Elizabeth May, Nazis, and the voters of Central Nova
Elizabeth May would trade appeasement of Nazi Germany if it meant less pollution today. I can't imagine that will play well in Nova Scotia.
Elizabeth May has said something quite shocking. It involves Stephen Harper, climate change, and Nazi Germany:
Green leader Elizabeth May is standing by her comments over the weekend that condemn Prime Minister Stephen Harper's stance on climate change, comparing it to "a grievance worse than Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of the Nazis."
This was an unforced error. She offered up this comparison on her own, and not because of a leading question from a reporter.
It deserves some analysis.
What was bad about Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy? Well, it allowed the Adolf Hitler and the Nazis to build up the armed forces of Germany and to expand the areas under Germany's control, in particular, the Sudetenland. But the appeasement policy was rejected, and history (led by Britain's Winston Churchill) chose a course that led to World War II, the modern nuclear age and mass global industrialization, and finally to the climate change debate we're having today.
What Elizabath May is saying is that appeasement was a better choice than having Stephen Harper dealing with reducing the 2% of greenhouse gas emissions Canada is responsible for. She would rather have had history select appeasement in September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland if it meant Stephen Harper would not be prime minister of Canada in 2007.
She would trade Stephen Harper and today's Conservative government for a Third Reich conquering Eurasia unopposed by the world's major powers, and presumably remaining in power today. Jewish extermination in the Holocaust, enslavement of the Slavs, a philosophy of racial purity, and the policy of territorial expansion and ethnic cleansing in order to create Liebensraum for the chosen race -- sounds horrific, but according to Elizabeth May, tolerable and even acceptable in return for less greenhouse gas from Canada.
The Royal Canadian Navy lost 24 ships and 2,000 sailors in the Battle of the Atlantic, protecting the convoys from the Nazi U-boat threat. But they succeeded, despite the losses, paying that price because Canada chose not to appease the Nazis. Here is a photo from the National Archives of Canada (PA-145577) showing Canadian seamen raising the White Ensign above German sub in St. John's, Newfoundland:
According to Elizabeth May, that was the wrong choice to make.
Many of the voters in Central Nova are the children and grandchildren of these sailors. Thanks to a deal struck between the Liberal Party and the Green Party, the Liberals will not run a candidate in Central Nova, and instead want Liberal Party voters in Central Nova to give their support to Elizabeth May. I can only imagine that many of them will not be taking that advice.
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Comments
I don't think too many people should be surprised by these kinds of statements coming from May. She is and has been for quite some time an extremist.
This is also why Dion's deal was so foolish. Sooner or later May was going to say something like this. There will be at some point some pressure put on Dion to comment on May's statement.What does he say? Does he still think she has an important message for parliament?
Many in the Liberal party probably saw this coming too. They may allow Dion to wallow in this mess by himself.
Posted by: David at May 1, 2007 09:47 AM
Being an obsessed single issue utopian axe grinder it seems natural for May to include other obsessed utopian axe grinders in her frames of referece.
Dogmatic national socialism, dogmatic green national socialism...much in common at the leadership level where utopian obsession is concerned.
We have learned from the lesson the German national socialist leadership (nazis) that obsessing over utopian ideals leads to a political regime that will persue this goal no matter what civil liberty is destroyed and who is sacrificed...that is the nature of utopian idealism driven by an obsessed leadership.
Frankly, May's obsessive utopianism would be setting off alarm bells with me if it were not for her boorish transparancy and the fact that foamy-mouthed obsessives only play to a small fringe portion of the voting public.
"The sky is falling" politicallly manipulative hysterics is a machination of 19th century public naivity...it plays as a cartoonish annoyance these days.
Her message is not mainstream and does not resonate with well adjusted productive people...whose only "obsession" is worrying if the promised utopian promises of working health care and social safety net will be there for them when/if they need it.
Dragging references to the totalitarian Nazi regime into her obsessive messaging just invalidates her further with mainstream Canada.
Posted by: WL Mackenzie Redux at May 1, 2007 10:01 AM
This is a leader of an environmental movement that would like to send out toilet paper police, have us arrested for using three sheets of 2-ply, and she is calling Harper a nazi?
Posted by: Honey Pot at May 1, 2007 10:05 AM
Do we need more proof these Environmental people are extreme fanatics pushing over-the-top rhetoric?
Standing in a church pulpit, weeping and spewing such vitriolic tripe is as bad as it gets.
The people of West Nova can't possibly support that fool.
They may need to reconsecrate that church!
Dion? Who's he? They're trying to push Ignatieff forward, he has no answers either.
