Getting Conservative on Twitter

Ihave a bad habit of antagonizing Conservatives on Twitter. The whiplash assumption when I’m in a bad enough mood to cheekily point out hypocrisy, or simple untruths, is that I am a partisan Liberal.

Were the online commenters to be believed, I support Justin Trudeau whole-heartedly and I only eat GMO-free, hemp-based quinoa created from recycled plastic.

The last one isn’t true, but the first one is.

Central OkanaganSimilkameen-Nicola Conservative MP Dan Albas recently accused me of taking a “partisan cheap shot,” followed by the word “classy,” after I responded to Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s tweet extending best wishes to Muslims in Canada celebrating Ramadan.

I said in response to Scheer’s transparent PR move, “nice try,” posted an image of Kevin from “The Office” giggling and pointed out the Conservatives have a history of anti-Islam sentiments.

I was referring to Scheer’s former campaign advisors Georganne Burkeand, who started an anti-Islamic organization claiming to protect Canadians from a non-existent sharia law takeover of the country, and campaign manager Hamish Marshall being a director of the alt-right garbage pile known as Rebel Media.

I can be a bit brash on Twitter when getting political and this isn’t the first time I have “trolled” Albas, for lack of a better term. Even so, I did not appreciate his insinuation that it was a “partisan” cheap shot. I am not a classy individual, so I’ll give him that one, but a full-on supporter of the current federal Liberal government I am not.

Conservative supporters jumped on me within minutes saying “what about Trudeau?” in one form or another. This really eats at me in most political conversations. I have socially liberal opinions, sure, but fun fact: I’ve never voted for the Liberal party in a federal election. Conservatives just have a way of drawing my ire on social issues, so I’ll forgive Albas for assuming I’m partisan. In reality, my butt hurts from being forced to sit on this fence.

Is it really partisan of me to point out that only months ago Scheer was working closely (presumably, they were on his campaign team) with people tied to, or founding, anti-Islamic organizations?

I can laugh at the hypocrisy on my own time and still do my job well, thank you very much.

One would be foolish to think those working in the news business are devoid of political opinion. I thought Trudeau’s trip to India and the ensuing fallout were a disaster, as is the pipeline debacle, but this doesn’t make me a Conservative.

What bothers me most is seeing so many people fall into the trap of being on one side or another.

You can be a Liberal voter and disagree with the government’s actions, or a Conservative voter and support a move by the current government. It is not a pick-up hockey game, it is the future of our nation, our land and our people.

Dale Boyd is a reporter at the Penticton Herald and keeps his opinions out of his news reporting.