Jack And The Dear Leader

All I can say about Jack's latest attempt to make parliament work is this: If Jack can get a clean air bill through with hard targets in the short term, he wins big greenie points. I have grave doubts the Dear Leader will actually go for any of this because it smacks of the leftist "do gooderism" he so clearly despises, but we will see. In watching the Liberal reactions I was struck by how much they looked like they were sucking lemons whenever Jack's name was mentioned.

Update: I guess the thought of having to support this government on a vote of non-confidence would make me look like I swallowed something bitter too. Nice move by Jack. Too bad it will only result in discomfort for the Liberals rather than any concrete movement on GHG's. Still, tip of the hat to Jack.

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Luke Turner And The Tory Death Star

Via My Blahg comes this link to an email from the Dear Leader's campaign guru. It seems said guru wants MP's Parliament Hill staff to campaign for Tory candidates in the upcoming by-elections. I am not sure that is illegal, but it sure is rum. If the staffers are using their Hill telephones, they are working on party business on my dime and I think that is highly suspect (although let's be fair perhaps these folks are making their "persuasion calls" from Tory headquarters on their own time). The fallout from this should be very interesting. (How long until the Blogging Tories "find" emails from Liberals advocating the same tactics)?

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They Write Editorials, Don't They

I grew up in London, Ontario. It is an interesting place. Until the late sixties when cable tv became common, London was too far from Detroit and Toronto to get their television signals and so developed its own unique culture. It is an old culture that is very much an offshoot of an older, English tradition. It was and is a small "c" conservative town and has been dominated by one newspaper, the London Free Press which traces its history back to Josiah Blackburn, who was an acquaintance of Sir John A. MacDonald.

Needless to say, I really never had much cause to agree with the editorial content of the Free Press which tended to be the voice of the west end, Anglican, Tories (since I was an east end Catholic socialist). To see such a paper publish this editorial gave me some pause. It tells me that the old anglo-establishment are disturbed by Stephen Harper. He is clearly seen as "not of the club" and definitely not a gentleman. This is an interesting development and bodes ill for the new and improved "Conservative" party going forward. If the old establishment turns on it, full force, the CPC will have a hard time expanding the vote beyond the Frank Miller/Mike Harris wing of the party in places like London, where they need seats.

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Uriah Harper Strikes Again

"We are so very 'umble."

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To My Friends In Right Blogistan

I encourage you to read Kevin Tillman's (Pat Tillman's brother) comment on the war in Iraq. I know, I know, Iraq and Afghanistan are two different cases. However, if you want to understand why the people of Canada are uncomfortable about Afghanistan, even though the cause may be just, you must read this. The sense of discomfort isn't about the rightness of the cause in Afghanistan, but the company we are keeping in that campaign. We do not question the bravery of our own troops, but in the wisdom of blindly following those who have made such a hash out of Iraq. There is a nagging feeling in the Canadian people that the same criminals and liars who have destroyed Iraq are bringing the same level of crimnality and lies to Afghanistan. That's why questions about our role there are becoming louder. To divorce Afghanistan from Iraq is unrealistic, as the obvious failures of the Iraq policies of the Bush Administration become less and less deniable.

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Schizoid Man

Our psychotic PM just two years ago:

"It's not the responsibility of the Official Opposition to support the entire program of the government. Two-thirds of Canadians did not vote for this government. The Liberal party can't expect to walk in and simply propose its own program that only one-third of Canadians supported and expect that everybody's going to vote for it."

Our psychotic PM today:

"This is not what Canadians voted for, it is not what Canadians want . . . I call upon the opposition to stop stalling and watering down legislation and do as they promised they would do in the election: pass the legislation and get tough on crime in this country."

You have to hand it to Psycho Steve, he doesn't let continuity of thought get in his way.

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Fit For A King

And the Dear Leader did desire to go to a Leaf's game with the Dauphin and it was made so. The Dear One was carried on the wings of angels to Toronto and it was good. Then, did the pesky wretches of the fourth estate inquire of the cost of angels. The Dear Leader and his minions were sore vexed, as they had hounded the evil Liberals with similar questions, lo those eons ago, before the ascension of the Dear One. "The cost is what the Dear Leader has decreed it to be and nothing more. For we are accountable!" came the reply from the palace. "Remember, reality is what we say it is. Look not upon the royal ledgers, or you will be struck down for your faithlessness!" The wretches scurried away unsatisfied -- away to their dark dens, to dream their dark dreams. But the people did rejoice, for the Dear Leader was happy. And Stephen slept with the sleep of the just, and it was so good. Amen.

