So, I had the dubious privilege of covering a so-called freedom rally where people gathered to protest pandemic protocols.
They assembled and listened to a lineup of speakers who in a nutshell cried about oppression and censorship as they demanded an end to the lockdowns, even though all businesses are open, albeit at limited capacities and under public health guidelines.
Meanwhile, as they self-righteously wailed about being oppressed and censored by a draconian and tyrannical government, or some such, a police cruiser was parked barely a block away and allowed the event to proceed completely unmolested.
Masks were exceedingly few and far between — I might have seen fewer than I could count with one hand — and physical distancing was clearly a distant thought.
Although a couple of people condescendingly told me to remove my mask, I otherwise did not feel any outward hostility. I saw a few scowls in my direction, but nobody called me Fake News or made any attempt to intimidate me.
Which I must admit was quite welcome, as I had certain reservations about even showing up, well aware there are those who would consider me an "enemy of the people" for not saying what they want to hear.
Unsure what to expect, I initially anticipated the speakers would regurgitate unhinged conspiracies about the global cabal of evil scary radical leftist Marxists who drink baby blood to live forever and who are bent on global domination.
Or something like that.
What I found was the speakers would offer nuggets of actual wisdom and kernels of truth to sow the seeds of wild speculation and outright disinformation.
The most compelling lies, after all, are founded on a sliver of relatable truth.
Doug Mantai, from Didsbury, took turns introducing all of the speakers, who were Chondell Sabad, a finance professional from Calgary; the outspoken former Town of Innisfail councillor Glen Carritt who is running for that municipality’s mayorship; Rick Kohut, a holistic nutritionist from Didsbury; and Nadine Wellwood, from Cochrane, who during the last federal election ran under the banner of the People’s Party of Canada.
Sabad, I must confess, made a point early on that is irrefutable and that everyone except for those who are most insulated from the pandemic could relate to.
“We’re told that we’re all in this together,” he said.
“My belief is that this could not be further from the truth. We’re all in the same storm, for sure. But we’re not all on the same ship. Some are on the five-star luxury liner, many others are drowning at sea.”
It's true.
We're all tired of privileged politicians, wealthy celebrities as well as mega millionaires and billionaires waxing poetic about how we're all in this together.
Because we're not.
The super wealthy have seen their fortunes swell to new records at the same time that many people are struggling to cling to their livelihoods while others fall deeper into poverty and despair.
But then, Sabad went on to praise the Fraser Institute, a well-documented right-wing propaganda machine that expertly convinces people to vote against their own interests in favour of the ownership class.
And at one point, while accusing the World Health Organization essentially of coercing member countries into falling in line with pandemic protocols, he used Taiwan as an example that stood sovereign in its response to the health crisis without influence or interference from the WHO.
He didn't, however, bother to mention precisely just how Taiwan controlled the virus. Hint: widespread mask compliance was part of the equation, as well as tight regulations. That country and its population did not mess around. Neither did others that had far more success controlling COVID-19, despite more densely packed populations. Of course, that doesn't fit the narrative to a group that claims masks somehow cause harm. So naturally, he completely neglected to bring up that very important little tidbit.
Then, in true Fraser Institute inspired style, he also complained about the debt incurred by government stimulus, pointing out that Canada didn't finish paying off the Second World War until the 1970s, when he actually claimed taxes were lower than today.
That was a bald faced lie that everyone apparently took at his word.
Because the post war period actually had some of the highest levels of taxes on the rich the country ever had, and Canada experienced its greatest period of prosperity.
Unfortunately, for the past few decades, taxes have increasingly favoured the super wealthy at the expense of the middle class and working poor.
These were just a few examples of how the speakers presented kernels of truth to spin fairy tales.
At one point, the fact Bill Gates funds vaccines and climate research was apparently proof enough that he's obviously part of the global cabal to oppress and control everybody.
But not one single word was uttered about the likes of Bezos, the Waltons and the remaining Koch, who all have built their obscene fortunes through nothing less than the shameless and totally legal exploitation of the working class, not to mention plain old vulture disaster capitalism.
The governments, both federal and provincial, were also railed against for supposedly acting to suppress people's rights and freedoms. The speakers and the attendees either ignored or denied the extraordinary powers of governance during times of crises under emergency acts.
Wellwood rightly laid blame on big party politics and governments that just want to solidify their grip on power, but also said governments are deliberately acting against the best interests of citizens. Of course any party that hopes to get re-elected knows that will be a near impossible uphill battle if public opinion turns against them.
Governments are no more excited about incurring all of this debt to deal with COVID-19 than anyone else is. They know their political futures, and their tenuous time in power, are at stake.
Personally, I don't envy those who must balance policy decision making with public health and the economy. It's literally a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario.
No matter what elected officials do, they'll alienate a portion of their base, undermining their chances for re-election.
What I perhaps found most nauseating of the whole experience, was listening to a group of people who assembled unmolested by police while speakers freely offered their opinions, pretending like they're somehow being censored and oppressed — the poor, hapless victims of cancel culture.
However, in my experience, those who cry loudest about so called cancel culture, tend to participate very actively in it.
Going way back to blasphemy laws and McCarthyism all the way through last century as they tried to cancel rock and roll, rap and hip hop, movies, videos games, and everything else they don’t like.
More recently, folks who definitely aren’t sensitive, fragile snowflakes that easily melt, seem to suffer collective aneurisms over expressions like happy holidays, peacefully kneeling football players, and public washrooms.
Now, they also assemble freely in the middle of an ongoing pandemic as they speak their minds to any who would listen, pretending they’re being oppressed and censored, even though literally not one has been sent off to state re-education camps at the barrel of a government gun.
Their cries of draconian tyranny, as they do whatever they please without the slightest fear of repercussions, is nothing less than insulting to the people of Myanmar being murdered by a military junta, the Uighurs in China being sent off to so-called education camps, secularists and atheists in repressive theocracies, and all women throughout many developing nations.
These folks have confused being inconvenienced with being oppressed.
It would be funny if not so devastatingly depressing.