A few more links on the Larry Spencer affair, mostly responding to Colby Cosh’s Friday post.
Casting the first stone? points out that Spencer is a member of parliament, not some old guy holding court at the barber shop. In this case, the barber’s chair happened to be attached to a microphone. That’s the upside of being an MP, and also the downside.
In Some old farts are more dangerous than others Wickens also takes Cosh to task for glossing over the fact that Spencer is an MP.
Yes, Cosh was right that Peter McKay’s statements were fatuous and self serving. Big hairy deal… what politician doesn’t spout that sort of crap occasionally? Other than that, though, Cosh gets it dead wrong. Differing views on personal and economic liberty are the reason we have political parties. Differing views on personal morality are the reason we have different religions. Larry Spencer’s views on the legality of homosexuality are not a reasonable or legitimate subject for political debate, even if he has only figured out "last week" that homosexuality is a matter of nature, and not nurture. The fact that he’s old doesn’t forgive his expression of an offensive viewpoint (to most Canadians) in a public forum.
You’re working too hard to be contrarian on this one, Cosh.