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It Must Be In Their Jeans

Peter MacKay has nothing to fear, the base is with him all the way. Check out this comment from One More Middle Aged Guy, over at Dust My Broom:

Layton needs to be Belinda slapped for about 20 minutes………..

Get it? Belinda. Bitch. Funny eh?

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The Dear Leader Projects

Projection: (psychiatry) a defense mechanism by which your own traits and emotions are attributed to someone else.

At a news conference yesterday, Mr. Harper castigated the Liberal-dominated Senate for proposing amendments to the Accountability Act.

"The behaviour of the Liberal Party is arrogant and anti-democratic," Mr. Harper told reporters after a meeting with Mexican president-elect Felipe Calderon. "That's really the problem. They haven't accepted the decision of the electorate."

You mean the decision of the electorate to give your party a minority of the seats in the House? I think the opposition has accepted that reality very well. You, on the other hand and your party, are becoming more and more divorced from that reality every day.

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John Ibbitson Stupidity Watch

May I submit to Mr. Ibbitson that changing the way a province chooses its MPP's is not the same as proposing to break up a country.

May I also suggest to Mr. Ibbitson that voting in a "majority" government with 40% of the vote can have more serious repercussions for a province than instituting PR. All one has to do is look at the consequences to Ontario of electing "majority" Conservative governments between 1995 to 2003 for proof of that theory. When you allow a group of radicals take over the levers of power in a province, to grant them near dictatorial power, without the benefit of having earned the votes of a majority of the population of a province, you are in for trouble. You get a government that doesn't care about anyone but its core block of voters and knows if it keeps that block happy, it can safely ignore everyone else (imagine what Stephen Harper would do with 40% of the vote and 60% of the seats in Parliament) -- even if everyone else constitutes the majority of the population.

Mr. Ibbitson never addresses this little problem. Why should he? He is a partisan of a party that benefits, from time to time, in the status quo. The promise of unhindered power for a minority "majority" is just too great a temptation for a weak minded fellow like John Ibbitson. The man writes about a "consensus", but what he really is protecting is unlimited power for the few over the many. That's why we need PR, to cut such people off from total power.

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Question Without An Easy Answer

Would you rather take your chances riding on the roads in Afghanistan or fly in a Sea King?

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Like The Liberals...With Just A Hint Of Harper

From the London Free Press:

Less than an hour after former London mayor Dianne Haskett won the Conservative nomination Tuesday night, Joseph Dow, Conservative Party organizer for Ontario, issued a news release noting Haskett's first sign had sprouted on a north London lawn, in front of the Stoneybrook Crescent home of her former law partner, Michael Menear.

It was Dow who directed the local riding executive to hold the nomination meeting on eight days' notice and told Haskett a day earlier about it.

Dow has refused to speak to the media. (emphasis mine)

Less than an hour later? Gee, I wonder how they knew she would win? I wonder how long they have had that sign ready? No wonder Joe Dow is ducking the press. The Tories under the Dear Leader is already starting to smell suspiciously like the Liberals under Paul Martin.

But of course the Harper touch is already being felt by the good voters of London:

The name of Geoff Donald also appeared on the release and early next morning, Donald cancelled radio interviews Haskett had scheduled and, later in the day, cancelled a TV interview.

The short-notice cancellation vexed CJBK-AM host Steve Garrison and staff at CBC Ontario Morning, who had to scramble to find replacements. No new dates were promised.

"She's being muzzled and told not to talk to local media," said Garrison, who got five minutes' notice from Donald that his pre-arranged 8:20 a.m. live interview was off.

Steve doesn't like his people talking to the press, not that Haskett will mind. Remember she hid out at her cottage for three weeks during her final run for Mayor. It's a match made in heaven (in Haskett's case, literally).

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Another Example Of FPTP Wankery

Chantal Hebert pronouces Psycho Steve's government dead in Quebec. I agree with her analysis about his new Ontario strategy. Look for more so-cons to step forward as candidates in Ontario for the CPC. It really is their "Hail Mary" strategy, but it does have a certain internal logic. Go right, way right, and pray for a totally split opposition vote among three other parties in Ontario to steal a "majority" with 35% of the vote. The country will be fucked, but that's democracy as it is practiced in a first-past-the-post system.

