAR bloggist, and somebody who had been paid to run their blog for sometime quit in a huff when she was no longer allowed to edit people’s comments.
What is the lesson.
The crazies run the blog world. I mean that. People with certifiable mental illness, or behaviours that mimic said illnesses have managed to turn their “condition” into a popular style of no-holds barred blogging. Did I mention that on the night that Belinda Stronach crossd the floor, this same “inspiring friend” of Monte Solberg was up all night, having published Stonach’s private phone number, and urging people to call and harrass her. That behavior is bordering on criminal.
The blog world is one big bully pit. If you want to succeed you need to be able to simultaneously shock-jock your audience, and engage in regular systematic attacks against various personailities. If that’s something you want to do with you life, Go for it.
However, I basically regret blogging. I regret that I even heard of a crazed war-bloggist and her buddies. I regret that in my 2 years in the blogoverse that I learned more about racism towards Aboriginals and other groups of disenfranchised peoples in Canada.
Warren Kinsella once emailed me and urged me to avoid Kevin Michael Grace. Did I mention that in addition to Robert McClelland, Mr.Grace was one of the sole individuals who went above and beyond the call of duty in calming me down about the attacks being made regularly about Indigenous people. Yet Mr.Kinsella claims that Mr.Grace is also a bigot. Funny, I’ve been friends with him for almost 18 months now, had probably a hundred discussions, and I’ve never heard him utter a racist remark. In fact, Mr.Grace is somebody who asks hard questions about immigration — a position that I am 99% convinced he is wrong on, but on the off chance that he is right, I hear him out. I was taught growing up in Canada to be willing to hear other people’s points of view.
But what I see, now in National Media, is that the mean-spirited ugly defamation of individuals that characterized the attempts by hard-right wingers who hate Indians to reach past their screens and into the lives of others, has now infected the so-caled “Mainstream Media”
As for Warren Kinella, who I understand has an adopted aboriginal daughter, so this of course naturally qualifies him to speak on all matters pertaining to Aboriginal Affairs. Where was Mr.Kinsella’s contempt towards Monte Solberg and his regular urging that people read a website whose owner has unapologetically still continued to argue for Residential Schools for Indian Children?
Can Mr.Kinsella summon up some outrage about that, or will he just let it go.. because let’s face it… Somebody can’t say “Fuck the ****” in this country, but they advocate for genocidal policies towards Aboriginals.. and Kinsella’s response is to “yawn”.
Does Mr.Kinsella understand, that when the bloggist in question called for residential schools that she was speaking directly to the future of his OWN daughter? Does this matter to him?
No… He’s far too busy carrying personal vendettas against Robert McClelland.
This is not a criticism of Mr.Kinsella in that, in all probability maybe he did not know that Monte Solberg was proposing that people read a blog that advocated for the Residential Schools, and for Canada to create institutions for Aboriginal activists. Of course, if one wants to bring back residential schools for Indians, they are going to have to do something about the loud pushy and obnoxiously loud-mouthed Aboriginals who would scream bloody murder. But I suppose Mr.Kinsella is not aware of that.
Lastly — Why does Mr.Kinsella frequently use his platform at the Post or with his blog to go after “nobodies” as he likes to call them. This is another feature of blogging. If a right-wing blog were to write scathing articles about the REAL problems in Indian Act government, either in the crooked chiefs, the AFN, various poverty pimping organizations, they might face a lawsuit. But Mr.Kinsella knows, (it would seem) that “nobodies” don’t have much money to hire lawyers to fight lawsuits.
Yes indeed, I have decided that it’s best for the most part to leave the top bloggists alone. To not engage them. I am happy just to keep a blog that keeps my family in Vancouver and Florida up to date on what is happening in our lives.
But even that carries risks. At any given point in time, I may slip up and point to the racism that is being bred on-line, and suddenly there are the “winged monkey” class of bloggers, ready to try and rip me to shreds if I step out of line.
Jame Bow is certainly right in the interview he gave on the “bloggers hot seat” interview. Having gone through what Robert is now experiencing to a small degree, I too have found myself asking myself “Do I really need the bother that is sure to come from posting on this subject X, Y or Z”
That is the lesson I take from Warren Kinsella’s vendetta against Robert McClelland. I am sure that Warren has a list of people whom he would love to similarly go after, and I am on that list, because of my friendship with Robert and with Kevin Grace.
Warren has taught me, and other bloggers to shut the hell up. Well done Warren. You and your blogging buddies like Kate McMillan, and various blogging tories have done a good job.
I have learned that the Indian way of handling things is bettter for me. Keep my head down, and don’t draw any attention to myself. This article is all I will say on the subject.. and I hope readers got the point. Selective outrage such as Kinsella engages in, and so does everybody really, definately do work in keeping people from “thinking twice” about participating in the market-place of ideas. It’s not a market place at all. It’s a gladiators stadium, and I predict sooner or later, it will be a blood sport. Mark my words, somebody somewhere is going to get frustrated that a bully has reached into their life, and screwed with their marriage, their kids, their job… and they are going to react very very badly.
I hope things in the blog world change before that happens. But I doubt it will. I think the situation is just going to get much much worse.
As for me.. I am sticking my neck out here for Robert, based on what I know of him. It’s not the picture that Warren Kinsella paints. I’m willing to do this, because when the Aboriginal haters were in full swing, McClelland was the ONLY blogger who tried to fend some of it off, and one good turn deserves another.
Congratulations to the Nativist Post on their addition of 
For those of you who aren’t up to speed yet, this is what has transpired. This photo was sent to Warren Kinsella and he 
But the photo turns out to have been