Mediaboss Marketing

On March 27, six people were killed at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, by a former student who identified as transgender. Everyone was rightfully horrified left and right, and whatever side of the sexuality and gender debate you are on.

A few days later, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre decried new bills emerging in state legislatures putting some restrictions on gender transition procedures for youth. Calling these bills hateful and threatening to freedom, she said, Our hearts go out to the trans community as they are under attack right now.

Predictably, that remark provoked outrage from people who found the timing inappropriate. Former White House press secretary and Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany called out the White House for the audacity of choosing that moment to speak of attacks on the trans community.

While Jean-Pierres comments were certainly misguided, they were not focused on Nashville at all. But their temporal proximity to the school shooting inflicted by a trans-identifying person was all it took. McEnany declared with emotion that it was the Christian community truly under attack, and her co-host Emily Compagno went on to insist that these state bills have nothing to do with anti or hate and instead protect Christians from this overbearing, overreaching government.

I sympathize with these concerns, and it is absolutely fair to raise them, but the entire exchange illustrates what gets lost in a cultural competition about who is being attacked.

What is lost is the full truth, and the conversation that could take us there.

Like an autoimmune condition in which nonthreats are perceived as real attacks by a confused body, we all know how haywire things can feel when our closest relationships become amped up and hyper-reactive.

When my own family gets on edge, everything and anything including minutia about kitchen cleaning or scheduling details can feel like a threat, even an attack.

Didnt you realize I had planned something else for that night? Why is it that Im the only one who ever notices the dishwasher needs to be emptied?

So many people seem on edge right now like this primed to see things that arent truly threatening as attacks.

This same kind of a pattern is showing up more and more in our over-reactive public discourse today when, for instance, honest attempts to scrutinize someones ideas or work are angrily portrayed as an attack.

Philosopher Stephen Yanchar acknowledged recently that critical thinking has a reputation of being a slash-and-burn attack mode, but it also can be loving, kind and gentle a part of relationship building.

When was the last time you saw someone receiving a thoughtful critique with such generosity or did so yourself?

Thanks for pointing out some other things I need to think more about. ... I am grateful that youd highlight some limitations to my current approach.

Its much more common to instead shift the focus to the motive, or even character, of the person raising the questions. Then the questions themselves depart stage left, and weve got a juicier conversation on our hands, one focused on reputation debates rather than truth-seeking.

You see, there is power in accusing a sincere questioner of launching an attack. At the very least, it distracts and deflects from any uncomfortable attention on you or something you care about. Such a deflection can be very helpful indeed.

Former President Donald Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct multiple times over the course of his career. When fresh allegations surfaced during his first campaign, I was struck by how often he turned the attack back on the women, accusing them of attacking his campaign and threatening to sue them for defamation.

It almost feels like we should have a word for this when people being accused of serious things accuse their accusers of being the true aggressor. Many of my own colleagues have similarly experienced attacks simply for raising sincere questions and concerns about the harms of pornography.

National Reviews Jack Butler wrote recently about this same pattern of victims being portrayed as aggressors, suggestingthis is the unenviable position many conservatives find themselves in while trying to defend various Judeo-Christian norms only to be confronted by the commentariat on the left, who having initiated its latest volley, turns around and accuses us of being the ones waging culture war.

Whether individually or organizationally, there are perhaps good reasons for this tactic, each rooted in self-preservation. Jonathan Rauch, an insightful senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, has pointed out the disproportionate influence that can come from claiming to be physically endangered and psychologically traumatized by someone elses comments.

Much like the emotional power of claiming one has experienced trauma (even if its just a microaggression), there are tactical benefits from insisting on being a victim of attack. Surely, the proliferation of both usages are tied to similar trends.

Much of this is no doubt part of a tribal society convinced that the major intersections between right and wrong correspond to the divisions between men and women, white and black, rich and poor, religious and non-religious. Once youre convinced of that, it hardly takes any leap of logic to feeling attacked by any group not your own.

Its important to point out that an over-reactive sensitivity and paranoia about threat are among the classic symptoms of psychological disorders like paranoid personality disorder, delusional (paranoid) disorder and schizophrenia. And psychotherapists have whole programs designed to help people recognize when a feeling of attack is real or overstated and mistaken.

