They Call Me "Mr. Sinister"

My father was there. His only "glorious war s...

2012-05-06T13:17:37.489-04:00

My father was there. His only "glorious war story" from that battle involved chopping off the feet of a German with a sharpened trench shovel. The German in question had his legs trapped in a collapsed bunker and it was a choice of doing that and having him probably die, or leaving him and having him certainly die.

Still, the German in question was lucky. Other times, when prisoners got inconvenient, their unit just shot them.

About Redford -- she actually is a Tory. Just a J...

2012-04-27T21:39:14.247-04:00

About Redford -- she actually is a Tory. Just a Joe Clark Tory, which is a species I thought had been driven into extinction in Canadian politics.

But the Red Tories are more resilient than I thought. Which is interesting.

About Smith -- well, this is a test. Either she can whip her motley crew into shape for the next election, or she'll go the way of Mario Dumont...

Of course, if we had a rational electoral system, ...

2012-04-24T11:40:19.743-04:00

Of course, if we had a rational electoral system, one party statism would disappear. Sigh. Someday.

My hope is that Alberta now has an actual divided ...

2012-04-24T11:29:43.727-04:00

My hope is that Alberta now has an actual divided multiparty system like the rest of the planet (except for the U.S., which is on a different planet anyway), which is what I wanted all along and was hoping for when Wild Rose appeared on the scene. If that's the case, then the centrists will take it sometimes and the right will take it sometimes, just like in other mostly-but-not-entirely conservative jurisdictions.

But you never know--the pull of a one-party state is really really strong here, so Wild Rose could conceivably still take power next time, end up taking over the entire big tent that the PCs once called their own, and stay there for 40 years. The ability to take over the big tent would make them less scary by default, of course, but man, I sure hope that doesn't happen. I'd honestly rather have a genuinely right wing government be elected occasionally that has to fear getting knocked out of power, than one more big-tent centre-to-centre-right megaparty being in charge all the time.

But, I am sure you are happy that the NDP got 4 se...

2012-04-24T11:21:36.330-04:00

But, I am sure you are happy that the NDP got 4 seats at least. I will take that good news.

Yes, I saw Dan's article a few minutes ago. I ...

2012-04-24T11:19:56.290-04:00

Yes, I saw Dan's article a few minutes ago. I agree with his conclusions to a certain degree, but I am not sure Smith has the iron will to suppress the ultra-social conservatives that Harper did. We will see. Ben the Tiger thinks it is so, but I am not convinced. Harper is a unique character.

Yes, it was a joke IP. What, my humor didn't s...

2012-04-24T11:12:40.573-04:00

Yes, it was a joke IP. What, my humor didn't shine through? I am shocked.

Calgary Grit comes to a similar conclusion by the ...

2012-04-24T09:38:39.138-04:00

Calgary Grit comes to a similar conclusion by the way, but follows it through to its grim ending: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/04/24/dan-arnold-albertas-tory-empire-strikes-back/

I really hope you're kidding about the "s...

2012-04-24T08:46:25.183-04:00

I really hope you're kidding about the "some odd foreign entity" thing. Otherwise, after all these years of knowing you, I'm pretty offended!

You're right about the right-wing and the centre-right party duking it out, though. But keep in mind that the Redford pseudoTories are like the Liberals in a lot more ways than just policy (the Paul Martin Liberals specifically, as a tired old party that's been in power for too long, is entrenched in the establishment of the province, and boasts rampant corruption in its ranks). In other words, while we can be relieved that most of the outright crazies in the Progressive Conservative party have long since migrated to the second-place Wild Rose Party (and that the few who remained PCs have now lost their seats in this election), there’s still no more to be truly happy about in this result than left-wing Ontarians could be happy about when their own entrenched centre-right party won AGAIN.

What percentage of the population can say "Gr...

2012-04-15T07:56:29.916-04:00

What percentage of the population can say "Grandpa was a millionaire and dad was PM"?

I've always had the impression the Trudeau fam...

2012-04-14T18:34:59.274-04:00

I've always had the impression the Trudeau family was more like five-percenters. Well-off, living in a genteel neighbourhood, but hardly captains of finance.

Thanks for the marvelous posting! Fiat For Sale

Hardly the totality of our history. Agreed.

2012-04-09T12:04:38.379-04:00

Hardly the totality of our history. Agreed.

"a series of old battles and wars fought in f...

2012-04-09T09:43:14.929-04:00

"a series of old battles and wars fought in far off places."

Hardly.

Good find. I found it too independently around the...

2012-03-04T04:36:01.152-05:00

Good find. I found it too independently around the same time, and put it Twitter quickly.

He's a waste of skin.

2012-03-01T23:27:07.044-05:00

He's a waste of skin.

As Homer Simpson would say, "That's for t...

2012-02-29T15:27:01.598-05:00

As Homer Simpson would say, "That's for the courts to decide".

Harper won. Get over it.

2012-02-29T14:20:03.855-05:00

Harper won. Get over it.

No, he's a co-ordinator. Didn't you notice...

2012-02-26T18:10:48.928-05:00

No, he's a co-ordinator. Didn't you notice all the BTs in the last days frying their circuits, saying "Harper, Co-ordinate!" and lapsing into a flatlined stupor?

Always thought Harper was a bit of a C.R.E.E.P.

2012-02-26T12:41:07.149-05:00

Always thought Harper was a bit of a C.R.E.E.P.

check the concept of the cartel party by Stephen C...

2012-02-25T06:01:51.553-05:00

check the concept of the cartel party by Stephen Catz...

The latter. Their hired guns may not use bullets b...

2011-12-21T01:51:26.164-05:00

The latter. Their hired guns may not use bullets but give it time and they might.

This site is good because they give us a new thing...

2011-12-20T01:45:24.295-05:00

This site is good because they give us a new thing and new ideas and new topic how good all of they are we should appreciate them because of these good thing.

its refreshing that the national agenda doesn'...

2011-12-08T23:45:13.264-05:00

its refreshing that the national agenda doesn't seem to be constantly monopolized by one particular province back East.

Well, the other way to do it is to have someone ot...

2011-12-08T21:38:07.422-05:00

Well, the other way to do it is to have someone other than the Minister of Agriculture introduce the bill. Which is how I'd've done it.

As for why not do it in a two-step? A belief that the provision in question is unconstitutional (ultra vires, which it is) and that the government lawyer wouldn't fail to raise the constitutional question (which he/she did fail to do).