The Ruxted Group

The remainder of Mr. Martin’s column is of the same bizarre tone: Conservatives dragooned innocent Muslim kids into a bomb plot in order to drum up support for George W. Bush and the Anglosphere; and Harper has "left Darfur and Haiti to the side." As Mr. Martin must know if he pays even a tiny bit of attention to the real, hard news in the Globe and Mail, Canada cannot send troops to Darfur without breaking international law by waging aggressive war because the Khartoum regime in Sudan will not accept Canadian troops. One almost feels compelled to duck in order to avoid the spittle being sprayed with Mr. Martin’s howls of contrived outrage. We might share some of his anger if it was even remotely honest. It is not. Lawrence Martin is a bright fellow, he knows the facts; he chooses to misrepresent them.

The Ruxted Group expects columnists to have a point of view – preferably a strong, clear one. It is fair and proper for Mr. Martin to regard Stephen Harper as a real threat to the Canada he (Lawrence Martin) knows and loves. However, the Ruxted Group also expects columnists, especially those with a strong, clear point of view, to argue their case on its merits rather than misrepresenting the facts or resorting to hard-line propagandizing. Lawrence Martin has failed this simple test.

Drivel is too weak a word to describe what the Globe and Mail has published under Lawrence Martin’s byline. Perversely, for Mr. Martin and the Globe, the column has probably strengthened Prime Minister Harper’s hand in both his ongoing battle with Lawrence Martin and his media cohorts and in his effort to reshape Canada along lines which seem to offend Lawrence Martin's sensibilities. Further, by misrepresenting the facts, Mr. Martin may very well have weakened his own position in the media, and exposed himself a polemicist, rather than a respectable journalist. At least, the Ruxted Group certainly hopes so.