Not all of this is merely psychological, of course; there are real threats around us, too, as reflected in the worrisome increase in violence in our neighborhoods and schools.

Its worth remembering who benefits from a flame-throwing discourse in which each side accusing the other of attacking it.Its not me, and its likely not you. But there are clearly some who stand to gain from our confusion, our division and our inability to arrive at truth together.The rest of us are left more vulnerable and raw primed from one moment to the next to either feel attacked or to be seen as attacking, when in fact most people are doing the best they can, with what they know.

There are plenty of bad apples out there. And they deserve some real scrutiny. But lets agree to stop pretending that people with honest questions and critiques are somehow attacking me or you.Theyre not. And with a little thicker skin and stronger backbone, we surely can all see that.

Jacob Hess is the former editor of Public Square Magazine and writes at Publish Peace on Substack. He has worked to promote liberal-conservative understanding since the publication of Youre Not as Crazy as I Thought (But Youre Still Wrong) with Phil Neisser. With Carrie Skarda, Kyle Anderson and Ty Mansfield, he also authored The Power of Stillness: Mindful Living for Latter-day Saints.

Here is the original post:
Are conservatives or liberals really under attack? | Opinion - Deseret News

The Liberals have rejected a policy resolution that would have called on them to make a balanced budget part of their next election platform.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

The policy resolution brought forward by Quebec Liberals asks the party to develop a clear, costed proposal for a return to balanced budgets, and that it be part of their next election platform.

It was rejected in a morning vote 97-76, without formal debate, and it will not be part of the official partys policy.

Liberals also rejected a policy resolution by Saskatchewan Liberals aiming to have voting in federal elections mandatory for all Canadians over the age of 18, and that failing to do so would result in a small monetary fine.

Delegates at the Liberal Party convention, which concludes today, are set to vote on which 24 remaining policies will be their priority.

They are also set to vote on a new party president.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2023.

View original post here:
Liberals reject balanced budget and mandatory voting as official policy - National Post

Open this photo in gallery:

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland take part in a keynote address during the second day of the Liberal Convention in Ottawa, on May 5.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press

The late philosopher Richard Rorty argued that national pride is as necessary to countries as self-esteem is to individuals, and political parties seem to think they need huge dollops of it, too. At any rate, the Liberal Party convention that ended Saturday was one big collective self-esteem seminar.

The partisan delegates didnt just want to hear Prime Minister Justin Trudeau smack down Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre they craved it. A young Liberal said, straight-faced, that his party was too defensive and didnt do enough partisan slanging. A veteran said he wanted Mr. Trudeau to look in the camera and call Mr. Poilievre a clown. The Prime Minister came pretty close in his Thursday night speech.

On Friday, Jean Chrtien, who was prime minister when some of those young Liberals were toddlers, acted as a walking, talking, slightly apocryphal Liberal history book, running over a list of the partys accomplishments medicare, Canada Pension Plan, Charter of Rights, same-sex marriage and so on. The message through and through was that the Liberal Party built this country that its not broken, despite what Mr. Poilievre says, but rather, the envy of the world.

There was more in this vein, or variations of it.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to the Ottawa convention centre to validate Liberal policies, notably $10-a-day daycare, but also to warn that the rollback of abortion rights and rise of populism south of the border could happen here.

There are forces in your own country that are trying to figure out whether they can tinker with the clock and maybe turn it back a little, she said. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, her on-stage host, nodded vigorously and implored Liberals to heed the warning.

All of it was effectively an exercise in Liberals asserting their self-worth. Pride, tradition, accomplishment and the assertion that another party Mr. Poilievres Conservatives would represent the decline of Canadian civilization. The Liberals were telling themselves they are still the natural governing party.

Thats what political parties do at conventions, but at this juncture, its worth noting the mood.

The Liberals trail in the polls now pretty consistently. They won 32.6 per cent of the vote in the last election. Mr. Trudeau has been in power for seven-and-a-half years, and at that stage, a prime ministers popularity doesnt usually rise. Many of the convention-goers could see there are forces stacking up against them.

