A Nincompoop by any other Name

By Lubomyr Luciuk

A nincompoop emailed me the other day. I’d share his name but I don’t have it. He’s a “yellow belly.”

In the interests of gender equality, I hasten to add that ‘he’ might be a ‘she.’ But since I’m dealing with a lily-livered Lilliputian, I’ll pick on my own brand and assume it’s a ‘he.’

His note arrived only hours after my opinion-editorial was published. Being read is gratifying, so I won’t complain too much. There’s also the diversion of getting a rise out of, probably as I suspect, a public servant, who leads an otherwise pedestrian existence.

What got him going was a piece I wrote about a KGB veteran who is now a fugitive holed up in some church’s basement. Squatting and claiming “sanctuary”, he is apparently unaware of the fact that planting a “Port-a-Potty” confers no asylum rights, not even in British Columbia.

Before this ex-apparatchik went subterranean, he had a hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board. It ruled, properly, that he was inadmissible to Canada because of his previous career with the Soviet secret police. Nevertheless, this non-citizen has “rights.” So a Federal Court judge carefully reviewed the case. The deportation order was upheld. That’s when the “ex-Commie” apparently found Christ.

Just as I don’t want a Nazi next door, so too, I don’t want the KGB in Canada. Others do. They insist this comrade never harmed anyone, is a family man, has been in-country for years and broke no laws. Not so. He had no right to come here and thus has no right to remain. And now he’s in contempt of court. He even readied his underground lair before the judge’s decision was made, evidence of intent to ignore our laws if things didn’t go his way. That this fellow still garnishes sympathy confirms that there are folks out there who “learned” about the KGB by watching Boris’ and Natasha’s antics on Bullwinkle cartoons. They don’t want to be reminded that the KGB murdered millions more than the Nazis ever did. Instead, they want special treatment for this KGB man. I suppose to be fair, they’d have to admit that there were some nice Nazis too. Personally, I prefer the rule of law: no exceptions and no excuses.

Now, I expect flak whenever I write. So it’s OK when someone sends a letter to an editor to disagree with me. Indeed, I have friends who chortle whenever I take one on the chops. A clever counterpunch sometimes even provokes a guffaw on my part. I can laugh because I know that before anything appears in print, in this newspaper or any other, whether I write it or you do, an editor (perhaps several) has verified that it is neither bogus nor defamatory and that whoever has written it is who they say they are.

Now that’s critical. Editors aren’t generally censors. They’re gatekeepers. Not everything gets past them and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Their role is not to restrict “free speech” but to ensure that anyone who has something to say also demonstrates the courage of their convictions. A person does that by attaching their real name to whatever they want to share in the public arena.

Many of us have encountered the loudmouth who corners you at a party and then goes on and on about some pet peeve. Try to escape by asking why he doesn’t share his views by publishing them, sweetening your pitch by adding that doing so would edify the otherwise apparently ignorant masses, and you’ll be told that the mainstream media is manipulated by sinister forces that prevent “the truth” from “getting out there.” Actually, what happens is that good editors everywhere work hard to ensure that bigots and boors rarely get published. Which is exactly what they should do.

Alas, we now live in a world where those who believe in conspiratorial cabals have access to innumerable “chat rooms” and “blog sites” where they can blow their steam while hiding behind infantile pseudonyms. Obviously underemployed, these troglodytes expend their waking hours vomiting up whatever they want to, without fear of repercussion. Quick to invoke their right to “freedom of speech”, these wannabe writers nevertheless refuse to name themselves. I recently encountered their caveman culture when I asked some lout, calling himself “the Canadian” (even though he seems to reside in Los Angeles), who he is. Rather than answer he scuttled away, just like one of those saw bugs that cut and run when you turn over a rock.

I loathe those who would restrict free speech. But anyone who “shares their thoughts” on the Internet should be required to identify who they are before they have their say. Hate speech oozes from those who hide in contrast to free speech which arises from those not afraid to tell you what they think because they are not afraid to affirm who they are. That’s why I’ve signed this editorial. Think, say, or write what you will about what I have to say, but at least you know I’m no chicken.

Lubomyr Luciuk teaches political geography at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario.

NP - Readers are encouraged to contact their Member of Parliament by phone, by mail, or email and request them to press the Government of Canada to uphold Canadian law and remove KGB veteran Mikhail Lennikov from Canada.  Canada will become home to KGB veterans if we do not act now. The League of Ukrainian Canadians appeals to all Canadians to sign the petition “Remove KGB from Canada”. Click on www.lucorg.com/signature.php  This issue should be of concern to all Canadians.