When “Debate” Becomes Manufactured Outrage
There's a pattern on the Canadian right that's getting harder to ignore.
It isn't about ideas.
It isn't about policy.
It isn't even about Canada.
It's about provoking anger for sport and then profiting from it.
Roman Baber's recent post is a perfect example.
Instead of engaging honestly with people who criticize the United States' decision to seize and remove Nicolás Maduro—an operation that raises real questions about international law, sovereignty, and precedent—Baber doesn't debate.
He pathologizes.
“The Left is mentally ill.”
Not “wrong.”
Not “misguided.”
Not “I disagree because…”
No, he jumps straight to:
If you question this, there is something defective about your brain.
That isn't leadership.
That's branding. And it's toxic.
Turning complicated realities into cartoons
Baber strings together several unrelated situations and pretends they form one story:
- Gaza = “war, rape, murder”
- Perisa = “barbaric Islamist regime”
- Venezuela = “dictator arrested”
Then he declares, therefore, anyone on the left is hypocritical, silent, corrupt, and mentally unwell.
No nuance.
No context.
No effort.
Just a ready-made villain to rile up supporters.
This isn't about defending democracy.
It's about training people to stop thinking.
When disagreement is treated as disloyalty
Plenty of Canadians on the left—and yes, also on the right—have concerns about the United States acting unilaterally, capturing a sitting head of state, and dragging him into U.S. custody.
You don't have to like Maduro.
You don't have to defend his record.
You simply have to recognize that if powerful countries normalize this behaviour, everyone is less safe.
Raising those questions is not “pro-dictator.”
It is called civic responsibility.
But instead of engaging those arguments, Baber chooses a shortcut:
Smear 50% of the country.
Declare them mentally broken.
Move on.
Manufactured culture war, imported daily
What's most striking is how little of this is actually about Canada.
Our economy.
Our housing market.
Our schools.
Our health care.
Our foreign policy independence.
All was ignored in favour of constant online firefights designed to keep people angry and loyal.
It's political content farming.
And it has nothing to do with building a healthier country.
We need leaders who debate, not diagnose
A confident politician welcomes disagreement.
A fragile one labels critics “mentally ill.”
We should demand better, left, right, and centre.
Because if every policy debate becomes:
“You're evil, you're broken, you're the problem,”
then nobody actually learns anything,
and the loudest provocateur wins.
One last thing
I'm heading to the CPC convention because these tactics need to be documented, challenged, and exposed in real time, not just after the fact.
Travel isn't cheap. I'm doing this independently.
If you want to help make sure there is honest, critical, on-the-ground coverage, you can support the trip here:
Every contribution, big or small, helps me get there and hold this kind of politics accountable.
Thanks for reading. More soon.
— Will Adams
Editor, The Provincial Times
