George Jonashttp://themetropolitain.ca/articles/author/34frahttp://themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1021http://themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1021The European Union is beginning to look eerily like Germany under the Weimar Republic. Comparisons are never exact, and anyone could come up with a string of obvious differences, but in the EU many groups of citizens are at odds with their society's principal values, just as they were in Weimar, and by now several have expressed it through acts of political terror, targeted or random, as their soul-mates did in Germany between 1919 and 1933.George JonasFri, 26 Aug 2011 19:00:00 -0400http://themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/969http://themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/969During the chummy pre-election weeks, politicians and their handlers are flirtatious but gun-shy. Journalists, viewed with grave misgivings, are being handled gingerly. The ambiance is ostentatiously egalitarian. The leaders’ aides refer to their bosses as Hollywood studio execs do to all-powerful movie moguls: First names, uttered in deferentially hushed tones.George JonasThu, 21 Apr 2011 21:30:00 -0400http://themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/946http://themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/946 When I was 10, a rusty mastiff followed me home from the playground. It accepted a dish of liver from my mother, then curled up in front of my bed. Whenever my parents approached, it raised its massive head and growled.I felt flattered. The dog had a collar but no tag. “Can I keep it?” I asked my father.“If that were a real question,” my father replied, “my answer might be yes. But you and I know that what you’re actually asking is: Will you, dear parents, keep a dog for me? Feed it, walk it, groom it, muzzle it? And the answer to that is no.” George JonasWed, 16 Feb 2011 15:00:00 -0500http://themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/136http://themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/136Yes, it matters. Just because you've seen one president, doesn't mean you've seen them all. If you got the president you always wanted for a neighbour, don't yet heave a sigh of relief. If you got the one you always feared, don't yet despair. Knowing who the president is doesn't tell you everything, or even half of it. Presidents aren't free to be what they are. A candidate may be his own person. But a President  is his office. As a leader, he no longer belongs to himself. The Chinese might call him the creature of the three Ps: His people, his place and his period. A leader is a follower by definition...George JonasThu, 13 Nov 2008 14:00:00 -0500http://themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/148http://themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/148There’s no confusion about the election results in Canada, only about who won. Some say, well, the winner is whoever forms the government, and that’s Stephen Harper. Not so, others counter. Mr. Harper called an election to get a majority; he was denied one, so he lost. Even worse, look at his opponent. Anyone who can’t knock out Stéphane Dion has no business claiming the belt...George JonasThu, 30 Oct 2008 22:25:00 -0400