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Ontario Conservative MPP Sam Oosterhoff criticizes his own government's decision to leave Niagara Region in lockdown and blames the Niagara Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Mustafa Hirji, by name.
1/ https://twitter.com/samoosterhoff/status/1360310119469371394
1/ https://twitter.com/samoosterhoff/status/1360310119469371394
Local right-wing anti-lockdown extremists immediately start calling for Dr. Hirji to be fired, arrested, assaulted and even beheaded. The anti-lockdown leader goes on to blame the newspaper for reporting the story.
2/ https://www.thespec.com/nd/news/niagara-region/2021/02/13/lockdown-opponents-call-for-arrest-assault-and-murder-of-medical-officer-of-health.html
2/ https://www.thespec.com/nd/news/niagara-region/2021/02/13/lockdown-opponents-call-for-arrest-assault-and-murder-of-medical-officer-of-health.html
The party of "personal responsibility" always has scapegoats to blame and demonize (literally - Dr. Hirji was drawn with devil horns). The scapegoats are always the same: racialized folks, experts, journalists. And the blaming always results in incitements to violence.
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This story is about a lot of things, but one of those things is the creeping normalization of fascist extremism I was mentioning in my previous thread:
4/ https://twitter.com/RyanMcGreal/status/1361295605570691078
4/ https://twitter.com/RyanMcGreal/status/1361295605570691078
Conservative politicians have understood since the 1980s that their incitements need to be 'coded' so they have plausible deniability. But they know exactly how their messages are being received - and by whom.
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It was always a dangerous game, but the stakes are getting higher. The more they feed the beast, the larger and more powerful the beast grows. As we have just seen in the US, the beast can easily grow so powerful that it swallows the party feeding it.
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Cutesy deniability is no longer good enough. Absent meaningful accountability for reckless incitement, liberal democracy itself is under threat. Sam Oosterhoof and Doug Ford need to take ownership of this fiasco, apologize to Dr. Hirji and categorically denounce violence.
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We simply can not afford the luxury of playing footsie with people who support beheadings. That shouldn't be a controversia statement, but due to the creeping normalization of fascism, there will be people telling me I am making a big deal out nothing.
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Bit by bit, drip by drip, "Never Again" is happening again. If you have ever wondered what you would have done in the 1930s when fascist movements were surging, look around: you're doing it right now.
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