John McCallum: ex-Ambassador to China

John McCallum, Canada’s (fired) Ambassador to China was likely co-opted by Beijing before he was awarded the post in 2017, the first time a Cabinet minister (with the ear of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) was sent as diplomat-in-chief to the world’s second largest economy.   The Globe and Mail reports that McCallum had “accepted more than $73,000 in free trips to China when he was Member of Parliament on the opposition benches between 2008 and 2015.”[1]  Who knows how many other elected representatives in Canada make such ethical compromises and gladly accept what Beijing has to offer?

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[1] “McCallum: Remarks ‘call into question’ envoy’s suitability for continuing in his role, former diplomat says,” The Globe and Mail, Thursday January 24, 2019, Folio, p. A11.

Oedipus Rex and the Partial U.S. Government Shutdown

Pride breeds the tyrant
violent pride, gorging, crammed to bursting
     with all that is overripe and rich with ruin --
clawing up to the heights, headlong pride
crashes down the abyss – sheer doom.[1]

Sophocles, Oedipus the King, circa. 428 BC

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[1] Sophocles, Oedipus the King, tr. Robert Fagles in The Norton Anthology of Drama. Shorter Third Edition, J. Ellen Gainor, Stanton B. Garner Jr, Martin Puchner (New York: W.W. Norton, 2018), p.  117. These are the words of the Chorus in the play.