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The "They Think We Are Stupid" Bill

Dalton McGuinty, not wanting to be left out of the wanker parade that includes Pat Binns and Gordon Campbell, has finally set the terms for the "democratic reform" referendum. No surprise, his government has set the bar at 60%. There is still a chance that we can change it if there is a public outcry, but given the level of cynicism in this province, coupled with the virtual dictatorship of a "majority" Liberal government (elected with a minority of the vote, by the way), it will not be easy. Send an email to your member and let them know how angry you are that democracy is being squashed yet again by people who are want to protect their own power. Failure is not an option here. Let's show these "democrats" what real democracy looks like.

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Question Du Jour

Is the Harper machine trying to get Dianne Haskett (the convicted discriminator of gays) into the Commons before a vote on same-sex marriage (one they will surely lose), in order to strengthen their bona fides (not that they need to be strenghened) with the McVety Wing of the party (you mean the base, surely -- ed.)?

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Slaves To Ideology And Crass Political Opportunism

News Item: Extend Terror Laws: MP's

Have we learned nothing from the experience of the folks living to our South? Typical ideological nonsense from the CPC and typical "me tooism" from the Liberals.

Update: At least the judicial branch seems to have learned some lessons from the past.

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Quack, Quack

Greg Staples once accused me of being under the sway of Walrus Magazine when I said the the CPC was in the pocket of social conservatives. In other words I am just a paranoid lefty. Well, that as may be, but given that the CPC's leading candidate to run in London North Centre (who was given notice of the by-election by party officials, even before London Tories) is a big time social conservative and pro-Tory pundits are trumpeting that fact, it doesn't take a paranoid mind to connect the dots. If a party talks like a social conservative and actively recruits social conservatives,it is probably in the pocket of social conservatives.

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Summarizing The Clean Air Act In One Sentence

Canadians wanted a "Nixon to China" from Harper, but got a "Cheney to Houston", instead.

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Bring Me The Head Of Dave Chan

King Steve has renewed his war with the press gallery, it seems. This time he banned a photographer from taking his picture because he once dared criticize the Dear Leader. Shame on Rick Mercer's producer for knuckling under to that pyschotic bastard. They should have started the show by saying they were going to show pictures of Rick and his psychotic lordship, but were prevented from doing so by order of the king. Then they could have shown some of Rick's holiday snaps instead. Letting the psychotic one get away with shit like this just reaffirms his own God complex and rewards bad behavior. Wag of the finger Rick. Wag of the finger.

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Look Away. No Politics Here

News Item Today: Cabinet minister makes surprise visit to Afghanistan

News Item Last Week: Document confirms senators warned against trip

Isn't it interesting that Tory cabinet ministers breeze in and out of Afghanistan on a regular basis (making politically adventageous announcements), but it is "too dangerous" for a small group of Liberal Senators to make the same trip. Surely, it is just a coincidence, eh?

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Open Letter To Peter MacKay

Dear Peter,

I don't want to interrupt you while you are carrying on your vital survey of sewage treatment plants, but you have a problem. The problem is you were caught on tape saying something truly nasty about Belinda. I realize denying reality is a prerequiste when joining the FEC's, but you look like a complete asshole. Bite the bullet, admit you said what you said, and move on. Otherwise, this issue will follow you around like a bad smell and people might begin to wonder whether Canada wants its chief diplomatic politician to be a sexist and a liar to boot (although if we ask David Orchard, that ship may have already sailed). Come on Peter, face the music. You will feel better about yourself, I promise.

Your friend,
Greg

Update:BTW, we have a winner of the Barbara Amiel Award, given to the dumbest female columnist in the country. The latest honoree is Ms. Christie Blatchford. Her award winning column is about the dog incident, but she isn't being honored for her contribution to that discussion. No, she is being awarded this prestigious award for her "funny" comment at the end of the column about silicone breast implants. So, let's hear it for Christie Blatchford, a truly remarkable human being.

Update 2: Note to the friends of Peter in the blogging community. You are digging yourselves a deeper hole for your friend. Your party already has problems attracting women. Stop digging.