Does anyone find it passing strange that scribes and mouthpieces like Kinsella, who supported Dion for the leadership, are eerily silent? If ever there was a time to pull out a few toy dinosaurs, it's now.
Posted by: Libby at May 1, 2007 10:07 AM
I agree with David.
According to the article, May is unapologetic. I am guessing it is only a matter of time before the next gaffe. After the Green/Liberal alliance, everything negative that is written about May will also have a reference to Dion. The more scrutiny that May receives, the more Dion will regret his decision.
If May keeps on with the Nazi references, Dion may find himself in need of backing away from her. Unfortunately for Dion, he is in so deep that he cannot distance himself from May without looking foolish.
Posted by: Concerned Torontonian at May 1, 2007 10:09 AM
Libby, I have noticed that of late also. The left bloggers are not defending the lunatic behaviour of their left leaders. It is like they can't believe how embarassing and ludicrous their leaders have became. I guess they must figure, it is one thing to talk about shutting down the Canadian economy to appease the green god, and another to actually implement it.
Posted by: Honey Pot at May 1, 2007 10:27 AM
Green LizzieMay is now a political anchor pulling Dion and his Liberals down into the Abyss. May and Ignatieff are now the Liberal party spokespersons, while Dion is being hidden from public view.
Even Buzz Hargrove is disassociating himself from the Liberal Green policies, declaring them the death knell of the Ontario auto industry, while admitting that the Conservative regulations are acceptable considering the political situation in Canada.
Posted by: Observer at May 1, 2007 12:40 PM
Suggest people look at who else was for appeasment
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/king/053201/053201130205_e.html
Posted by: Pissedoff at May 1, 2007 01:07 PM
WHO ARE THE "NAZIS" ???
Who is Harper appeasing with his environmental policies?
May must now come out in public and declare who are the environmental Nazis in her view.
We are waiting .....
Posted by: at May 1, 2007 05:01 PM
The big problem now is what the hell is going on with the people of this country? Who are the Pollsters polling?
Decima has a poll out today saying it's 31% for the Corruption Party and 30% for the Conservatives.
Given that Decima is Liberal bent, there is some comfort. There is also a whole lot of concern as to just what has happened to this country when it rewards Corruption.
Can there be enough terrorist sympathizers out there who can sway the votes to the party sympathetic to their cause? What's been going on in the HOC on the Taliban prisoner debate may be the reason for such results.
It is not a good sign when a people reward corruption and give comfort to terrorists.
Posted by: Libby at May 1, 2007 06:35 PM
The sad thing is that the British royalty, especially Prince Charles in UK is saying the same thing as Elizabeth May, about fighting climate change being important as fighting the Nazis.
Posted by: Crazy Dan at May 1, 2007 08:30 PM
There is, of course, another way to look at this, and that would be the way that it was meant rather than how it was reported.
Elizabeth was saying that 60+ years later, the world looks back on the decisions of Neville Chamberlain, who tried to preserve the peace by appeasing Hitler, as a colossal mistake. There was no appeasing Hitler and all Chamberlain managed to do was delay the inevitable and allow Hitler to build his strength, thus making the resulting war that much worse.
Comparing to today's situation, Harper-Baird, by refusing to take immediate action on fighting climate change, are delaying the inevitable and will make the results, both the effects of a changed climate and the cost of dealing with it, far worse than would have been.
The world in 50 years may very well look back on this and see the parallel.
Posted by: Glenn Hubbers at May 2, 2007 06:23 AM
Thank you Glenn Hubbers for clarifying the obvious intent of Elizabeth May, and for stopping the knee-jerk "Nazi" reactions being posted here.
The statement "What Elizabeth May is saying is that appeasement was a better choice" is a completely wrong interpretation, and leaves this article with no validity.
May's statement "a grievance worse than Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of the Nazis" means she disapproved of Chamberlain's actions.
Ironically many of arguments in this article and these post now actually support May's statement.
Also note that She was repeating the comments of a British journalist and environmental writer, George Monbiot.
Posted by: Marc Kobayashi at May 2, 2007 08:31 AM
Like I said, the green national socialists have no mainstream policy that will resonate with real people.
Hubbers you're a disgrace to your steel ring. If you buy the fraudulent numbers game of carbon based warming you should turn that steel ring back into the engineering society.....particualrly if you intend to persue emotionalist pap instead of scientific process.
Posted by: WL Mackenzie Redux at May 2, 2007 10:53 AM
I can't believe so many people can be so stupid.
Glenn Hubbers and Marc Kobayashi look to be the only people to make intelligent statments
Posted by: Thinking Person at May 9, 2007 12:22 PM
 
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