
Well helloooooo, Kits!
If you’re familiar with our podcast, you’ll now that there are a few things that much bother me about the manner in which a good amount of mainstream political journalism is practised these days: a seeming lack of curiosity — something I believe should be essential to the job — on the part of many journalists; the lost art of asking the painfully obvious follow-up question; a lack of willingness to carry forward facts one has learned on previous days into subsequent reporting or commentary; a total disinterest in educating the public about basic civics, and; an inability to back away from the daily moment to connect the dots over time.
I often describe our show as being that which a reasonably informed, engaged, and fair-minded person would yell at their screen, particularly when their intelligence is being insulted.
MSM is Far From Irrelevant
But, there are still some really good journalists and columnists out there who actually do the work: The CBC’s David Cochrane and Kathleen Petty come immediately to mind, as does columnist Chantal Hébert. There are also David Climenhaga, David Moscrop, Evan Scrimshaw, Keith Boag, and if you love sports, you’d be hard pressed to do better than Devin Heroux. This latter group have all been kind enough, and very generous, with their time, granting interviews to us when we were a much more fledgling endeavour than we are today (though we still are fledgling).
Of late, I have stumbled upon the work of a gentleman named Robert Lee, who goes by @downtownrob88 on Twitter.
Robert is a self-described “old-school” journalist who very much impressed me in August with this particular thread, in which he details pretty much every which way Premier Ford Edsel screwed up, failed, and abdicated his responsibility to the people during the CPC-sponsored and approved occupation of Ottawa, earlier this year.
Dean French, forced to resign as Ford's chief of staff for cronyism and patronage in June 2019, becomes his former boss's emissary on behalf of the Mad Max/Duck Dynasty convoy in meetings with federal government and City of Ottawa officials;
The behind-the-scenes intrigue…/2 https://t.co/PWIqTTQbbf
— Robert Lee 🌃📝🎼 (@downtownrob88) August 18, 2022
The thread is a thing of beauty: thorough, accurate, and delivered with a bit of an edge that shows me that one does not have to fake neutrality in order to be truthfully objective, or sacrifice the latter (being truthful) at the altar of the former (being neutral).
Neutrality In The Face Of Factual Evidence is Counter-Productive
As an engaged citizen, I always prefer someone who refuses to play neutral in order to be truthful: put your cards and biases on the table, so I know where you’re coming from, then give me the straight goods.
In addition to our thrice-weekly morning show, we here at The True North Eager Beaver have some side projects, and one of them, The True North Eager Beaver Interview Project, is a series of extended interviews with interesting Canadians who have things to say about which, we believe, you should be aware.
Robert Lee, recently, was kind enough to give us about two hours of his time, for an extended interview, during which we speak about Premier Doug Ford’s deeper and deeper delve into bunker governance for the 30%, in which no questions are allowed and no accountability should be expected. This man has dedicated himself to keeping tabs on the “ClusterFord” — as he calls it — and parade of incompetence that is the work of the premier of Ontario. During our chat, we touched upon the recent Auditor General of Ontario’s report, Ford’s handling of both the Convoy and COVID, as well as the current state of journalism and how it is not serving the public.
Quality journalism is an essential public service and Lee’s passion for it is obvious.
And thus, I invite you, dear Kits — when you have the time — to retreat to your favourite sitting place, grab a warm (or stiff) beverage and a snack, and settle in for an engaging, informative, and entertaining chat with Robert Lee. I am convinced that you too will be very impressed with him and will be adding him to your must-follow list.
Just click here to enjoy the interview.
Until we next see each other, be kind to and gentle with yourself,
Your Eager Beaver
The True North Eager Beaver is also a podcast. We have a live morning show every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7 a.m. (Eastern) that you can find on our YouTube channel or live-streamed on our Twitter feed.
Episode 25 of The Not Quite Daily Beaver: A Bucket O’ News
On this (just a nibble) episode we do a quick scan of the Georgia run-off, The Orange Shit Stain’s bad day, China changing its COVID rules, a raid on extremists in Germany, the Auditor General of Canada’s report…
PS: If you like what we do and wish to encourage us to do more, our tip jar can be found here, or you can get your Eager Beaver merch here.