But there was no sense of distress. Delegates seemed generally in a good mood. The political trouble Mr. Trudeaus government is coping with nearly every day filters through to party members differently. No one expressed a sense of crisis about the litany of headlines about Chinese-government interference in Canadas domestic politics. Liberals were more worried that their gun-control bill has been a political debacle.

There was no tension. Mr. Chretiens Liberal history lesson could have recounted that eight years into his premiership, every party confab was a scene of aggressive leadership campaigning by those who wanted his job. But theres no sense at this convention that the rank-and-file are looking past Mr. Trudeau, and the aspirants were just making themselves seen.

Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney was milling around; Innovation Minister Franois Philippe Champagne ran around shaking peoples hands nearly off; Foreign Affairs Minister Mlanie Joly was repeatedly surrounded by small groups of picture takers. But the real leadership politicking was being done by candidates for the Ontario provincial Liberals.

There was a tiny mini-ripple from the debate over a Quebec policy resolution calling for the government to set out a detailed path to balanced budgets, but it was defeated as an irksome proposal to do something the Liberals dont want to do. The debates over policy resolutions were sparsely attended. For any political doubts about re-election there seemed to be, for many Liberals, the comforting belief that Mr. Poilievre is too negative and too extreme for Canadian voters.

This was about waving the Liberal banner. Thats what conventions are supposed to do, of course: buck up the collective self-esteem, especially at a time when the prognosis is cloudy.

But the Liberal Party isnt known for its lack of self-confidence. Gerald Butts, Mr. Trudeaus former principal secretary, has said arrogance is the Liberal kryptonite. At this juncture, the Liberals could probably benefit from spending time looking at their weaknesses. But no one can doubt that what they really wanted was a shot of self-esteem.

Read more:
In a cloudy time, Liberals hold a self-esteem seminar - The Globe and Mail

Antonio Guillem

American adults who identify as politically liberal have long reported lower levels of happiness and psychological well-being than conservatives, a trend that mental-health experts suspect is at least partly explained by liberals tendency to spend more time worrying about stress-inducing topics like racial injustice, income inequality, gun violence, and climate change.

Now a team of Columbia epidemiologists has found evidence that the same pattern holds for American teenagers. The researchers analyzed surveys collected from more than eighty-six thousand twelfth graders over a thirteen-year period and discovered that while rates of depression have been rising among students of all political persuasions and demographics, they have been increasing most sharply among progressive students and especially among liberal girls from low-income families.

The authors, who include Columbia professors Katherine M. Keyes 10PH, Seth J. Prins 16PH, and Lisa M. Bates, along with graduate student and lead author Catherine Gimbrone, speculate that left-leaning teens may have been deeply affected by Donald Trumps election as president, the US Supreme Courts subsequent lurch to the right, rising socioeconomic inequality, and worsening political polarization. Liberal adolescents may have therefore experienced alienation within a growing conservative political climate such that their mental health suffered in comparison to that of their conservative peers whose hegemonic views were flourishing, they write.

This article appears in the Spring/Summer 2023 print edition of Columbia Magazine with the title "The politics of depression."

Read more:
Why Depression Rates Are Higher Among Liberals - Columbia Magazine

Breadcrumb Trail Links

'The plan of the Liberal Party is to push out this misinformation this conspiracy theory to discredit Chong and to exonerate the Prime Minister'

Published May 05, 2023 Last updated 2days ago 4 minute read

Attempts by two Liberal MPs to throw cold water on claims the Chinese government intimidated relatives of a member of parliament are part of larger efforts by the party to save face by discrediting the accusations, a Conservative MP said on Friday.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Grande Prairie-Mackenzie MP Chris Warkentin told the National Post that comments made Thursday by Liberal MPs Kevin Lamoureux and Mark Gerretsen in the House of Commons are part of a larger scheme by the Liberals to sow doubt in the claims of Wellington-Halton Hills MP Michael Chong, who discovered Monday that members of Chinese intelligence service were targeting him and his family as part of Beijings ongoing efforts to meddle in Canadas affairs.

