Posted on 04/05/2005 9:00:25 AM PDT by doc30
On-line journal provokes a firestorm
By JANE TABER Tuesday, April 5, 2005 Page A1 SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER
OTTAWA -- An unassuming 42-year-old call-centre manager and Star Trek fan from Minneapolis, Minn., has provoked a political firestorm in Canada.
Ed Morrissey -- Captain Ed to his friends -- published on the weekend what no Canadian is allowed to print or broadcast. On his Internet blog, he posted testimony before the Gomery commission that is subject to a publication ban.
Yesterday, after the story of his blogging exploits broke in the Canadian media, Mr. Morrissey saw the traffic on his website increase tenfold as Canadians clicked on to read the testimony from Quebec ad executive Jean Brault.
By midday, 131,000 people had visited the site. In just one hour before lunchtime, he had 26,000 hits and by the end of the day he estimated he was on track for about 300,000 hits, many from Canadians. He averages 22,000 visits a day.
Advertisements
"There's a lot of people coming to me through Google Canada," Mr. Morrissey said.
"Just taking a quick look here at the last 100 people who were on the site, which at this rate was in the last 10 seconds, there's a lot of Canadian servers on there."
As an American, Mr. Morrissey is not subject to the ban, and his publication of the details of the testimony has made the story accessible to all Canadians.
And he says he didn't go looking for the story. It found his right-wing blog, and he was happy to publish it. Mr. Morrissey, who describes himself as a libertarian, believes strongly in freedom of the press.
"Somebody contacted me through somebody I knew. I read a little bit more about it and then when I got the information I was able to fit it together and write the post."
He wouldn't say who his contact "may or may not be" but it is his understanding that there is someone in the Montreal room where the hearings are taking place who is giving the information to his contact, who is then passing it along to Mr. Morrissey.
Mr. Morrissey is not paying his contact for the information.
His contact could be anyone as the commission hearings are open to the public. Indeed, the Brault testimony is an open secret in political Ottawa. Ask any political staffer or MP and they seem to know some, if not all, of the details of the testimony. The television feed from the commission can be picked up in some Ottawa newsrooms, and other information is being passed through e-mails, transcripts and phone calls.
Political leaders are being kept abreast of the story, with the exception of Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe who asked his staff not to tell him anything for fear he will divulge information and run afoul of the ban.
Last week, the NDP dispatched their man, Pierre Ducasse, to the hearings when the publication ban was imposed. He reports the testimony back to the senior staff. Party leader Jack Layton, however, is briefed only on the "gist" of the information, his spokesman, Karl Bélanger, says. Again, it is to ensure that he doesn't let details slip.
Mr. Morrissey is a California native who has lived in Minnesota for nearly eight years. He started the blog 18 months ago when he found himself close to home after his wife, Marsha, suffered from a serious kidney ailment.
The Captain Ed nickname comes as a result of a gift from an old girlfriend. Twenty years ago, Mr. Morrissey was a huge Star Trek fan. So his girlfriend bought him a personalized licence plate that said "Captain Ed."
Living just a few hours from the Canadian border, Mr. Morrissey says he follows Canadian politics but has always been hesitant to write about Canada.
"I know Canadians are sensitive about Americans being arrogant about their politics. So I don't write a lot about Canadian politics."
But he is continuing to follow and post articles about the inquiry.
"It's an interesting story. It's a fascinating story," he said. "The one thing that was concerning was that the Liberal Party could call a snap election before this came out."
Here's a link to the blog home page for those interested:
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/
Well, at least Americans still have freedom of speech. As bad as Canada has gotten, at least we still have a sane nation to the south of us.
They weren't allowed to provide that information. But they did put in the name Captain Ed, the word Gomery, and the information that his blog could be found via google. If you type in those words his blog does show up as the top several links.
A brave man faces down the socialist totalitarian criminals. We love you captain Ed.
