Send more words

The Globe and Mail has a story headlined "Release of aid workers prompts calls for action on Darfur" that's actually about how Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae reacted to the Sudanese crackdown on humanitarian action in Darfur with a demand that

"Canada should be much more vocal. Brave Canadians and others defending humanitarian values have been singled out by the government of Sudan. We want our Canada to be speaking out for all of us in defence of real people who are making us all proud with their determination and their courage."

Now in the first place this is not a call for action but for empty verbiage. In the second place, while the headline speaks of "calls" the story only quotes or cites one person wanting us to send words to do the work of deeds. In the third place, the story says he made these remarks in an "interview" which may well mean the reporter called the Liberal foreign affairs critic to ask if he thought the government wasn't good and then printed the vapid response as if it were news.

In the fourth place, it was actually predictable that the ICC's unenforceable warrant for the arrest of the president of Sudan would prompt a crackdown on aid workers. Yet those who advocated it didn't seem able to predict it in advance, and now that it has happened their only response is to flap their tongues while Darfur burns, which seems neither humane nor intelligent. But I doubt anyone has asked Mr. Rae to comment on that.

Not an impressive performance on anybody's part.