In these uncertain times, it can be useful to focus on small acts of human kindness, to remember our shared humanity through the generosity with which we treat each other. In that spirit, let’s all take a moment to celebrate the inspiring story of Canada’s largest newspaper chain giving an obtuse fart a giant soapbox from which to spew the last of his venom on a world he doesn’t understand and from which he will soon depart!
The National Post didn’t have to continue to publish Rex Murphy after he was fired from the CBC for criticizing opponents of the oil sands without revealing that he received money from the oil industry for paid speeches. It didn’t have to continue to publish him after he was let go from The Globe and Mail for unknown reasons (possibly for his climate change denialism, possibly for his 1950s views on race relations, possibly because he just seems like a very unpleasant individual). But it does continue to publish him, giving him a national outlet for all of his grumpy little columns about how white privilege is a myth despite being a living embodiment of it. Think of how happy this continued position of prominence in Canadian media would make him if only he were capable of experiencing positive human emotions like joy!
In continuing to publish Rex Murphy, the National Post gives hope to all of our grandpas and uncles who aren’t invited to family BBQs anymore because they can’t stop talking about QAnon. Even the awful among us can derive comfort from the fact that they too can have a voice in media, a voice that is weirdly focused, like a pure white laser, on denying the existence of racism in Canada. And if there’s one thing the AllLivesMatter hashtagging amongst us need, it’s hope. Hope that just because their arguments make no sense and are based on mindless fear, witless malevolence, and a rampaging toddler’s understanding of logic doesn’t mean that they too can’t continue to be an inexplicable part of the national conversation!
So look to Rex Murphy’s continued employment despite the fact that with every piece he proves that there is no viable reason anyone should listen to anything he has to say except as an exercise in time travel back to the middle of the last century, and take heart, Canada. As long as Postmedia continues to be a monopoly devoted to pushing an explicitly conservative political mandate, good ol’ Rex isn’t going anywhere! Except, obviously, eventually, the grave.
