Canada Strong and FREE (#HarrisRants)

This Harris rant originally posted here on Oct 26th, 2014

I could have written the plot to what's unfolding in Canada at the moment a month ago. Some parts of me wishes I did post these thoughts back then... but better late than never, I guess. Let me back up to the point this was all heavily on my mind, and get these thoughts out there now.

I was visiting a good friend not long ago when his partner, who was also there having a gab with us, asked him what was up with all the news about possible threats to Canadians. My friend fairly quickly directed the question at me, knowing I'd likely have something to say about the topic - he knows me well - and of course I did. I'm not sure if I ranted or not, but I did express some clear thoughts that evening about what was happening, and what I thought could possibly happen in the near future.

Before jumping into geo-political analysis, I immediately suggested to her to not let herself live in fear, at all, ever. I was actually taken aback when she mentioned that a lot of her acquaintances were worried about these threats. I hadn't up to that point realized how strong the fear campaign was, not really being affected by such tactics. Not that she was overly worried herself, but I did want to try and calm any part of her mind that was fearful, being a huge believer that we never should live in fear, as nothing good can ever come from it.

It wasn't long after that suggestion that I turned to the topic at hand, and asked her to consider the fact that our government was just about to wage war in Iraq or Syria - SyrIraq - joining the coalition forces that were being gathered to fight the threat that known as ISIS, or ISIL, or IS - those evil bastards on the other side of the planet. This was before there was really any discussion in our parliament, but I knew it was coming from the rhetoric I was reading from officials. Sure enough, before the week was through, the debate began... which of course really didn't matter. Though it was nice to hear the opposition's views on this new war, as soon as it was announced it was clear we were indeed going to go. The majority government solidifies it before any challenge to joining this new war could have been made.

So, what did this have to do with the threats we were hearing about? Well, I know how propaganda works, and I know that if I wanted to sell an idea, fear is a strong motivator to do just that. I asked her to just consider the possibly that the threats which we were being told about was information being spread, massively highlighted if nothing else, by the very people who wanted to join the war, in effort to sell our need to join it. I just wanted her to consider that possibility.

I switched gears at this moment, saying "Not to say we will not be attacked. In fact, I think it's a real possibility"...

On October 22nd, a lone gunmen shot a soldier standing on ceremonial guard at the national war monument in Ottawa, before storming the parliament building and firing shots in there as well. Nobody was hurt during that later incident, but it was a dramatic scene of gunfire, eventually ended by Sargent at Arms Kevin Vickers.

The very second this happened, I knew exactly what was to follow; it was going to be blamed on ISIS, giving reason to not only expand the war beyond the air involvement we've already dedicated, but also to give excessive powers to police and surveillance infrastructure here in Canada. The expansion of the war has not yet come, but attack on our civil liberties is very much in the forefront. This horrific act of violence in our capital was indeed nearly immediately blamed on Muslim radicals, and the following days saw much promotion of new powers being fast tracked for our law enforcement agencies; terror bills which would drastically expand police powers, including preventative detentions; and online surveillance and anti free speech bills. This is surely just the start, and again due to a majority government, there is very little we're going to be able to do to stop it... and this concerns me more than any extremist, or lone mentally unstable individual, can.

The fact of the matter is this: even if this attack was a man radicalized by IS**, then we have to realize we had it coming. I put full blame on Stephen Harper for creating an enemy by joining 'coalition forces' in not only this recent foray into attack missions in Iraq and Syria, but also for hopping onto the incredibly destructive war on terror train we've seen rapidly evolve over the past 13 years or so.

Blowback is a bitch.

If I were to dive into the world of alternative media, as I often do in effort to gather as much information as I possibly can, I'm sure they are picking apart this moment to figure out if this event was a false flag - a generated event, used to further an already desired agenda. They will look for similarities to other suspected events; things like war games taking place which are eerily similar to events that eventually unfold; things like multiple suspects that eventually turn out to be nonexistent; things like false information being presented by officials; any strange connections overall. They will pick apart every single detail of this event to determine if this obviously unstable man was not pushed by ISIS to carry this attack out, but instead by our own intelligence agencies...

Then again, groups like ISIS were funded, armed, and trained in some cases by western democracies anyway... but that's a post for another time.

Regardless of which angle you wish to tackle this event on, Canada's future remains the same. In my mind, this is one individual who made some horrible choices in life, and obviously suffered from some sort of mental illness. The event is no doubt being used for political gain, however, and I saw this coming during that conversation that one random night. I wish many more could have prepared themselves for what eventually has come. Maybe then we'd have a chance to stop this fast moving train towards a world I do not want to be a part of. It truly breaks my heart that Canadians are gong to fall for this same tired terror plot, like so many others have. But as broken-hearted as I am at the moment, I refuse to give up. I will not live in fear, and I will not let my liberties be stolen from me out of fear. I can only hope many more of my fellow citizens feel the same way.

'True north STRONG' yes absolutely, but let's not forget 'and FREE'!