Reply to huffy Batchelorite

In the No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Department, I have received a complaint about my post earlier today. I added my reply as an update to the post but for readers who saw the original version of the post here is the reply:

"Yes, I know that Bill Roggio has also been a guest sometimes on the John Batchelor Show since John's return to radio. I am also well aware that Batchelor wrote the book on comprehensive, coherent, and consistent reporting on the war -- and I have mentioned that several times over the years on this blog. Yet John did this while he had three hours a night, five nights a week, to cover the news in the US and around the rest of the globe.

The Batchelor Sunday night radio marathon is indispensable for keeping up with important news around the globe. But when it comes to war news it is not a substitute for the daily show -- particularly at this time, when Batchelor is having to give considerable attention to the US presidential campaign and the worldwide credit crisis.

Clearly, the way to solve the problem is for John Batchelor to be returned to his daily show. That's a matter for Batchelor and the radio biz brass to work out.

But as I noted, [the earlier] post is for readers who have a serious time management problem. It was easy to keep up with the war when Batchelor was on the radio five nights a week. You could do other things while listening and be effortlessly well informed. That's not so today.

And everyone with sense realizes by now that this war is going to drag on for many years, if not decades. So what to do if you're trying to raise two kids, hold down a job with overtime, commute, maintain a comprehensive picture of the war, and still get in some sleep? [The earlier post] is my best answer at this time."

As an afterthought, I'm also aware that Pundita blog was mentioned on last Sunday's Batchelor Show for KFI; I didn't have a chance to listen to the live show but I heard the podcast today.

The mention came during Batchelor's discussion with Ezra Levant about the Canada Section 13 affair; Levant mentioned my observation that Section 13 investigations represent an indictment for pre-crime.

I'm glad that Batchelor picked up on the issue. I note he didn't pull punches in explaining the urgent importance of the Section 13 complaints against Levant and Maclean's magazine.

He said, "... if you speak badly of the enemy, you will be prosecuted."

Not quite yet, but that's clearly where things are headed in Canada and the United States, if more people don't wake up and fight the legal efforts to stop public discussion of news and issues related to Islamist terrorism.

Part of the difficulty of waking people evokes the initial reactions to the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Towers. People couldn't believe what they were seeing at first, so they assumed it must be something else -- a technical malfunction of the plane, or something.

In the same manner, when people first come across the Section 13 complaints against Maclean's, I think their initial reaction is pretty much the same as mine. They can't believe what they're taking in, it's that bizarre.

So the tendency is to assume it can't mean that Canada's government is cooperating in quashing all public discussion of a matter of global importance.

It means exactly that.

For readers who are entirely new to the issue and want to learn about it, I warn that it has many moving parts and it's generated items of misinformation and disinformation in some published commentaries about it. The commentaries are mushrooming as I write these words. So, for orientation I suggest you go to my first post on the topic and click on the links I provide. Then you'll be well-positioned to follow the twists and turns.

You can also start by listening to the podcast of Batchelor's discussion with Levant. Scroll to the 1/20 Batchelor broadcast. The discussion takes place in the show's second segment.

If you want to keep up with how the issue is playing out, visit Mark Steyn's website; the three boxes at the top of the web page provide links to the latest commentary. And also check Steyn's archive of his own commentaries. To follow Ezra Levant's Section 13 case, you can also check at his website and start with this Levant post for more orientation.