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Tories Headed For The Edge Of The World

Whoa, Robo Pundit is sounding more and more like a blogger every day (and I mean that in a good way). He doesn't hold back when expressing his disgust at the gross stupidity that is the CPC under Psycho Steve. He has even coined a phrase that will, henceforth, be used here when talking about the followers of the cult of Steve. They shall be known as "Flat-earth conservatives", or FEC's.

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Is Peter MacKay Better Than Kim Jong Il?

If Kim can say "I'm sorry" about the whole nuclear thing, why can't Peter find it in his heart to apologise to Belinda?

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Visiting the Relatives, Peter?

Peter MacKay was busy conducting the people's business, when he was confronted by reporters over his stupid remarks in the House of Commons:

"The Speaker will rule on that," he said tersely after touring a sewage treatment plant (emphasis mine) on the Halifax waterfront.

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Peter MacKay's Logical Mind

A brilliant syllogism from that sage of parliament, Peter "Pan" MacKay:

All dogs are loyal
Belinda is a dog
Therefore, Belinda is loyal

Our government is being run by stupid, sexist, idiots. Hat tip to Bart.

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Quote Of The Day

From Chatal Hebert, in her damning assessment of the so-called "Clean Air Act":

The same Conservative government that daily argues that Canada would skirt its responsibilities to the rest of the world by standing down in Afghanistan, apparently thinks nothing of simply shrugging off its agreed-upon environmental obligations to the planet.

For 13 years the Liberals did virtually nothing to meet our Kyoto goals. That was bad enough, but to walk away from them completely as the Tories now want us to, is nothing short of criminal. Harper is a thug leader of a party of thugs. He and they need to be shown the door as soon as possible, so Canada can attempt to recover from their irresponsible "governing".

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Business As Usual For The Harperites

One community gets stroked, while another gets slapped. Steve's motto is "Suck up to the powerful and terrorize the weak". It is the universal cry of all sociopaths.

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Peter "Pan" MacKay

If you don't all clap, Afghanistan will die!

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The Amazing Team Of Ambrose and Clement

Q: Tell us ministers when will there be measurable declines in greenhouse gases?

A:

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Learning To Love Stephen Harper

Note to CPC supporters. When a normally good-natured and not-completely-hostile columnist begins to compare Stephen Harper to Big Brother, you are fucked.

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Springtime For Harper And Canada

Harper's miltary fetish, his gutting of the Status of Women, his determination to empower the gun culture. It all fits. Read this and be warned.

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Everybody Loves A Pat On The Head

Oh Blogging Tories, can not a day go by without you looking down on another region of the country because its inhabitants may just disagree with the Dear Leader? Your approach is, as always, charming and lauditory. We all know how people love to be patronized. Keep up the good work. You are doing a service to your country, by showing everyone just what the CPC stands for.

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Steve's Is One Of The Littlest

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson


One of the cliches, firmly adhered to by the chattering classes, concerns Harper's "steadfastness". The cliche goes something like, whether you love him or hate him, people respect him because he does what he says he will do and has firmly held beliefs. What a pile of crap. I hate Harper with a red-hot passion and I do not respect him for his blind ignorance and stubborn stupidity on, say global warming (pick any issue), any more than I could respect the Captain of the Titanic for "knowing" he could make it through a little ice. Doing something because you are too dim, arrogant, or ideologically blinkered to consider any other alternative, is not a mark of leadership, it is a sign of pathology. Really people, spare me the triumph of the will bullshit. Any idiot can mulishly stay the course. Bush has proven that to America's dismay. Idiocy should be corrected not admired and the sooner the puditocracy learns this, the better off we all will be.

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Of Bombing Bridges

Chantal Hebert's column is worth a look today. I know Greg Staples is puzzled by her negativity toward "Canada's New Government" (puke, puke), but I am not. I realize being ideologically pure sells in Conservative circles (just as it does in certain NDP ones), but it is not a recipe for electoral success in a country that is as non-ideological as Canada. Harper, for all of his supposed tactical genius, has proven himself to be deaf, dumb and blind when it comes to making decisions that go against his narrow ideological leanings. Same sex marriage; the cuts to adult literacy; his bizarre views on global warming; his desire to scrap the gun registry; his "My Israel, right or wrong" comments; all stem from his ideological worldview. His stances on these issues are pure gold to his base, but are radioactive in Quebec and to a huge segment of voters living in the rest of Canada. It appears that Harper has decided that he would rather be "right" than popular. That's fine, but in the end, despite his and conservative protests, politics is about being popular enough to beat the other guy. That's something Harper seems to either not care about, or doesn't yet understand.

