We said that we don't make a point of visiting the FreeDom boards very often except when we're sent a link.
By the way, they
took the bait in less than
a day and eight days respectively. Thanks
Ogopogo and
Maikeru.
But given
the link from FreeDom we were sent today, we might have to start.
It seems that the Fourniers aren't content with merely counting Marc Lemire as an ally in the "speech wars." Now they've taken it upon themselves to rehabilitate Mr. Lemire himself:
Okay, so they say Mr. Lemire isn't a Nazi. What else?
Investigated for year. Not one shred of evidence that Mr. Lemire is a Nazi or a racist. Demands proof. Any more?
Mr. Lemire posted messages on Stormfront, a known hate website, because they allowed Mr. Lemire (a non-racist) a forum to express his free speech views. And if Connie knew that Mr. Lemire was a racist, she would not defend his honour though she would still defend his right to free speech. Gotcha. Shall we continue?
An innocent victim of circumstance. A free speech martyr. Hell, at this point even we'd be willing to chip in to help Marc in his legal defence, except we know otherwise. This is starting to get good.
Well of course Kennedy would chime in. Can't be a FreeDom thread without Mr. Kennedy talking about "lieberals." We think he needs some new material.
Viciously libeled. Hasn't posted anything racist. Hmmmmm.
Ah, we were waiting for this. It's the "Heritage Front was a wholly government created fraud intended to trap teens like Lemire and good, law-abiding adults like Wolfgang Droege" meme. And
if he was a member of the Heritage Front, he was just 15 years old! A mere babe in the woods. Can't hold that against him.
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Hell, not only was the Heritage Front a government created organization, for all intents and purposes it never even existed. All an illusion created by the government and now Warren Kinsella (the "Catsmeat" reference.... if we can agree that is a racist comment, then we'll have something to share later).
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Complete, total government control. No way our mere babe in the woods, Marc Lemire, could wrest control from the all powerful federal government.... though if he did control the organization for a time, this fact would put to bed the idea that CSIS founded and controlled every aspect of the Heritage Front, instead of inflitrating the existing organization as has been stated in the msm. And wait. A person could only be a racist if they violate section 13?
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And now Mark chimes in. More of the "CSIS created and controlled the Heritage Front" meme. More of the "Marc Lemire and the others who joined were victimized by the ruthless government" meme.
Are you, our dear readers, begining to feel as if you've entered a Dan Brown novel, only with better writing and a plot that doesn't lead the reader on by the nose?
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Marc Lemire an employee of Zundel? Bah! Where's the proof? You know, besides that which is found on Mr. Lemire's own website and which he doesn't refute?
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You know, come to think of it, Lemire wasn't even a member of the Heritage Front when he was a teen and CERTAINLY NOT a past president of the organization. Lies! All lies!
But wait? Do we hear the voices of disagreement? We think that we do.
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Our hero Mark will have none of this though!
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And in that, lies the challenge. Prove to Mark, Connie and the rest of the true believers that Mark Lemire is everything that he's been accused of. And, if that is accomplished, Mark will admit that he was wrong.
We'll bite.
Over the next week or two, we here at ARC will lay out the evidence that Marc Lemire is:
1. A bigot.
2. A former member of the Heritage Front
3. A former leader of the Heritage Front
4. A close associate and employee of Ernst Zundel
And we will do all of this by examining Mr. Lemire's own online record, comments and interaction with those close to him and who know him best, besides himself.
Do we think the true believers will admit they were wrong? No, but then this exercise really isn't going to be strictly for their benefit. That said, we will make an initial concession to the FreeDom folks.
We don't believe that the person pictured beside Zundel is Marc Lemire. Never have in fact and we've warned others about claiming so and using the picture as well. The age (Marc was born February 1975), facial structure, and body type bears little resemblance to Mr. Lemire. We aren't sure exactly when claim was made that the person in the photo was Lemire, but our readers will note that, although this photograph has been floating around the Internet for a few years now, we've never used it. As well, we've cautioned others against using it as well.
So, if we were to engage in the conspiracy theories the folks of FreeDom engage in, we might try to say that Mr. Lemire put this picture into the public domain with the object of discrediting people who might ultimately use it to make a connection between Lemire and Zundel. We could do that, but won't, because such a claim is patantly foolish (much like those conspiracy theories, stated as fact, by the Fourniers concerning the Heritage Front as a government controlled and created organization). In reality, stating that Lemire is pictured in the photo is more likely laziness and really bad intel.
So, ladies and gentlement of FreeDom, you have a point. One.
We'll leave our readers with this. It is the portion of Justice Blais decision regarding the Zundel security ticket. The only evidence that Marc was a former leader of the Heritage Front is a claim made by Matt Lauder, Mr Fournier? Well, here's another piece of official documentation to bolster that claim (already posted on FreeDom by someone else trying to make the case to the FreeDom folks but posted here now for our readers). You may not accept it, but it's hard to totally discount:
AND IN THE MATTER OF ERNST ZÜNDELDECISION ON THE REASONABLENESS OF THE CERTIFICATE
[26] Mr. Zündel has always supported the ideology of the White Supremacist Movement, one which is based on the fundamental belief that the white race is an endangered species in need of protection as a result of non-Whites and Jews seeking to attack the foundation of western civilization. Blacks in particular are seen as intellectually inferior, while Jews are viewed as conspiring to gain control of the world through manipulation of financial markets, the spread of communism, pornography and general moral degeneracy. The government is viewed with suspicion as it is seen to be controlled by a Jewish conspiracy referred to as zionist occupation government (ZOG). These fundamental beliefs lead to antisemitic, racist, anti-immigration, anti-democratic, anti-human rights and anti-homosexual attitudes.
