Thanks for the comments anonymous. I grant you that it is too strong to judge his thinking on the basis of one example, so I gladly retract that comment/conclusion. But I continue to think that it is a grave misjudgment ever to compare one of the most brutal dictatorships in the history of mankind to any generally rights-respecting government, no matter what the context. Any such comparison can only serve to trivialize the horrors of Soviet Russia (and even more so when the comment comes from a knowledgeable political analyst such as John Fund). And I think that similar reasoning holds when you see people compare modern American conservatives to the Nazi’s.

Also, if one were to take the overall Canadian context as you suggest, it would be important to consider that many of Canada’s provinces have frequently been ruled by parties other than the liberals – which makes the notion of a one-party, or one and a half party, state even less tenable:

Alberta: http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-alberta-premiers
Ontario: http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-ontario-premiers
Quebec: http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-quebec-premiers

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Posted by Amit Ghate to Thrutch at 1/31/2006 02:35:03 PM

Serious problems with his thinking?

How about reading with charity?

All he's doing with the Soviet remark is emphasizing the entrenched dominance of the Canadian left.

With the 1.5 remark he's probably making not a general but rather a context-specific point; he's assuming that the reader understands he's talking about current Canadian politics.

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Posted by Anonymous to Thrutch at 1/30/2006 10:00:52 AM