Piss Taker Update

The three young men who shocked the country by urinating on the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Canada Day have now all tendered public apologies to the police and veterans groups for their act of drunken stupidity.

Given the general state of education and casual disrespect shown for our country's past by mainstream Canadian educators, it is actually quite possible that these three men really did not understand the significance of the War Memorial or why their actions caused the public outrage that it did.

The Ottawa police say the other two young men involved in the incident -- another Ottawa youth who cannot be identified and 23-year-old Stephen Fernandes of Montreal -- have also written letters of apology to the police, expressing remorse for their actions:

Yesterday, Ottawa police charged Mr. Fernandes with mischief. He will make his first court appearance Aug. 1.

"I was embarrassed," Mr. Fernandes said yesterday about the incident and the ensuing publicity.

Two days after the incident, a friend called to tell him that his photograph had been on the front page of the Citizen. "I was in complete and utter shock," he said, adding he felt immediately remorseful.

He said he didn't intend to disgrace anyone -- war veterans or his family -- and he will take responsibility for his actions. "I want to formally apologize to anyone I may have offended."

Mr. Fernandes said that not only did he not intend to desecrate the war memorial, but he was almost embarrassed to admit he didn't know how significant the monument is to veterans, and revealed he once volunteered at a veterans' hospital in Quebec.

Whether they are apologizing out of genuine remorse or shame for getting caught and humiliated in front of the entire country, the fact that they are apologizing at all suggests that these men were not motivated by political malice but simple loutishness.

Had these men been hard-core anti-war protestors, they would have urinated on the War Memorial in broad daylight, in a more ostentatious manner, with a crowd of supporters shouting slogans and waiving placards to cheer them on.

And there would be no apologies forthcoming, but tirades about free speech, peace, and social justice.

They would relish having their names and pictures in the paper, and look forward to their day in court to defend their actions.

Those bums would be deserving of serious jail time.

These bums have gotten their just deserts through public humiliation already.

Source: Ottawa Citizen