Gold

What you are hearing is a collective sigh of relief, from an entire nation. We got away with one today, boys. Kudos to the Americans.

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Greg's Crystal Ball

Prorogation has not worked out very well for the government. They are going to face a possible vote on censure, in the next week or so, on the Afghanistan torture files. To avoid this fate, if I was Harper (which thank God, I am not, ekkk), I would have one of my minions announce a Royal Commission some time this weekend. Then I would take about seven months setting the terms and getting that puppy up and running. Then I would go to court to stop the Royal Commission from seeing anything I didn't want it to see. By the time it cleared the courts, the next election will have come and gone, in which case, I would either still be king of Canada, or collecting a fat paycheck from an American think tank.

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Dalton McGuinty's New Statue Of Liberty For Bankers

"Give me your tony, your rich, your huddled bankers yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of Wall Street and The City. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door."**

**not actually gold, but feel free to loot the province.

Just what Ontario needs -- international bankers. What? There were no investors willing to build greenhouses here?

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Guergis Loses Role As Anne Of Green Gables...

Calls PEI a "Shithole". Let's see if Harper protects her as much as Rob Anders. My guess is, since she is no threat to start her own party, Helena is in some deep doo doo.

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Danny's Choice

Danny Williams was faced with a choice -- spend the month of February in Florida, or in Ottawa -- when evaluating his heart operation options (I am sure this procedure is not done in any of the northern states at this time of year, either). Do you think it took a lot of "soul searching" to choose Florida? That he had to shit on the Canadian health care system as a result of his choice, I am sure, kept him up at night.

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Goats Who Stare At Men

Patrick Muttart is trying to be helpful again. Let the mockery begin!

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Jeebus

Read Gerald Caplan. It is the best thing you will read this weekend. Money quote:

From his thousands of speeches and many writings, they were able to collect invaluable secret information that was otherwise known only to the millions who heard him speak or who read his words. But only the Mounties had the resources to decipher the real message embedded deep within Douglas's deceptively sincere calls for a more just society for all Canadians. We now know this was one of the greatest hoaxes in Canadian history, equalled perhaps only by the notion that the Harper government is fit to govern.

Gold. Pure Gold.

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Bimbo Erruptions

Are Stephen Harper's worst nightmare. Here is, trying to return to his blue sweater vest glory days and some yahoo from the sticks is throwing his own feces at Louis Riel. That this goof would publish this closing-time-at-the-Orange-Lodge manifesto (paid for,I am assuming, by Metis tax dollars), tells us a lot about the man. That the PMO has to use all of its resources to try to keep these loony impulses suppressed, tell us a lot more about the party in power and its membership.

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Olympic Quote Of The Day

Damien Cox, in describing the close game last night, wrote:

The resulting continuity and cohesiveness almost helped the Swiss overcome Canadian size and talent for the second straight Olympics. Stephen Harper might have even had to restore our democratic institutions if that had happened at Canada Hockey House on Thursday.

One unlikely event deserves another, I suppose.

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The Class Struggle And The Cauldron

To me, the issue isn't whether or not the barrier between the people and the Olympic flame is made out of chain link or Plexiglas. The issue is, if you are a VIP, there is no barrier to access, whereas if you are a citizen of the country whose tax dollars paid for the Olympics, there is. The message VANOC is sending is clear. There are two classes of spectators at these Olympics and the fence makes it clear which is the preferred class. I can think of no better symbol of the modern Olympic movement.

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Now That 2011 Is Coming Up Fast

And our troops will be pulling out of Afghanistan, the PM and his cronies are looking for our next war. God, the man loves him some war.

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Open Letter To The Idiots Smashing Window In Vancouver

Dear Assholes,

What do you think you are accomplishing smashing windows and picking fights with bystanders, on the streets of Vancouver? I realize such bullshit behaviour gives you credibility with the dicks you call your friends, but it does nothing to advance your cause and in fact plays into the hands of the morons running the country. Every time one of you asshats picks up a rock an tosses it at a cop or a storefront, another member of the middle class becomes vulnerable to the "law and order" crap the Conservatives are spreading around like manure in the Spring. Do me a favor, stop acting like your shit doesn't stink and use your fucking brains for a change. Thanks a lot for you time.

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Funny, I Didn't Even See Dimitri Soudas' Lips Move

James Moore is the latest PMO marionette. Just one day after the Dear Leader hijacked the BC legislature to tell everyone to stop thinking and start cheering, Mr. Moore denounced opposition parties for using the Olympic Games to score political points. Mr. Moore is normally an intelligent fellow and so I must conclude this nonsense is being scripted by Dimitri and his fellow frat packers in the the PMO.

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Short Harper At The BC Legislature

Dear Canadians. Turn off your cerebral cortex and use your lizard brain for the next few weeks. You may find you like it and decide to use your lizard brain exclusively. Then you will be ideal Conservative voters. God bless Canada.

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Dimitri's Next Smear Victim

The CEO of the TD Bank (I know!), for having the temerity to suggest that the way to handle deficits is to have people pay for their services, rather than just clap really, really loudly and hope for the best.

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Stupid Pollsterism Of The Day

Only in the world of polling can a party that stays at 31% be considered recovering from a dip in popularity.

