Canadian Post-Modern Politics

What is wrong with our politics, part 127. Chantel Hebert writes:

According to a CBC-EKOS poll completed earlier in the week, a majority of Canadians already did not buy the government's assertion that it did not overlook the strong possibility the prisoners Canada was handing over to the Afghan authorities would be tortured.

That makes the detainee issue one of this government's biggest public relations flops since it was caught off guard on the environment in the fall of 2006.

But that is not to say that anyone on Parliament Hill believes it could lead to a snap election. The government is hoping the storm will blow over during the parliamentary break. But even if it flares up again in the new year, few opposition strategists believe it will resonate loudly at the ballot box. (emphasis mine)

In other words, objectively torture is wrong. However, subjectively, in Canada, torture is politically survivable and so is, if not accepted, tolerated. If Hebert is correct in her assessment, we are totally, totally fucked. We may as well throw in the towel and declare Harper president for life.

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