No Deals

Stephen Harper has destroyed Canadian politics. Thanks to his example, it is now unthinkable for either the Liberals or Conservatives to even contemplate working with other parties, even if they have a minority. Such arrogance. It is poisonous. It is stupid and it unnecessarily puts our politics into constant crisis mode. Canadians deserve better. To hell with what the votes want, the Liberals and Conservative believe they rule by divine right. They are saying, in essence, that they don't care what voters think. They don't care if you want them to cooperate. No, they must exercise majority power, even if they don't have a majority. Fuck them, I say and do it where it counts, at the ballot box. Show the fuckers that if they won't play nice, maybe they need to go sit in corner for a while and think about what assholes they are.

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Hit A Nerve

I like Brigette DePape. She pisses off the right people. The people she pisses off are Conservatives and Liberals who are offended by her use of the term, "Arab Spring". "Surely", they bleat, "we are not living in a dictatorship (well except for that whole G20 thing)? We just had a free and fair election!" Well, it was mostly free (except for the whole robocalls telling people that their polls had been moved and forcing people to bring their identity papers with them to vote), but fair? Not quite.

We have a sick electoral system. Canada has neither representation by population nor a voting system that returns governments that reflect the majority will of the country. So, by what definition is that fair? Well, if you are a Conservative or Liberal it is fair, in that it tends (or has tended) to elect Conservative and Liberal "majority" governments, with less than majority of voter support. So, what we have here are people, whose parties have benefited from an unfair system, defending the status quo. C'est la vie. But, until we get democratic reform in this country, there will be more Brigette DePape moments. There will be more calls for a "Canadian Spring".

And a note to Jack Layton. You can talk all you want about decorum, but unless you are willing to stand up and denounce the present political system, loudly and often, then you are no better that the rest of the political establishment. You can, lead, follow, or get out of the way. The choice is yours.

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So Is He A Red Tory Or A Blue Liberal?

I see Rocco Rossi is running for Team Hudak. Yes, we are talking about the former national director of the Liberal Party of Canada and good buddy of the Iggster himself. This is no real surprise to me, as Rossi is to the right of Attila, but it raises further questions about the sincerity of the appeals to the left, from the very blue Liberal Party leadership.

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Push Grandma Under The Bus

The Liberals and Conservatives are after Medicare again. Jesus, their response to any challenge in health care is always "privatization". Ever think about taxation to support a basic right of Canadian citizenship? Hell no, that would require a spine and a political options kit that contains more than "Help the rich get richer".

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Groundhog Day

The Conservatives are acting like they have a majority; the Liberals are abstaining; and the other parties are squawking around the edges. I wake up every morning and it's the same Goddamn song in my head. Somebody, please get me off this treadmill.

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Miller Resigns

And Liberals rejoice. One is so delirious he endorses a Conservative. I really have not much to say about this, as I don't live in Toronto. But as an outside observer, I leave you with two thoughts. First, any "progressive" who wants to know who is really running your party, look no further than the Toronto mayor's race. Second, you have to feel for Miller. For all of this faults his biggest, in my opinion, was his lack of a Liberal or Conservative Party membership.

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You See A Trap -- Layton Sees An Opportunity

From Leslie Campell in the Globe:

While the Liberals may think they have trapped the NDP, they haven't. The lifeblood, the raison d'être, of the federal NDP is holding the balance of power in Parliament. The truth, and mythology, of the NDP is that great leaders – Tommy Douglas, Stanley Knowles, David Lewis, Ed Broadbent – have patiently clung to principle, willing to suffer setback for the opportunity to leverage their parliamentary position into progress for ordinary Canadians ignored by the traditional power brokers.

Team My Dink Is Bigger Than Yours, will never understand this reasoning. Their thing is power and the perks that come with power.

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Quote Of The Day: Blindingly Obvious Edition

From the sage of the Sunday Star, Angelo Persichilli:

The problem for Ignatieff is not that he doesn't have ideas. Rather, I believe his problem is that his ideas to cope with the economic crisis, aside from some partisan packaging, are the same as those of Harper's government.

What can one add to such an insight?

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Oh, Now I Get It

No wonder Liberals were making a big deal about Layton going to see Harper. They think if they can get a few of their interns to walk behind Layton with a sign, we won't read the story in the Star, in which they (YET AGAIN) signal to Harper that he has a clear field for a good while yet. As Warren Kinsella says. I smell a dirty deal! WWPETD?! Wankers.

Update: Money quote:

"You can't push the election button every time . . . I think that is irresponsible."

The eternal cry of the Liberal Party. "We think it is irresponsible to have an election, unless we think we are going to win. In which case, no one had better stand in our way, or we will be cross!" Christ, what wankers.

