Ave, Skippy!

Skippy resents the American migration to Canada. His term for today's "political refugees": Starbucks martyrs, i.e., milquetoast wusses with little understanding of history and politics who flee the US merely because they don't like the current political climate-- people with no real notion of what an actual political refugee is:

The last thing anybody needs is you idiots showing up at my door selling yourselves as political refugees. I happen to know a few things about political refugees and I've never seen one that wears Ralph Lauren and went to high school in fucking Tacoma. Furthermore, there are actual political refugees from some of the world's deepest shitholes who will inevitably be turned back because we let you in. Hope that sad little fact doesn't keep you up at night.

The best thing about this post is the contrast Skippy highlights between the Starbucks martyrs and Muhammad Ali, whose objection to serving in the US military was based on principle and who, Skippy notes, did not flee the country but was willing to face the consequences of his actions. To wit:

The difference between Ali and his countrymen who wound up in my neck of the woods couldn't be more profound. Even though he had the resources to go wherever he wanted, Ali stayed at home and fought the charges on principle all the way to the United States Supreme Court. After he was stripped of his title and barred from fighting by all 50 state athletic commissions, Ali could have continued to fight in Europe, Canada, or pretty much anywhere else. He didn't. He voluntarily surrendered the three best years a boxer can have for a cause he felt was morally important. If you want to show me self-sacrifice for a cause, show me that. Give up everyhing you spent your life earning and be willing to go to prison.

Needless to say, there's nothing that irritates me quite like a Starbucks martyr.

There's a big difference between someone like Muhammad Ali and the people who wound up fighting their moral crusade against the American War Machine from a cafe in trendy Yorkville. Even if you disagree with his actions, you'd have a hard time arguing that Ali was anything less than heroic. The 30,000 instant Canadians only proved their cowardice twice; once for refusing service, and again for running away from the consequences of their stand. I should also point out that between 4,000 and 30,000 Canadians volunteered for the U.S military and fought in Vietnam.

Skippy also writes that Canada isn't the rosy place many American lefties make it out to be. He is especially keen to disabuse Americans of the myth of "free" health care, about which he writes in some detail.

The post is definitely worth your while. Go and read it.


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