From the annals of embarrassing rightwing governments.
Like Canada's for instance. Dana brings attention to Tory defence minister Gordon O'Connor's intervention to stop the Royal Military College of Canada from awarding an honorary degree to retired General Zinni. Get this:
Mr. Cowan confirmed that Mr. O'Connor, who as Defence Minister is also chancellor of the college, made the decision not to confer the degree on the retired Marine Corps general.
"The Minister was concerned that doing this would appear to be taking sides in a domestic political dispute in the United States," he said.
Um, how about just staying the fuck out of internal College decisions? From the RMC webpage Dana linked to, here's the relevant section of the Board of Governors page:
Formed in 1997, the RMC Board of Governors provides advice and recommendations to the Minister of National Defence concerning all matters related to the Royal Military College. It also works at improving lines of communication with both College alumni and the community in order to enhance resources for the operation of the College, as well as ensuring that Officer Professional Military Education remains at the forefront of policy....Members of the Board are prominent Canadians, the majority of whom are non-military, appointed by the Minister, who is also the Chancellor of the College. Hence, the Board is an important source of external advice for the Minister on all matters pertaining to the professional education of Canadian Forces Officers. The Chairman of the Board reports directly to the Minister.
The Board is a governance body, separate from the College, to ensure that officer professional military education is sustained in the long-term.
There's nothing in there that I can see to suggest that the Minister should be interfering in or reversing decisions about who gets honorary degrees; certainly not that failing to do so would constitute "taking sides" in a dispute. Zinni getting the degree wouldn't even have made headlines in the States most likely. And why bother sucking up to Bush and Rumsfeld so blatantly anyway? It's a lame duck administration. They're not even popular in their own country, let alone in Canada.
Meanwhile, a subject on which the Harper Conservatives really are likely to do serious damage rather than just behave embarrassingly is crime. Although they've already been linked all over the place, The Rev at the Woodshed, Alison at Creekside and Jacob at his eponymous blog (all via Dave, natch) all have indespensible posts up on the subject.
Mr. Cowan confirmed that Mr. O'Connor, who as Defence Minister is also chancellor of the college, made the decision not to confer the degree on the retired Marine Corps general.
"The Minister was concerned that doing this would appear to be taking sides in a domestic political dispute in the United States," he said.
Um, how about just staying the fuck out of internal College decisions? From the RMC webpage Dana linked to, here's the relevant section of the Board of Governors page:
Formed in 1997, the RMC Board of Governors provides advice and recommendations to the Minister of National Defence concerning all matters related to the Royal Military College. It also works at improving lines of communication with both College alumni and the community in order to enhance resources for the operation of the College, as well as ensuring that Officer Professional Military Education remains at the forefront of policy....Members of the Board are prominent Canadians, the majority of whom are non-military, appointed by the Minister, who is also the Chancellor of the College. Hence, the Board is an important source of external advice for the Minister on all matters pertaining to the professional education of Canadian Forces Officers. The Chairman of the Board reports directly to the Minister.
The Board is a governance body, separate from the College, to ensure that officer professional military education is sustained in the long-term.
There's nothing in there that I can see to suggest that the Minister should be interfering in or reversing decisions about who gets honorary degrees; certainly not that failing to do so would constitute "taking sides" in a dispute. Zinni getting the degree wouldn't even have made headlines in the States most likely. And why bother sucking up to Bush and Rumsfeld so blatantly anyway? It's a lame duck administration. They're not even popular in their own country, let alone in Canada.
Meanwhile, a subject on which the Harper Conservatives really are likely to do serious damage rather than just behave embarrassingly is crime. Although they've already been linked all over the place, The Rev at the Woodshed, Alison at Creekside and Jacob at his eponymous blog (all via Dave, natch) all have indespensible posts up on the subject.
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