The plan of the Liberal Party is to push out this misinformation this conspiracy theory to discredit Chong and to exonerate the prime minister, Warkentin said on Friday.

Warkentin was one of two Conservative MPs called on the carpet during Thursdays raucous question period for accusing the government of dishonesty over when it became aware of threats against Chongs family.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

During an opposition motion debate earlier on Thursday, Lamoureux implied Chong had known about the intimidation for years, but chose not to disclose it.

The question is, has the member actually raised it with any member of their caucus? Lamoureaux said.

Has he brought it up in the chamber, has he done anything on the issue?

During the same debate, Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen likewise attempted to cast doubt on Chongs claims.

The statement of fact is this: The prime minister first heard about this incident earlier this week when it was reported in the media, as did everybody else, he said.

The member from Wellington-Halton Hills actually had a defensive briefing on this two years ago, so he knew about this when it actually happened.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Gerretsen then asked when Chong knew about the alleged harassment, questioning why he didnt bring the issue to anybodys attention before the media did.

Publicly casting doubt on Chongs claims, Warkentin alleges, is the government saving face after a week of criticism from all sides.

When (Public Safety Minister Marco) Mendicino was asked specifically to condemn the comments of the Liberals members, he refused to do that, Warkentin explained.

Then he started to insinuate that briefings were given to members of parliament, therefore insinuating that Chong has received this briefing that would have allowed him to know that his family was under threat.

He also pointed to comments made Friday morning by the prime minister, suggesting that Chong had received multiple briefings to ensure his family was kept safe.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Its also clear that information never made it up to the political level in my office, to me, or the minister of public safety at the time, Prime MInister Justin Trudeau told reporters from the floor of his partys annual convention in Ottawa.

Mendicino, who served as the governments whipping boy on the issue, spent yet another question period ducking questions from all parties on what the Liberals knew about the allegations, and when.

I want to assure my colleague opposite that we take the concerns that he has expressed and had been expressed in public in regards to foreign interference, and the targeting of himself and his family, extremely seriously, Mendicino said.

That response garnered heckling from the opposition benches.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

As Speaker Anthony Rota attempted to restore order, an interjection from Warkentin caused an even bigger uproar.

Hes lying! he shouted over the din.

The honourable member well, Im not going to say honourable member did he want to withdraw that, please? Rota responded, to which Warkentin refused.

You do not respect the chair, the chair will not recognize you while you are in this house, a clearly irked Rota said.

Chong, who had previously dismissed Lamoureux and Gerretsens assertions, told the house it was impossible the PMO had no idea about the threats made against his family.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Ive just been informed by the national security advisor that the CSIS intelligence assessment of July 20, 2021, was sent by CSIS to the relevant departments and to the national security advisor in the PCO (privy council office,) Chong said, explaining the report concerned himself and other MPs being targeted by the Chinese government.

This contradicts what the prime minister said yesterday he said that CSIS made the determination that it wasnt something that needed to be raised to a higher level, because it wasnt a significant enough concern.

In response, Mendicino maintained that both he and the prime minister only found out about the allegations in the media on Monday.

That began a stream of pointed questions from both Conservative and Bloc Qubcois members, questioning the version of events proffered by the public safety minister and the prime minister.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Tempers flared again during a question from Chilliwack-Hope MP Mark Strahl, who called out the Liberals attempts to discredit Chong and directly accused the government of being intentionally untruthful.

Liberals are now targeting the MP, who himself has been targeted by Beijing, Strahl said.

When will the prime minister get up and apologize for these Liberals MPs spreading these outright lies?

After a 30-second standing ovation from the Conservative benches, Rota asked Strahl to withdraw his statement.

Mr. Speaker, I stand by what I said, Strahl responded.

Warkentin described the entire situation as unbelievable.

Its an intentional tactic by the Liberals to try and discredit Michael, but this is what they do, he told the National Post.

We saw this with Jody Wilson-Raybould, anytime that anyone has stood up to this prime minister they attempt to discredit the victim, and victim blame.

Email:bpassifiume@postmedia.com| Twitter:@bryanpassifiume

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notificationsyou will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Continued here:
Liberals trying to save face by quietly discrediting Michael Chong ... - National Post