Al Goron's invention the internet, is the beginning of the end of socialism's control of what is really happening.
Thanks
| Blogosphere 1, Liberals 0 -- It is the borderlessness of the Internet that has made possible the release of the truth about the Liberals to the Canadian public. Yet we are still in a phase of change where the Liberals are able to harass and intimidate some Canadian blogs, such as NealeNews, into silence. At this point, it was the Americans who came to Canadians’ aid, by posting the information denied to Canadians on a number of American websites. |
| Beat to Quarters (FR mentioned) | ||
| -- Captain's Quarters has really stirred up the Canadian blogosphere by carrying details of court testimony on a governmental scandal that is banned from publication in the Great White North. The scandal is about the use of Canadian government money, laundered through a private ad agency, to hire Liberal Party hacks, and is so serious it may catapault the Canadian conservatives into power. This incident marks one more step by the blogosphere into the realm of news generation as opposed to mere commentary. | ||
Ping!
And on a "barf alert" note, read this comment I found on http://angrygwn.blogspot.com/2005/04/something-that-shouldnt-make.html :
"If you want to jump in a sinking boat it's your problem. I prefer the liberals with their chemes and gimmicks a hundred time before crazy people like the BUsh Administration. If we were to rejuvenate our relationship with the failing ameriacns it will discredit us even more on the public opinion. I'm working in france and germany and they hate the americans for their actions and thinking, would you join a facist gouvernement who said that it know's good from evil by enlightment from god... If you love them so bad just go overthere to live and give a break! Tabarnak!"
...in case anyone is wondering how the LIE-berals keep getting elected O_o
Bump
(Loading very slowly today. I wonder why?!)
In an odd display of twisted priorities, Canada's Attorney General may start investigating the Canadian blogosphere to find bloggers who have linked back to CQ and broken the publication ban:
CANADA'S attorney general is probing possible breaches of a publication ban set up to protect explosive testimony at the AdScam inquiry. Justice spokesman Patrick Charette said federal lawyers are looking into the Internet sites reproducing excerpts of Montreal ad exec Jean Brault's testimony and providing a link to a U.S. blog featuring more extensive coverage of the hearing."We have to decide what the best course of action is," Charette said, adding federal lawyers could charge Canadian bloggers and website owners with contempt of court or suggest AdScam Justice John Gomery issue warning letters.
So instead of chasing down felons or prosecuting violent criminals, or perhaps investigating government corruption, the AG intends to start delivering contempt citations ... or even sillier, warning letters. For what? Writing about testimony to which their politicians have complete access and the media can watch but not report.
Don't get me wrong; American AGs often have their own screwed-up priorities, too. It just seems to me that prosecuting Canadian bloggers for creating a hyperlink to my site realistically ranks rather low on the threat level for most Canadians. However, perhaps the chilling effect on Canadian bloggers from this government intimidation should be taken as an ominous sign about the future of free speech in Canada by all of its citizens.
UPDATE: People keep asking me if I worry about the Canadian government cracking down on my blog.
ping
I personally want to pass on my thanks Captain Ed. You are a brave man and have performed an outstanding service to Canada.
I wonder how many people in Canada
know how to Google "Ed Morrissey"?
Googling his name gives his web link immediately.
even though the name of the blog
and the web address
do not appear in the Globe and Mail article.
His name also appeared on the screen
in the CBC news last night.
I noticed today traffic on his website
seemed to be up considerably.
Shouldn't CBC and the Globe and Mail
both be charged with contempt of court??
Hear hear to that.
No worries, neighbor - as long as folks like the Captain are around, you'll always have Radio Free North America ;)
Here is a good link I've found to get up to speed on the scandal: http://www.windsofchange.net/archives/006611.php
The Canadian government (Liberal) is being swamped by the power of the internet and they don't know whether to commit suicide or go bowling. We are having a lot of fun up here.
Thank you, America, for helping us defeat government control of information.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.