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Question Of The Day

Will someone please explain to me which one is the Liberal, Tim Powers or Rob Silver? From their writing it is impossible for me to tell.

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The Agony Of The American Left: A Lesson

It is instructive following Ian Welsh's documentation of the disillusionment of the American left, about Obama(even though people like Ian did warn them). Obama is just acting like any Canadian Liberal would if placed in the same situation. Indeed, Obama's campaign was a proto-typical Liberal campaign -- he used meaningless platitudes like "hope" to sucker the "progressives" into projecting their lefty hearts' desires onto him. Then once the election is over, Obama thanked them very much and then ruled according to the wishes of the corporations that own the country.

Leftists in Canada should take this as a warning. Never get into bed with Liberals (and that includes third way New Democrats). They will use you for their own gain and then dump your sorry ass to the curb when it suits them.

Update: "Progressives" should tuck this away for future reference. Whenever Iggy and the boys begin singing Kumbaya in the next election (and you just know they will), remember who is conducting the show from the wings. Hint, it aint the progressive wing of the Liberal party.

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Tell Me Progressive Liberals

What is the difference between a Tory and a Liberal? In Ontario, we have a Liberal government that is increasing the reach of a flat tax that hurts the poor more than the rich, while at the same time is lowering business taxes in an insane race to the bottom with Mississippi. In addition, this Liberal government has decided to kick the working poor by scrapping the one decent thing it has done since taking office, the raise in the minimum wage. If I close my eyes and listen, I would be hard pressed to tell the difference between Dalton McGuinty and Stephen Harper.

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When Blue Liberals Rule

The Tory makeover of the Liberal Party of Canada is almost complete. They are even using Tory blue in their web design, now. Liberal:




Tory:



Can you see a difference?

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This Is What Democracy Looks Like

"He'll only be encouraged to go longer if we respond." Translation: We have a country to loot here. No sense slowing down to actually argue our case.

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Random Factoid Of The Day

Income inequality and poverty rates skyrocketed under the "progressive" rule of the Liberal Party of Canada. A grateful nation must surely have rewarded their good work.

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Liberals Fold Again. So What?

It is to the point where no one even notices when the Liberals cave in to the Tories. It has become as normal as breathing. Not that anyone really cares. As long as we have first past the post, the "Not-Quite-The-Conservative-Party" will prosper, no matter what.

Eventually, after Stephane Dion communes with the Virgin Mary, or perhaps the Oracle of Delphi, we will have an election. I expect on one side will be the thugs of the Conservative Party, throwing feces in every direction and on the other side will be the "Not-Quite-The-Conservative-Party" doing what it does best (really the only thing it does well), scaring the shit out of NDP and Green voters. And finally, when it is over and nothing really changes and the voting turnout goes down, again, the pundits in the MSM will wail about the "decline of civic culture". Sorry, I have to go throw up.

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All Hail Our Coalition Government

The Bernier Affair is not enough. The Nafta memo is not enough. The Immigration Bill is not enough. Anyone who supports the Liberals also supports the Tories. It is as simple as that.

Instant Update: This quote from Dion tells the whole story:

"An election will come. We'll choose our time," he told reporters in a well-used refrain.

"More and more Canadians are asking this question, 'When, when, we want to go.' So I feel that more now than it was the case some months ago," Dion said.

"It's good because we need to replace this bad government," he said, while refusing to say when his party will vote topple the Tories.

I will translate. "Canadians have not suffered enough for the sin of electing Stephen Harper. So, we will let Harper torture them a while yet and when the voters finally scream out 'Please God, give us anyone but Harper', we will pull the plug and call an election. Why? Because everyone knows that if any party fits the description of "anyone but", it is the Liberal Party of Canada. We have been "anyone buts" for over 140 years."

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Please, Can't They All Just Go Away

Here is the kind of drivel that drives me mental. Don't get me wrong, it is great that a Tory actually admits that his party is crooked. But, in the next breath, he falls back on the old "but look at the Liberals" routine. By the end of the piece, I couldn't help but admire the nerve it took to be proud of being slightly less crooked than the Liberal Party of Canada. I also wondered why the collective political leadership in this country is still walking around, free.

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Another Piece Of The Conspiracy...

Against the Conservative Party falls Into Place. Damn, "they" are subtle.

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Black Monday

This has an October 1929 feel to it. (Begin sarcasm)It sure a good thing that we have two major parties running the country who know that spending billions of dollars to run around the countryside in Afghanistan, while cutting taxes at home (and bringing our treasury to its knees as a result), is a proven plan to help Canadians weather the economic storm on the horizon (end sarcasm) .

Update: The fact that the oil states are even talking about decoupling their currencies from the U.S. dollar, sends a chill up my spine.

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