Canadian magazine editor and journalist
[on the Mayor Rob Ford scandal in Toronto, 2013] Of all his enablers,the most culpable are the strategists, the ones who fashioned his image,as the defender of the little guy - the suburban strivers, against the,downtown elites with their degrees and their symphonies - the ones who,turned a bundle of inchoate resentments into the Ford Nation. It is the,same condescending populism, the same aggressively dumb, harshly,divisive message that has become the playbook for the right generally,in this country, in all its contempt for learning, its disdain for,facts, its disrespect of convention and debasing of standards. They can,try to run away from him now, but they made this monster, and they will,own him for years to come.
[following the terrorist attack on the Canadian Parliament, October 22,2014] If the past is any guide, the next days and weeks will echo to,the sounds of barn door conspicuously slamming for the greater,prevention of flown horses.
[on the Republican Party and the 2016 Primaries] Once, it might have,been held against a candidate that he had no experience in politics or,governing; had no serious policies; was unfamiliar with the basic,facts; slurred women and minority groups; issued public threats against,those who crossed him; announced his intent to break the law once in,office; celebrated and encouraged violence at his rallies; and,generally carried on like a disturbed adolescent. But [Donald] Trump,all of these into virtues. He is winning, not in spite of these, but,because of them.
A society that believes in nothing can offer no argument even against death. A culture that has lost its faith in life cannot comprehend why it should be endured. .
