Democracy Being Fought on the Soccer Fields of Quebec

In the National Football League, a player will immediately be fined for wearing non-regulations socks, wearing his socks rolled down or having some apparel that is not league-sanctioned and payed for by a major sponsor. In these case, it is all about money.

But in the Province of Quebec, where a young girl was told the other day to remove her hijab (a religious head covering), it's all about culture and politics and racial prejudice.

Jean Charest, the Quebec Premier, killed any chance of ever receiving a vote from me and millions of other Canadians on anything in the future (This is a man who once expected and still expects to be Prime Minister of Canada.) when he agreed with the referee.

Wear a yarmulke, wear a toque, wear a cowboy hat or half a dead fox on your head for all I care. Kick the ball and score goals. That's my understanding of soccer.

Oh yes, and riots and drunkenness and murder and closing of stadia for fear of civil discord.

It is bad enough that an ignorant man tells an 11-year old girl to suspend her religious freedoms at the soccer pitch, but to have the Premier of the province follow and support this mistake is appalling.

In which gulag exactly are we now living?