Blog
CBC coverage of U.S. elections? Jokes about war?
(Commentary by Madeline Bruce.) I watched the CBC Show This Hour has 22 Minutes last night. There was a skit about the American Presidential Election. Why? Like we are not already inundated with coverage of this from dawn to dusk? Do Americans bother to cover the political situation in Canada? Or know, or care enough to make jokes about it? Also there was a supposedly funny (?) skit about Canadian Military Helicoptors. War is not funny. I resent the CBC using our airwaves to talk about the USA, and to make jokes about waging war.
Matthew Brett is the Canadian Dimension weblog manager. The views expressed on this blog do not necessarily represent his own. Read more by Matthew Brett.
Sounds like you’re a humorless person.
#1. Posted by Tyler Bruce on August 30th 2008 at 2:07am
As far as I’m concerned, the CBC’s primary objective is to provide as much Canadian content as possible, to as many Canadian citizens as possible…not try to please every single person with “appropriate” subject matter.
#2. Posted by Mass Appeal on September 3rd 2008 at 5:11am
Not that 22 Minutes has been funny for years, but why shouldn’t they be allowed to make jokes about the US elections? They’re a political parody show. Also, it just shows how dull and pointless the possibility of a Fall election is for Canadians.
Besides, I’d rather television mock the state’s war apparatus than simply support it.
#3. Posted by Chris W on September 3rd 2008 at 12:41pm
Humour can be a powerful tool. Look at the movie classic The Producers, by Mel Brooks. He took the stuffing out of Nazi propaganda for all time. The segment about Canadian military helicopters was too mild, too meak, and too lame to make any kind of statement, for or against, war.
#4. Posted by Madeline Bruce on September 4th 2008 at 10:23pm
My view is that this election is more about the media running against the candidates rather than the candidates running against each other. The media chooses and targets the leader of the party it designates as the winner before the end of the campaign. This is clearly evident with how the media is covering Harper and Dion. Occasionally, it will digress and challenge who it has targeted as winner, as we saw to day with Harper, but this is short term. If you want to be informed about the issues and not manipulated to choose a candidate that you don`t want tune into anything else but mainstream media. Alternative 007
#5. Posted by crystal on September 10th 2008 at 1:55am
Yes, let’s hope they are “allowed” to put anything they want to on their TV show. And let’s hope that Canadians are “allowed” to respond verbally to that content. In the Helicopter skit, there was a sense that war machines can be funny and cute to joke about. So I’m saying, War means legal murder of a lot of people - often women and children, and that’s not a fit subject to joke about. Care to make a joke about that photo of a Vietnamese child, unclothed and suffering from burns, running down the middle of a road? Go ahead. I dare you.
#6. Posted by Madeline Bruce on September 10th 2008 at 3:09am
Main stream media has been polluted by corporate interests, and has let down we, the public, badly. This same corporate hegemony has shifted the bulk of the wealth of Canada out of the hands of those who are actually working for it into the hands of the extremely rich. We will have to hop off the grid entirely to change the system. The answer is for smaller sized communities to become entirely self-sufficient, in food and power production, and in every way.
#7. Posted by Madeline Bruce on September 12th 2008 at 8:01pm
It is troubling that the younger generation is becoming less literate, and less able to think critically. Our nation will be handed over to them, but they seem strangely disconnected to events, and to have succumbed to a feeling of powerlessness.
#8. Posted by Madeline Bruce on September 22nd 2008 at 5:41am
Why not joke about elections in both countries, because both governments and thier policies are a joke. And that is the majority vote. Fact and get over it.
#9. Posted by Mike McCool on September 23rd 2008 at 8:46am
I agree with Mike’s comment above - I’m from South Africa and if we didn’t joke about the largely useless government officials and election processes over here quite frankly we’d all be suicidal!
