Peanut gallery

Hello, fellow nerds who have reservations about da Canadian value as they are presently and commonly understood. I asked for this invitation, and thus I am happy to accept it.

This was Jay Currie's idea and he is volunteering to edit - so as far as I'm concerned, it's his, and that works for me (The notion of a Conservative magazine being some sort of co-op I find a little strange. That said, I'll help out however I can.)

I'm going to try to be the best darn contributor here. If I suck, I expect Currie to cut me off. If this thing destructs, or peters out, or sucks, I'll step away without shame and hold Currie responsible for the mess. Hah!

As for a name, I'm somewhat indifferent, but offer a few reactions:

• TANSTAAFL - not too big on making an explicit political statement with the title of the thing
• The Vorpal Blade - notwithstanding how well-known (or not) the allusion is, it sounds scary
• Billy - not bad!

My barely-thought-through suggestion is "A Smoke and a Drink". For background, see Colby Cosh's pre-election mini-polemic here. In short, it's a rebuke to "the Liberal civil religion of aggressive egalitarianism", which I think is probably one of the major aims of this whole effort, and if it's not, it ought to be.