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Compare And Contrast

Dimitri Soudas in the aftermath of the Insite protest:

"This was supposed to be a day of celebration but unfortunately those protesters were very violent and it has to created a serious security risk for those inside," Soudas said.

Jun Ing, one of the "victims" of this "terror"(and yes, Dimitri did use that word on Power and Politics):

"This is what's so beautiful about Canada, this is a free country," said Ing, secretary-general of the Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver. "But I'm hoping they could be a little more considerate next time."

See the difference? One is criticizing the actions of the protest in the mildest of terms, while the other is completely bat-shit crazy. For any Conservatives reading this, the bat-shit crazy one is Dimitri Soudas.

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Is Dimitri Soudas Insane

Or just a lousy spinner? Either way, he should not be the chief spokesman for the Prime Minister. This is the second time in six months that little Dimitri has accused someone of organizing protests against the Prime Minister, without proof and in public (but the first time he accused someone of endangering the lives of innocent children, without proof). The guy is a disgrace and must resign.

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Peter MacKay And The Case Of The Compromised Commander

Peter MacKay was in Vancouver today, visiting the troops who were busy guarding the curling rink from the Taliban. The Defence Minister, upon hearing the news that the commander of the base at Trenton had been charged with murder, repeatedly replied: "Support the troops!" to every question put to him. A spokesperson from the PMO could only add that the press were obviously pro-Taliban and that they should "Support the troops!".

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Sounds Fair

Walkom on the new Trade Deal:

To put it another way, we've promised to open our so-called sub-national government procurement markets permanently in exchange for partial access to a U.S. program that is due to expire in 11 days.

This is beginning to sound a lot like the softwood lumber hosing, we took a few years back. If we lived in a functioning democracy, someone could hold the government to account. Unfortunately, we don't live in a functioning democracy.

Almost Instant Update: Since this whole thing now depends on the provinces to go along with the madness, and since they have somewhat more functional democracies, perhaps someone should be standing up in their legislatures to ask why their premiers are willing to cut the throats of the next generation of their citizens?

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The New Trade Deal

Colour CUPE unimpressed:

With the bulk of U.S. stimulus money already spent, the deal does very little to resolve the issue that started the dispute - specifically, that Canada could not profit from U.S. stimulus dollars. However, the new agreement will leave the 'Buy America' provisions basically intact, and only applies to the 37 states that have signed on to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

Meanwhile, under WTO rules provinces and municipalities will lose an important policy tool in the form of local purchasing power.

"Buy local policies are good for the environment and for Canadian businesses, and they keep jobs and tax revenues in the community. Why the Harper government would enter Canada into such an uneven deal for Canada is baffling," said Moist.

The agreement may also open the floodgates to increased privatization of public services such as water and hydro. While provincial and municipal procurement was previously excluded from NAFTA, now U.S. investors will be able to launch Chapter 11 investor rights challenges if they feel provinces or municipalities are taking policy actions that harm their interests.

"This deal commits Canadian governments to forfeit valuable procurement sovereignty, while the U.S. offer is largely empty. This kind of risk is the last thing we need during an economic slowdown. Our government needs to look at improving its own record of research, development and innovation, instead of selling our provinces and municipalities short."

If the last part of this is in fact the case, the government has some explaining to do. How is privatization of water good for the country? Will it lead to bulk water exports? Will the lights come on and will an Enron rise up to gouge consumers for the privilege of having electricity? All of these questions should rightly be put to the Prime Minister in the House, but we all know the PM would rather give speeches in BC than answer questions in his own Parliament.

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Excuse Me

But I seem to have missed the vote where we gave the government the mandate to create an economic union with the United States.

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Panic Grips The PMO

Realizing that prorogation was the worst political mistake since Pierre Trudeau handed John Turner a list of his friends to find jobs for, the PMO is starting to throw furniture out the windows, in a vain attempt to get the Langevin Block to levitate. You can almost hear them screaming "Hey Canadians, you don't like prorogation? What if we never take a break again? Would you like us better? Huh? Huh?" And still, the long, sad, decline in their fortunes continue.

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Priorities

The government today told the Supreme Court to go fuck itself and what did the CBC's premier politics program lead its broadcast with? The "breaking story" that the government might cut back on athletic subsidies after the Olympics. Pathetic. No wonder the government thinks it is ok to send Dmitri Soudas to talk about Omar Khadr. They never would have gotten away with that with Don Newman. Evan Solomon looks like Bambi in the headlights.

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Overheard In Afghanistan

Afghan: Canada is a great country. It is a democracy!
Canadian: Yes it is.
Afghan: In your country, if a government does something wrong, your Parliamentary committees will hold it to account.
Canadian: Actually, the government has the power to paralyze committees using procedural tricks.
Afghan: Well, surely your Parliament wouldn't stand for such tricks and would remedy the situation.
Canadian: Actually, the Prime Minister has the power to shut down Parliament at will, if he doesn't like what is going on.
Afghan(with a look of triumph): But your courts, are powerful. Surely they can hold your government to account?
Canadian: Actually, the Prime Minister has the power to ignore the Supreme Court in some cases.
Afghan: And this is the model you want to import into Afghanistan? Sir, you are wasting your time, we already have this model in place.

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Priorities

NDP MP, Glenn Thibeault is worried about violence in sport. He is so worried that he wants the government to do something to curb it. Yes, this is the same Glenn Thibeault who voted to scrap the long gun registry.

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