I came across this cartoon blog that shows just how hilarious the US election campaigning is.. makes for a great laugh if nothing else! Check out http://www.wonkie.com/tag/us-elections/
#10. Posted by Simpiwe on November 1st 2008 at 12:43pm
That might be one response to feeling powerless and useless - to try to find some humour in it. But history has proven that the pen is mightier than the sword. Powerful regimes, which seemed invincible, have tumbled down into obscurity before. Take the Roman Empire, the French Revolution, the Third Reich, and more recently, the U.S.S.R. People do have power, if they choose to use it. One method would be for people to just not use cash registers at all for a day or two, which would bring society to a standstill, until their demands were met. Pandering to the huge corporations has brought the economy to a state of disaster. This is a lesson that people, and communities need to become more self sufficient, in food production, water supply, and power sources.
#11. Posted by Madeline Bruce on November 2nd 2008 at 6:33pm
The problem of lack of freedom of speech, and a biased press is worsening. CanWest Newspapers have just laid off hundreds of their staff, and regional news coverage is going to be even worse. I watched the CBC Program The Hour this week. The interviewer George Strombopolous said to his guest, “Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a warm and interesting person.” All of Canada had ample opportunity to witness the robot-like coldness and detachment of that man during the recent election debates. His troubling intention, spelled out in voluminous pre-election propaganda, which was shoved into our mailboxes, to put young offenders into hard prison time, also speaks to that. The 2008 Canadian Justice Survey shows that three-quarters of those polled think jail should be reserved for violent youth or repeat offenders, and that our youth would be better served by attending schools and abiding by a curfew. I think that CBC Television, the link that has united all Canadians, is now powered and programmed by the Conservative Federal Government. There is a way to disprove my theory, and it is this: I want Nanaimo Film-maker Paul Manly to be a guest on The Hour. I will personally pay George Strombopolous $100. if this happens, or, he can have my beautiful Silver Maple Leaf coin, five dollar face value, .9999 silver, one ounce, from the Royal Canadian Mint, his choice.
#12. Posted by Madeline Bruce on November 13th 2008 at 12:48pm
On The Hour tonight, someone named Jamie Kennedy talking about an actresses breasts, whether they were real or not. This is garbage. How low are they going to sink? Canadians, we have to think of a way to rescue our CBC Television, because it is doing down, down, down the drain.
#13. Posted by Madeline Bruce on December 9th 2008 at 1:43am
It is offensive that the ostensibly Canadian show The Hour advertises that it has “A-List guests”, and that we can look forward to seeing American actor (very rapidly becoming has-been) Tom Cruise on it. How very sad, when brilliant Canadian talents, like Chris Haddock (DaVinci’s Inquest, Intelligence), and Nanaimo film-maker Paul Manly (Sombrio) go largely without recognition. This is thoughtless squandering of our most precious resources - our artists and our thinkers.
#14. Posted by Madeline Bruce on December 10th 2008 at 2:37am
At Vancouver Island University (Nanaimo) last night (Feb 5th, 2009) Paul Manly’s latest film was previewed. Paul Manly is the son of retired United Church Minister and MLA Jim Manly. The film is called You, Me, an the SPP, Trading Democracy for Corporate Rule. The auditorium was packed, and Manly got a standing ovation and many, many, many cash donations, to further the wonderful work he is doing in uncovering the secret planning that is taking place by the elites of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. The “harmonization” they speak of is actually deregulation, and lowering all standards, in the areas of workplace safety, pollution control, and basically every area of our lives. All this is taking place outside of the democratic process, and the huge corporations are making their own laws, and making it possible for them to sue elected governments if they impede the marketplace whatsoever. This whole process is fueled by nothing less that rampant greed, and lust for absolute power. Noted Canadians appear in this film, such as Naomi Klein (Shock Doctrine), Activist Maud Barlow, labour leader Jim Sinclair, and others. Canadians, look alive. Our sovereignity, our democracy, is about to be stolen from us. There is a pipeline that is taking oil from Alberta directly down to the U.S., yet there is no pipeline from western Canada to Eastern Canada, and our Easterners are getting their oil from places like Iraq. God Bless and protect Canada, and keep us whole and inviolate. Amen.
#15. Posted by Madeline Bruce on February 6th 2009 at 7:36am