April 05, 2016
Source: Bigstock
(As a result, my shout of “I thought rape wasn”t sex…” likely went unheard.)
Mark Steyn rose and responded to the hilarity:
“I”m slightly amazed at our colleagues” ability to get big laughs on gang rape. Madame Arbour scoffs at the “newfound feminists” over here. I”m not much of a feminist, but I draw the line at the 3-year-old getting raped and the 7-year-old getting gang-raped in a basement…. Madame Arbour [who has been presented to us for years as a woman responsible for the extra-definition of rape as “a crime against humanity”] was very clear in Sudan: that rape is not about sex; whatever Simon may say, rape is about power…”
And so forth. It was our side’s turn to hoot and fist-pump. Arbour’s pinched face betrayed embarrassment and fury. Schama visibly shriveled, and in a revealing indication of just how “principled” his principles really are, quickly pivoted to try to establish some common ground with Farage and Steyn, whimpering something about “Western values.”
On the subject of “pivots,” behold:
At the start of the debate, the audience voted 77 per cent pro, 23 per cent con. At the end of the debate, they voted again:
The post debate vote is 55% pro and 45% con. The con side shifted 22% of the vote from the pre-debate results. Con wins.
The anti-refugee champions “doubled their vote over the course of the night,” a victorious Steyn observed, judging it “not a bad result with a tough Trudeaupian crowd.”
Indeed. My obnoxious victory dance at the after-party aside, I remain pessimistic. Another friend surveyed the crowd and muttered, “These assholes are still the ones who run everything.”
For that and so many other reasons, I”ve vowed once more to “never leave the house again.” Although since I doubt I will ever be welcome again at such a fancy-schmancy thingie in this town, that promise is probably moot.