Once more, with Nazis: Antonia Zerbisias versus Ezra Levant in Fox News North Shoutfest Part II
Is it possible that there are more important questions in the world than who financed the activist group behind a poorly written petition to stop Sun News TV from getting special treatment from the CRTC? Almost certainly. Nevertheless, over the past week, the Internet has convulsed with arguments over Fox News North and the Avaaz.org petition to which Margaret Atwood gave some publicity when she got into a tweet-off with David Akin and Stephen Taylor.
This week, the fight shifts, with Star columnist Antonia Zerbisias and Sun columnist Ezra Levant clawing at each other. The conflict started when Zerbisias recommended a blog post at Rabble.ca responding to Levant’s Sunday column in which he basically connects Avaaz to Nazi collaborators through George Soros. So we can already see this is going to be a classy argument between two genteel debaters.
Levant responded by calling the post’s author an anti-Semite, Zerbisias counselled that Levant should be careful about libelling people, and the whole thing ended up with Zerb blocking a bunch of zealous Levant fans: “@EzraLevant has unleashed his flying monkeys on me now. Oh well. Blockitty block block. Buh-bye.” Now the argument seems to have drawn in people well outside of the original argument, with the likes of Kady O’Malley noting, “My all friends column is a rather unsettling mix of normal conversation and vicious accusations of anti-Semitism and Nazi collaboration” before getting into it with some vociferous Sun TV partisans.
It’s all enough to make a person wish for the olden days of a week ago when the only argument was whether the CRTC should grant Quebecor a special, albeit temporary, favour—something even some skeptics think there’s a reasonable argument for.
Godwin’s Law was written for a reason, people.
• Moral Hollowness at Work [Toronto Sun]
• Ezra Levant vs. reality — a prelude to Fox News North [Rabble.ca]
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/once-more-with-nazis-antonia-zerbisias-versus-ezra-levant-in-fox-news-north-shoutfest-part-ii/&title=Once more, with Nazis: Antonia Zerbisias versus Ezra Levant in Fox News North Shoutfest Part II&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Levant-Zeb.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_37741" align="alignleft" width="227" caption="The Star's Antonia Zerbisias and the Sun's Ezra Levant"][/caption]
Is it possible that there are more important questions in the world than who financed the activist group behind a poorly written petition to stop Sun News TV from getting special treatment from the CRTC? Almost certainly. Nevertheless, over the past week, the Internet has convulsed with arguments over Fox News North and the Avaaz.org petition to which Margaret Atwood gave some publicity when she got into a tweet-off with David Akin and Stephen Taylor.
This week, the fight shifts, with Star columnist Antonia Zerbisias and Sun columnist Ezra Levant clawing at each other. The conflict started when Zerbisias recommended a blog post at Rabble.ca responding to Levant's Sunday column in which he basically connects Avaaz to Nazi collaborators through George Soros. So we can already see this is going to be a classy argument between two genteel debaters.
Levant responded by calling the post's author an anti-Semite, Zerbisias counselled that Levant should be careful about libelling people, and the whole thing ended up with Zerb blocking a bunch of zealous Levant fans: “@EzraLevant has unleashed his flying monkeys on me now. Oh well. Blockitty block block. Buh-bye.” Now the argument seems to have drawn in people well outside of the original argument, with the likes of Kady O'Malley noting, “My all friends column is a rather unsettling mix of normal conversation and vicious accusations of anti-Semitism and Nazi collaboration” before getting into it with some vociferous Sun TV partisans.
It's all enough to make a person wish for the olden days of a week ago when the only argument was whether the CRTC should grant Quebecor a special, albeit temporary, favour—something even some skeptics think there's a reasonable argument for.
Godwin's Law was written for a reason, people.
• Moral Hollowness at Work [Toronto Sun]
• Ezra Levant vs. reality -- a prelude to Fox News North [Rabble.ca]
(Images: Zerbisias, thestar.com; Levant, CTV still)){kind=link}
Thanks for picking up on this important subject.
For the record, I am not opposed to Quebecor getting a license for a national news service. I am all for a diversity of voices and freedom of expression.
However, while I do believe the current CRTC chair will carry out his duties and responsibilities in a fair and impartial manner, I do not think that Sun TV News should be allowed to circumvent either the Broadcasting or CRTC act.
Furthermore, as a former media critic for the Toronto Star, I watched as Sun TV in Toronto systematically broke the conditions of its licence.
I should think that, with its $10B in revenues, and its vertically-integrated holdings in everything from print to cable distribution, and with the protection that our regulatory system confers on private broadcasters, Quebecor really has some nerve demanding mandatory access so that Sun TV News can get off the ground.
As for Godwin’s Law, it was Levant who brought in the Nazis. Not I.
Levant always brings in the Nazis. And anyone who is critical of him is an “anti-Semite.” (The latter term has now been reduced in meaning to “poopy-head.”)
Folks really should read both articles. Picazo makes mincemeat of Ez with links and analysis. No wonder he’s calling her an anti-Semite. It’s the only arrow in his quiver.
Nazi or anti-Semitism accusations are the last refuge of a Conservative.
What can one say about this current explosion of Levant right-wing idiocy other than, well, Zieg Heil!
As a political whore who has (quite frankly) voted all over the spectrum (imagine that – voting for individuals instead of parties), I cringe whenever I see anything pertaining to Levant. If anything, he pretty much forces me to abandon all of my right-wing leanings, as I cannot in good conscience support anything that this repugnant individual endorses. All this man has to offer is a finger that points blame. And while it repulses me to contribute to Goodwin’s law, his tactics are more akin to those used by the man who ruined a particular style of mustache. For shame…
Oh not ole Ezra again with his wacko conspiracy theories. Everyone from the Lawyer’s Association to the Old Taxidermists’ association & anybody else you can think of is out to get him, personally, somehow…. in his view. As soon as Ezra speaks, most people seem to realize that they should change the channel immediately. Sad, really.
The Nazi collaborator angle is ill-advised. But asking who’s funding the Avaaz petition — and a similar Turn Off Fox effort in the US — is a worthy matter.
Ezra also hates easterners.
@Patrick Ross: Please don’t be an ignorant dunderhead about what Faux Noise has done: check out what Media Matters has told about them in the past, as well as the documentary Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War On Journalism ( mediamatters.org and http://www.outfoxed.org). NOBODY (except ordinary people) is funding Avaaz in any shady way; that’s just more bull from Levant and the gaggle of neocon dummies that listen to him.
LOVE EZRA LEVANT….SORRY LEFTIES, CONSERVATIVES NOW HAVE A PLACE TO GO. THIS NETWORK IS GOING TO DO VERY WELL. YOU CAN ALL KEEP WATCHING THE C.B.C ET AL. AT LEAST YOUR TAX DOLLARS AREN’T SUPPORTING SUN NEWS THE WAY MINE ARE THE C.B.C