One little incident at the George Galloway Stopwar-organized tour event in Vancouver before things even got started might give you a bit of the flavor for the evening. Having previously grumbled about Stopwar talking head Derrick O'Keefe's weird communications and Galloway tour organizer and Omar (Fuck Canada Day) Shaban, I half expected to be stopped at the door by security. As it turned out, I walked right in with no problems. (Of course, I entered as a regular Joe. I knew a press pass from The Propagandist would cut no ice with these people).

But when my colleague, Adrian MacNair, tried to use his press pass from the Langara Voice, he allegedly was told by O'Keefe and Shaban that his press credentials were not valid. Why? Because, the organizers said, he was a writer for The Propagandist. Indeed, he was told that he had tried to apply for press credentials for the event as a writer for The Propagandist and had been rejected online -- so he should have known better than to show his "fake" press pass.

But MacNair doesn't write for us. MacNair is as talented, insightful and courageous a writer as one could hope for, which is why I've often tried to get him on board with our growing roster of contributing writers. The sad truth is that MacNair has never contributed a single article to The Propagandist. He certainly never "applied" for any press credential for this event under our banner. But he does write for the Langara Voice, carrying around a press pass that proves that very fact.

The intrepid MacNair did purchase a ticket, so they reluctantly let him in. "I guess it's one standard for the other newspapers and another for guys who don't agree with your politics," MacNair said. And that pretty much sums it up.

If you haven't yet read my account of the main event, check out The Demagogue

Jonathon Narvey is the Editor of The Propagandist