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Susan Ormiston provided a feature piece on Jane Fonda. Yes, that Jane Fonda, who at 82 is channelling Greta Thunberg by taking Fridays off to protest climate change and its corporate enablers. Jane Fonda is definitely a woman of the Left. Why her views are of interest is not so clear. She is a celebrity, if now a minor one. But you’d think a serious state broadcaster wouldn’t cater to celebrity, a problem Ormiston finesses by asking about the role of celebrity in protest, to which Ms. Fonda provides the very sensible answer that if she weren’t famous, CBC wouldn’t be talking to her. Good for her. Self-understanding doesn’t escape everyone on The National.

Given Fonda’s views on some past matters, however, it’s not clear why we should take her advice on climate. There was a time, Ormiston mentions, when she was known as “Hanoi Jane,” for having visited Hanoi during the war and being filmed beside anti-aircraft guns, maybe one that shot down the late Sen. John McCain. Ormiston mentions, twice, that Fonda has apologized for that but when she asks about it Fonda says what she learned from the experience is “Don’t let the bastards get you down.” Not quite repentant.

What we’re supposed to take from the piece is that even at 82 it’s good to hold fast to your beliefs. Fine. Good point. But why is it completely unimaginable that The National would have made it by profiling a superannuated right-wing war-horse? It’s the fact of having beliefs we’re supposed to be impressed with, isn’t it?, not the actual beliefs themselves. In the end we learn Fonda’s protests will soon end as she leaves Washington, D. C., and heads back to Hollywood to tape another season of her current show. No mention of whether she’ll be getting there in a sailboat, like Greta, or by bike or however.