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What Is Newspeak For Emergency Political Slush Fund?

The dear leader was asked today, given the recent announcements of massive layoffs, the softwood lumber deal was killing the Canadian industry. Perish the thought was his reply:

"No. It's quite the opposite. This is really due to two things. It's due to the softening of the lumber market in the United States which is one of the reasons we had to get the softwood lumber deal signed otherwise things were going to get a lot worse a lot more quickly. There are also some long-term trends in the forest industry that are troubled. There are challenges in the industry particularly on the pulp-and-paper side and we said all along the softwood lumber deal is necessary to provide stability for our industry in the future but it's not sufficient. The government will be coming forward with additional measures to help the industry."

Two things occur. First, how wise and prescient our beloved Prime Minister was to sign a deal that puts our forest industry at such a disadvantage when the price of lumber goes down, just as the price of lumber is going down (although how such a deal is the opposite of doing badly by our lumber producers is beyond this poor wretch). Second, how generous this prince of a man is, that he is willing to go out now and hand out cash to the surely grateful peasants, as his bounty flows like wine. I seem to remember it was only but a few short weeks ago that the angry lord of the domain was telling his vassals to go screw themselves. No that can't be. It must be some sort of Liberal trickery. Our magnificient king would not use the public treasury to cover for his own knavery. Perish the thought.

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Steve Harper: Brain-Dead Moron Or Psychotic Maniac?

I see our beloved PM has been at it again. In remarking on the rather loose "war crimes" talk by Iggy, Steve responded:

“This is consistent with the anti-Israeli position that has been taken by virtually all of the candidates for the Liberal leadership,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s helpful or useful.”

Leaving aside the fact that he is including Bob Rae (yes the same Bob Rae with the Jewish wife and children) in this list, I have to ask, "Is our PM playing with a full deck"?

Steve may not realize this yet but he is Prime Minister of all Canadians. He is not PM of the crazy-cousin-marrying-wooly-hat-wearing-mouth-breathing wing of the Tory Party. For a prime minister to get up and say that there is only one pro-Israel party in Canada and that is the CPC and everyone who disagrees with that party is therefore against Israel is not just irresponsible, it is insane. Are we to take from this that the inverse is true? Are we to understand that the Tory party is anti-arab? Does this mean that Steve is not interested in their side of the story? Does Steve not realize that he is the prime minister of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country and to pit one group against another is not only not in the best interests of his party, but positively poisonous to the country?

By this act, Harper has shown himself yet again to be completely incapable of understanding the nature of either the country or his job. The word "prick" was invented just for him.

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Harper Is Lying Again

Ok, he may not be technally lying, but he sure is tap-dancing on the line. Harper said this as almost a throw away at the end of his speech yesterday:

I have no doubt there are those who will say we are not doing enough.

That these steps don’t go far enough or fast enough.

But that is what they said when the acid rain treaty was signed in 1991.

In fact, that is what they said generally about the last Conservative government – until, earlier this year, they finally acknowledged it to be the greenest in Canada’s history.

The implication was, of course, that there just isn't any pleasing those damn environmentalists. This is the typical self-pitying refrain of the base and Harper is not only their leader, but a true believer. But is it true? This had such an air of "truthiness" to it that I just had to check it out. Here is the headline from the Kitchener Record, from February 23, 1991: Acid rain victories prompt group to fold In that article, we get reaction of the acid rain accord from Michael Perley of the Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain:

Perley and Hurley are taking a break from full-time lobbying to concentrate on an environmental consulting firm they established a few years ago.

"We're downscaling the coalition very substantially," said Perley, a one-time fundraiser for the Canadian Environmental Law Association.

"Big activism is no longer necessary," he said in an interview this week.

More than 50 groups - including the Canadian Auto Workers, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and Pollution Probe - belong to the coalition, giving it a membership of more than two million.

"We understand and agree with the coalition that major strides have been made," said Terry Quinney, a spokesman for the anglers and hunters group, which has about 70,000 members.(Kitchener Record p.A4)

Wow, that is pretty damning criticism of the accord. They declared victory and downsized. It sure sounds like they were pretty pleased with the accord to me. I guess with Harper and the Conservatives, there is no reason to let the truth get in the way of self-serving revisionist history.

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