April 05, 2016

Source: Bigstock

(As a result, my shout of “€œI thought rape wasn”€™t sex…”€ likely went unheard.)

Mark Steyn rose and responded to the hilarity:

“€œI”€™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 “€œprincipled”€ his principles really are, quickly pivoted to try to establish some common ground with Farage and Steyn, whimpering something about “€œWestern values.”€

On the subject of “€œpivots,”€ 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 “€œdoubled their vote over the course of the night,”€ a victorious Steyn observed, judging it “€œnot 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, “€œThese assholes are still the ones who run everything.”€

For that and so many other reasons, I”€™ve vowed once more to “€œnever 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.

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