[27] The Nazi Party under Adolf Hitler in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s is notoriously well known; what is less known, is the Canadian version which was developed over the 1940s and the 1950s under Adrien Arcand, who promoted Hitler as a saviour of Christianity and formed the Parti national social chrétien in the 1930s. That party then merged with the Canadian Nationalist Party from the West to form the National Unity Party. Later in the 1960s, the Canadian Nazi Party became the National Socialist Party and Mr. Zündel explained how he was influenced by Mr. Arcand himself whom he met when he arrived in Canada in the 1950s. At the conclusion of World War II, the enthusiasm of those Nazi parties around the world was greatly reduced; nevertheless, there still remained some desire to support this neo-Nazi approach. Mr. Zündel is among the few people that worked hard to maintain that support and who went to great lengths to try and establish some credibility to the neo-Nazi movement. He also tried by all means possible to develop and maintain a global network of all groups that have an interest in the same right wing extremist neo-Nazi mind-set.
[34] Mr. Zündel maintained a close association with Wolfgang Droege and even admitted that he believed Mr. Droege was involved in terrorist activities in the United States, including attempting to invade the small Republic of Dominica to establish a White Supremacist Government. Mr. Zündel's house on Carlton Street in Toronto was akin to a revolving door for Mr. Droege, as well as every other member of the White Supremacist Movement in Canada or from abroad. These members were always welcome at his house, which had transformed from a residence, into a command centre for people and organizations worldwide involved in the White Supremacist Movement.
[35] Furthermore, Wolfgang Droege and Marc Lemire, two successive presidents of the Heritage Front, spent a lot of time in Mr. Zündel's house. Mr. Lemire, the last known president of the Heritage Front, was working for Mr. Zündel part-time, and then full-time for many years until Mr. Zündel left for the United States.
[36] Mr. Zündel also maintained a close association with Terry Long and the Aryan Nations. Mr. Long was a very zealous activist in Canada, and was depicted as one of the most extreme of the leaders of the Aryan Nations, an organization founded by Richard Butler in 1974 that has among its goals, the elimination of Jews and all minorities, as well as the creation of a White homeland in the North Western United States.
[37] It is troubling to hear Mr. Zündel proclaim that he is defending freedom of expression and advocating the use of non-violence, while at the same time, spending most of his time working in close quarters with the most extreme individuals and organizations in the White Supremacist Movement.
[38] If, as Mr. Zündel claims, he is not on side with extremists, is not on side with people claiming that the Jews should be eliminated and is not on side with Canadian members of the Heritage Front that wanted to create a list of members of the Jewish Movement for future retaliation, then how can he agree to participate in a meeting of the Heritage Front as a guest speaker, surrounded and supported by members of extremist White Supremacist groups in Canada?
[39] If, as Mr. Zündel said, the Heritage Front, a group described as the most powerful racist gang to hit Canada since the real Nazis back in the Dirty Thirties, was not a good idea, then why would he hire the president of that organization, Mr. Lemire, as a part-time and then full-time employee in his own personal residence?[40] If, as Mr. Zündel stated, Mr. Droege is a terrorist and was totally ill-advised with everything he has done, be it in the United States or as leader of the Heritage Front, then how can he allow him to enter his house on a daily basis?
[41] If, as Mr. Zündel claims, it is not a good idea to use websites to disseminate messages of racial hatred and incite violence in the pursuit of White Supremacist objectives and that it is not a good idea to post on the Internet a practical guide to Aryan revolution which included chapters on assassinations, terror bombings, sabotage and racial wars, then why would he qualify Bernard Klatt, the man responsible for posting this guide, as a gentle person, and maintain contact with Mr. Klatt over the years?
[49] I also have reservations concerning the scope of Mr. Zündel's knowledge of Mr. Lemire and his involvement in the Heritage Front. I believe that Mr. Zündel was well aware of Mr. Lemire's presidency and particularly of the efforts of Mr. Lemire, a computer expert, to develop websites to disseminate messages of racial hatred and to incite violence. Based on reliable evidence provided to me in camera, I believe that Mr. Zündel was in close association with Mr. Lemire, who was working full-time in Mr. Zündel's house until his departure for the United States in 2000. Furthermore, I also believe that Mr. Lemire had access to Mr. Zündel's website. Mr. Christie testified that Mr. Lemire was constantly admonished by Mr. Zündel about his behaviour; should I therefore believe Mr. Zündel's testimony that he never discussed Heritage Front business in his house with Mr. Lemire? In my view, Mr. Zündel and Mr. Lemire did in fact discuss Heritage Front matters in his house but most probably in Mr. Christie's absence.
