Politics and Potvin

I've been reading the recent furor over Kevin Potvin's "Revolting Confession", and am shaking my head over the fuss. Elizabeth May and the others just don't seem to get it. And Potvin needs both an editor and some spine. Yes, what he said was revolting - he admits that.

Part of the problem is the way he wrote the article - he's not as clear as he needs to be. He is happy that someone took a pot shot at the American stereotype and the symbols of American corporate imperialism and militarism, but he needed to be clearer about the fact that it was the symbolism he was reacting to, not the actual physical attack. He's also trying to point out that the loss of life is not as great as what's happened in other places in the rest of the world, so why the big fuss over this? He needed to answer that question, and he didn't.

I remember back when it happened a lot of us were somewhat dismissive of the American reaction - not the grief at the loss of life, or the shock of what had happened but the American claims that this was the worst thing to ever happen to anyone anywhere, as if nobody's grief and shock but the Americans was legitimate, and Bush's claim that it was the first war of the 21st century, as if they believed that if it didn't happen to an American, then it didn't really happen - or wasn't worth getting upset about.

A lot of us wanted to tell Bush to wake up and smell the coffee - just because it happened in the US didn't mean it was the worst. People all over the world live with this kind of fear and uncertainty on a daily basis, and with this violence as well. Wars have been going on since Jan. 1, 2000, but the US wasn't involved. What - it's not an official war unless the US is involved? I'm sure the people in the African conflicts will be pleased to hear that, was my take on it. I'm sure they'll be very comforted by the fact that their family was killed in a non war because there were no Americans present. Which was Potvin's point.

Like Potvin, we also saw that the Islamic terrorists were not only attacking the real America, they were attacking the gluttonous, heartless, imperialistic symbols - and that's what Potvin was happy about. (Admittedly, the symbolism was kind of hard to miss.) FWIW, while I agreed with the idea, I sure didn't with the method of execution (and yes, pun definitely intended here) You want to slag a symbol, fine, slag the symbol - don't hurt people while you're doing it, though. The individuals who died in that attack were not "the American symbol" that the Islamics were targeting - any more than my American friends and acquaintances are the American gestalt that I have such trouble with. And that's where Potvin fell apart. Once people are hurt and dying, it stops being something to cheer about, no matter how much you might agree with and support the symbolism of it, no matter how problematic you find the country and the country's image to be.

The fact remains, though, that as horrified as I was at the devastation and the loss of life, I appreciated and agreed with the symbolism. I wonder how many other Canadians, not to mention any other nationalities that ever happen to read this, felt the same way, whether they admitted it or not?

Potvin was honest. He admitted, in a clumsy way, what a lot of us felt. And he's been slagged for it. What a shame. And what a shame that he gave the apology he gave - first, he apologized for the way the column was characterized by the media. That's not his apology to make. But it contains the words, "I'm sorry" and thus fulfills the demand. Then he does recant by saying that he's sorry his opinion potentially hurt people or caused them offense. Well, then what was the point of having written it? Stand by your guns, man. Unless you're totally bland and completely opinion-free, anything you say - especially if it's published or recorded - is going to offend somebody! Either stop giving opinions or stand by what you say! And think about what you say before you say it, revise what you write before you publish it, and make sure it's what you think you're saying!