Richmond, to be precise. From a regular reader. 

I haven’t written a book about the racist Right for 15 years, but that’s about to change. Stay tuned. 

So, yes, I despair.  Trump, the explosion in hate, all of it.  So I turn to Joe and the boys, as always, for solace and salvation.  The best song ever, the song that changed my life.  Truncated, but truer now than ever before.  Last part, especially.

Midnight to six man
For the first time from Jamaica
Dillinger and Leroy Smart
Delroy Wilson, your cool operator

Ken Boothe for UK pop reggae
With backing bands sound systems
And if they’ve got anything to say
There’s many black kids here to listen

But it was Four Tops all night, with encores from stage right
Charging from the bass lines to the treble
But our place ain’t got no roots rock rebels
Our place ain’t got no…roots, rock, rebels

Dress back, jump back, this is a bluebeat attack
’cause it won’t get you anywhere
Fooling with your guns
The British Army is waiting out there
An’ it weighs fifteen hundred tons

White youth, black youth
Better find another solution
Why not phone up Robin Hood
And ask him for some wealth distribution

Punk rockers in the UK
They won’t notice anyway
They’re all too busy fighting
For a good place under the lighting

The new groups are not concerned
With what there is to be learned
They got Burton suits, ha! You think it’s funny
Turning rebellion into money

All over people changing their votes
Along with their overcoats
If Adolf Hitler was here today
They’d send a limousine anyway

The haters, meanwhile, are as ugly as ever.

The Trump Virus spreads, again. 

…and I intend to wear across Canada, as well as in rural, all-white areas in Florida,  Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. If they still let registered Trump-hating liberals past their wall, that is. 

Oh, and Hillary will end up with two million votes more than Trump. Minimum. 

You seem to have a problem.

Below I wrote about the attack on an Ottawa synagogue.  It almost immediately drew a response from someone who seemed to dismiss/defend the attack:

There was no problem when “Pussy riot” went into Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior and desecrate a very prestigious place of worship now was there?. In fact they were treated like heroes back here and had an audience with some very prominent individuals Hillary being one of them.

That comment came from “Shawn,” at Sh9368@telus.net. I checked his IP, 131.137.245.206, as I sometimes do with offensive types.

It led me to this:
ASHandle: AS3766
OrgID: DND-7
ASName: DNDCFNET2
ASNumber: 3766
RegDate: 1994-08-16
Updated: 1994-08-16
TechHandle: BW89-ARIN
Source: ARIN
OrgID: DND-7
OrgName: Department of National Defence/DISEM
CanAllocate:
Street: MGen Pearkes Bldg
City: Ottawa
State/Prov: ON
Country: CA
PostalCode: K1A 0K2
RegDate: 1994-08-16
Updated: 2016-01-13
OrgAbuseHandle: CKN23-ARIN
OrgTechHandle: CKN23-ARIN
OrgAdminHandle: CKN23-ARIN
Source: ARIN

Care to comment, anyone at DND?

For the third time in less than a week, a swastika has been spray-painted on a Jewish place of worship. Police are investigating after the Nazi symbol was left on the front doors of Congregation Machzikei Hadas, a synagogue at 2310 Virginia Dr. near Featherstone Park. Other Nazi-related graffiti and slurs were painted on walls.

With a president-to-be installing a neo-Nazi sympathizer in the White House, the beast is now fully awake. Even in far-away Ottawa.

This synagogue, by the way, is the very place that my brother Bernie Farber and I spoke at a couple years back.  Hundreds of people were there.  And I can tell you this is a place where children go, every day.

Before that, I covered organized neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Ottawa for years, as a journalist and an author.  This attack doesn’t shock me – Ottawa has always had a far bigger problem with anti-Semitism than other cities where I’ve lived, like Vancouver and Calgary. But this cowardly act of evil leaves me feeling both outraged and depressed.

But don’t give up! Fight back! And remember: this is why Ottawa’s police service has a bias crimes unit, and that’s why you should contact them if you see or hear something that falls within their mandate.

In the meantime, things are unfortunately going to get a lot worse.  The sonofabitch isn’t in office yet.

Ottawa Police investigating after a Swastika spray-painted on door at Machzikei Hadas synagogue on Virginia Drive this morning.

What do I know, and what do I think?

Well, I know there’s a by-election up in the East end of Ottawa today. I know there’s one in Tim Hudak’s old riding today, too, but it isn’t nearly as interesting. There, a socially-conservative child politician, who has never voted before – or, er, done other things before – is expected to win and be home in time to watch Dawson’s Creek reruns.

Ottawa-Vanier, however? That’s different. Assorted commentariat comments here and here and here.

Reeveley says the Ontario Liberal government’s fate “hangs in the balance.” Ashley says that if the Grits lose, “it will add fuel to rumours the Liberals want to ditch Wynne.” Paikin says if the Wynne Liberals lose a seat that has been theirs for generations, he’s being told by former cabinet ministers that “the premier must resign for the good of the party.” And so on. The punditocracy have designated Ottawa-Vanier A Big Deal.

You always hear that kind of stuff about by-elections, of course. Opposition parties always call them referenda on the government, and therefore deeply significant. Governments always shrug after a loss, and say (a) they’re still the government and (b) by-elections remain a way for voters to harmlessly blow off steam without changing anything.  (Patrick Brown has won every one he’s contested as leader, by the by.)

Personally, I think this by-election is actually kind of important. Ottawa-Vanier has been a Liberal fortress, federally and provincially, for generations – and even the PCs admit it.  Historically, Liberals could run a yellow dog there and win. Besides: I know that the Ontario PC “candidate,” who the PCs helped to fire from his previous job – they said he wasn’t very “wise” back then – is just awful.  I have lots of good reasons for feeling that way.

But.  But, but, but. The overall picture ain’t great. The PCs did very well, I’m told, in advance polls.  Internal party polling apparently shows the PCs and Liberals tied.  And, I’m also told, the PCs attracted two thousand people to one of those “tele-town-halls” last night.  Yikes.

What Paikin and others opine is therefore true, I think: I also have heard from not a few Liberals that they think Kathleen Wynne needs to reflect on her options if she loses the safest Liberal seat in Canada.  I have also heard that (a) she won’t quit and that (b) she’s going to quit.

Hmm.

I’ve known her for a long time, and I know she’s a fighter.  She’s not a quitter. But I also know she also probably doesn’t want to be remembered for taking the proverbial ship to the bottom of Lake Ontario.

That all said, I still think the Ontario Liberals will eke out a win, albeit narrowly.  I’ve said I would eat my hat, on-air, if they lose (although, after eyeing the polls, I’ve hastily added the qualification that I never said it couldn’t be a candy hat).

Why do I still think they’ll win? Donald Trump.  I think his victory shocked and scared many, many progressive Canadians, and I think – in the short term, anyway – they will stampede towards progressive political options as a result.

Anyway, that’s what I think.  What I know?

That’s on a much-shorter list, today.

UPDATE: Steve Paikin, who I want to stress is not (like me) calling for Wynne to resign, writes: “Warren: always love reading your stuff but in fairness, you might share yesterday’s post that I wrote, examining the outcome of every by-election for the last 35 years. My conclusion: by-elections are almost no indicator of how the governing party will do during the next general election.” Here’s the post Steve refers to (which I had not seen). 

This:

Donald Trump may push through a controversial registry for immigrants from mostly-Muslim countries without seeking congressional approval, a member of his transition team has said.

Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state and adviser to Mr Trump said the president-elect’s immigration team are drafting executive orders that would allow the new White House to secure the rapid construction of wall along the border with Mexico.

This is National Socialism. Oppose it.