At the Fitzhugh, we love feedback. Especially if you hate us, but especially if you like us. 

After I published my Last Word column in the March 5 issue, called Are You Serious?, one Jasperite told me he liked it and said he’d like to see more. You ask, we deliver.

Sometimes, something so ridiculous happens, that our jaws drop and we ask, are you serious?

As more details come out about the death of Robert Dziekanski in the trial of the four RCMP officers involved, the case seems more and more ridiculous.

The Polish immigrant became agitated after spending hours in a secure area in Vancouver International Airport.

Police officers tasered him as many as five times, because they felt threatened by the stapler Dziekanski waved at them. Most recently, the CBC reported that Dziekanski turned around, lifted his hands in the air and walked away from the cops.

Const. Gerry Rundel, the first of the four Mounties to appear, described this as resistant behaviour. 

Are you serious?

Unfortunately, because they are police officers, these guys will likely get but a slap on the wrist. The video footage alone is enough evidence to show they were in the wrong. Admit it and move on, rather than debating whether four police officers felt threatened by a stapler.

On an episode early Monday morning, the host of a late-night Fox News television show mocked our nation, in response to comments by Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, the Canadian Forces Chief of Land Staff, who said our military would near a one-year hiatus to recover after it withdraws from Afghanistan in 2011.

The show, called Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld, insulted Canada, suggesting it’s a weak nation that depends on the US for security. Host Gutfeld said the hiatus would be the ideal time to invade our “ridiculous” country.

He also said our troops would take time off to paint landscapes and do yoga.

Doug Benson, a panelist on the show, said he was unaware that Canadians were in Afghanistan, adding he thought Canada was the place people “go chill” who don’t want to go to war. 

They went on to criticize the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The US police drive armoured cars and wear bulletproof vests, one guest said, while Canadian police ride horses and don bright red jackets. 

Canada has lost 116 soldiers in Afghanistan, including four young men who returned home the day the Fox News segment was broadcast.

Is there any Canadian out there who wouldn’t respond to this with a loud, “Are you serious?” Where do these idiots get their information?

It was later reported that the show’s host apologized, though he didn’t have the courtesy to do so in a televised address. In fact, it was also reported he said he was sorry about what he said, and corrected himself by adding that our army could probably beat the Belgians.

Though the show does not necessarily represent the opinion of Americans, it’s sickening and pathetic to think that even a single citizen of that country would snicker over these comments. Unfortunately, it’s likely some did.

As reporter Daniel Jacobs pointed out to me, this confirms what we already knew – that the United States sees Canada as a weak joke of a nation.

Are you serious?