I've been doing what I do for over 16 years now.
My profession has given me unprecedented access to all sorts of people, events, and discussions over the years. By writing articles, taking photos, and capturing history as it's happened, I've been witness to a lot of captivating, interesting, and unforgettable things. Luckily, the lion's share of it falls under the categories of 'good' to 'great'.
That said, I've also seen some of humanity's ugly side. I've covered trials where the details of the crimes committed were enough to turn your stomach, and I've seen normally-friendly people turn against one another because of issues that had taken the forefront of our society (thanks, COVID!).
But I think that what I saw last week on social media had a very strong case for winning the prize for 'Most Disgusting Human Behavior'.
Okay, so let me first remind you of the latest embarrassment that took place in Canadian Parliament recently.
During an event that was honouring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, some of the applause was steered toward a 98-year old Ukrainian man, Yaroslav Hunka, who had been invited to the House of Commons by Anthony Rota, the Speaker of the House of Commons. Hunka was called a "hero" by Rota, telling members of Parliament and gathered guests.
Very quickly, that shoddy wall came tumbling down hard when it was pointed out by Jewish groups that Hunka had actually been a member of a volunteer Nazi group that fought alongside Germany in World War II. Hunka was part of the First Ukrainian Division, also known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division or the SS 14th Waffen Division - a voluntary unit that was part of Adolf Hitler's forces.
Of course, out came the repetitive apologies, which only further cemented one of Canada's most enduring stereotypes that we're always apologizing for something.
So Canadian Parliament royally screws the pooch and accidentally honours a freaking Nazi. A..........freaking...................................NAZI.
Following our country's latest embarrassment, comedian Rob Schneider, who is Jewish on his father's side, cancels his tour stops in Canada.
On Twitter, you'll find post after post from "comedians", disc jockeys, and people trying to come off as "pithy" making fun of Schneider, saying things like "I'm sure all 10 of your fans are disappointed", yada yada yada, insert terrible attempt at a joke here, and all for the painfully obvious and sole reason being that Rob is very much a Republican.
Okay, I have a question for anyone who shares in that line of thinking, and doesn't see the big deal in reacting as such:
WHAT IN THE HOLY HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU??????????
Finding humor in the fact that someone *WHO IS JEWISH* decided to cancel a trip to our country because our "great and oh so noble leaders" saluted a *NAZI* who helped carry out the vision of *ADOLF GOD DAMN HITLER* is not low. It's lower than low. I don't even know if there's a bottom to this particular depth. It's just.....vile.
I'm not a political guy in the least. I have no affiliation to anyone. I'm a "free agent of society". I don't give a rat's ass if you're Democrat, Republican, Liberal, Conservative, I just don't care. But when you're ssssoooooo tied in to one particular party's beliefs that you'll ridicule anyone else who believes otherwise, familial backgrounds be damned apparently, then I don't believe there's any saving you or even attempting to present fair and balanced arguments. You're so far down the rabbit hole that all you see behind you is darkness.
More and more, a very real part of me wants to just pack a bag, exit our society, and go live in the mountains somewhere. We've become so vile and hateful to each other, all because of a childish mindset of "MY POLITICS BEAT YOUR POLITICS!!!" And if you think it's just one side of the political fence that acts this way, don't kid yourself - the whole damn field is littered with this kind of behavior.
When we pretend to forget what Hitler and the Nazis did to the Jewish people in favor of getting those sweet, sweet likes and LOLZ on social media, we've lost our humanity.
I hate politics because I hate what it produces in people.
Rant over - I need a drink.
For this week, that's been the Ruttle Report.
