Wednesday, February 04, 2015

The Absurd and Obscene Canonization of John Baird



I honestly thought that I would never have to write another word about the Con clown John Baird. And it was such a great feeling.

I thought I had said all I needed to say about his shabby political career in this post. 

But unfortunately I'm going to have to write another post to register my protest at the way the opposition parties fell over themselves praising him yesterday.

Or all but canonizing him. Making it sound like he was a saint flawed only by his partisan passion, instead of a political thug.  

After 20 years in politics, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird told the House of Commons that it's time for him to step down. Baird stood in the House on Tuesday morning and started his speech by recalling his early years in the Ontario legislature under then Premier Mike Harris.

One who would have the nerve to wax nostalgically about his years in the brutish Harris regime in this outrageous manner:



"I was perhaps just a little naive. Driven by ideology, defined by partisanship, at the age of 25," Baird began.

"I quickly learned though to make a difference, to really make a difference, you can't be defined by partisanship, nor by ideology. You need instead to be defined by your values," he said.


When he spent his years in the Harris government going after the poorest people in Ontario like a rabid animal. Even demanding that welfare recipients be drug tested. 

He has always been a partisan pitbull whose yapping performances helped turn our parliament into a dog and pony show. Or a fascist circus.



He wouldn't recognize a Canadian value if it jumped up and bit him.

And the only thing that ever defined him was his fanatical loyalty to the filthy Con cult and its depraved leader Stephen Harper.

Who was all over his faithful flunky today, in a most frightful manner...



But what made it even worse, was that so were so many members of the opposition.

Baird was a popular MP, respected and liked by his opposition critics. They would frequently lock horns in the House or at committee but, away from the cameras, his opponents found a receptive ear. 

New Democrat foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar, whose Ottawa Centre riding sits next to Baird's, and international development critic Hélène Laverdière, a former diplomat, were among the first to line up in the House on Tuesday to hug the departing minister.

Hugging him like a teddy bear, and spouting nonsense like this:



Dewar applauded Baird for his work fighting discrimination against gays and lesbians around the world, and for his commitment to fighting sexual violence.

Because let's be clear, John Baird never lifted a finger to help oppressed LGBT people until the very last moments of his time in office. And when he did it was a pinky finger. 

Neither did he ever speak out for gay rights in this country, or do anything to help bullied LGBT children. While serving in a party full of homophobes, and servicing a Prime Minister who has voted against every gay rights bill that has ever been brought before Parliament.

And while we're at it, I also don't know who Paul Dewar was speaking about when he said this:

Baird found his best footing as minister of foreign affairs, Dewar said, praising him for co-operating with opposition MPs. "As passionate as he can get, as partisan as he can get, and he can, he is also someone who reaches out. He is also someone who understands the importance of getting things done," Dewar said.


But it couldn't have been this minister of foreign affairs...



The grovelling stooge of Benjamin Netanyahu's brutal racist regime.

Who among other shameful things, justified that war criminal's savage slaughter of Palestinian children...



And did not allow any of the wounded children to be brought to Canada to be treated in our hospitals. Which makes him in my book of Canadian values at least, not much better than a war criminal himself. 

And definitely not somebody to be hugged like a teddy bear.

But that's Ottawa, the incestuous Village on the Rideau. The chummy little place where politicians and the media go around impressing themselves, and sniffing their own farts. And one more reason we need a mighty Stop Harper movement to keep them all honest.

And in that regard, at least now we know why Baird is leaving so suddenly.

Not just because he can see the writing on the wall grave of the Con regime. But because he does want his juicy pension.

By not running in 2015, Baird also qualifies for his pension, under an old rule, at age 55. Parliament increased the qualifying age to 65 years old but that policy only covers those who are elected or re-elected in 2015.

One he will NOT unlike the poor people he once tormented, need to be drug tested to receive.

And that I fervently hope, is the last thing I'll ever have to say about John Baird.

Except of course Bye Bye Johnny.

And good riddance...



This was no love story, it was a horror story.

But at least it will have a happy ending.

Baird is riding off into the sunset, heading for well deserved oblivion.

And soon his monstrous master will be following him...

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29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Paul Dewer often disappoints me. And I thought it was a disgrace too how they all praised Baird. Especially after his actions on Palestine. .

Marmalade said...

Personally, if I had just announced to my fellow workers that I was leaving a job, for whatever reasons, and everyone started clapping........I do think I would be insulted! haha!


thwap said...

A-fucking-men Simon. He was a dipshit, a living farce. An ugly, stupid brute.

mizdarlin said...

As an ex-union activist, I can testify to the fact that flattering your enemies, as gag-producing as it can be, is a common practice when they leave, retire, die or whatever...I saw it often enough at conventions that I was thoroughly cynical about any sort of political activism afterwards...it's all about power, and that is a language that is universal for anyone involved in politics at any level..
I was kind of shocked by Dewar's comments at first, but really, I know that they all do it..it's considered politically correct to not bash 'em when they are departing. It's one of the many things that turned me off about partisan politics, because, in the end, all those politicians are swilling from the same trough, like it or not...I guess the only sane way to approach it is to look South for an example of what happens when there is no co-operation between parties, in fact, the entire country is held hostage..not to say that Harper hasn't done his share of dirty business,, aided and abetted by Baird, but you have to wonder if there isn't another reason for all the back-slapping that we just don't know about or understand..
The older I get, the less surprised I become about any of this, but I've had a few decades to watch, and learn, and trying to understand seems pointless..just fighting it all, the best way I can, takes up all the energy I have left..
It's really nice to see the back of Baird, but let us not forget, there is always another one, drooling at the prospect, hiding in the wings...

Unknown said...

"...fascist circus..." Ya no shit Simon.

Cheers,
Mogs Moglio

Ray Blessin said...

Let's just wait and see where "Rusty" lands.

e.a.f. said...

where he lands? my bet, selling military equipment.

Anonymous said...

CTV reported that Baird was constantly banging heads with mega bitch Jenny Byrne on their approach to the election and there was bad blood simmering between he and Dear Leader. Like him or not, he's done us a huge favour by bailing now as others may start following suit to either reap their pensions and/or because they are fed up with the demented dictator.

Noah said...

Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Let's say the kind words directed at him are true, that means Baird is nothing but a hollow puppet for Harper with nary a shred of respect for anyone, who would gleefully cast off his own morals in favour of the rampant corruption and callousness of his party.
Because nobody with any dignity acts like Baird.

More realistically it's all self-serving ingratiation and a shallow show of bipartisanship during an election year.

Anonymous said...

Harper has a list of degenerates as long as his arm. Some are already in prison, others are on their way. I had thought the opposition gushed over Baird to show Harper up. Baird quit so suddenly and many say, Harper and Baird had not been getting along.

Harper refuses his Ministers to do their jobs. He over rules and dictates to them and does not take their advice. Ministers are not happy with, Harper's FIPA deal with China. Ministers advised against Soudas, being brought in. Flaherty had been set against income splitting.

Now, Harper has brought terrorist attacks upon our heads, as political gains for him. Bairds mouth is just as big as Harper's and has embarrassed Canadians on more than a few occasions.

David said...

I think Simon over-reacted to Paul Dewar's comments about Baird. When Dewar was on CBC-TV yesterday he said he appreciated Baird taking him and Marc Garneau to Israel, but wasn't shy in saying Baird has strong Con views, and that he (Dewar) disagrees with many/most of them.

David said...

John Baird was tossed overboard by Harper’s dictatorship-style PMO
http://www.canadianprogressiveworld.com/2015/02/03/john-baird-tossed-overboard-harpers-dictatorship-style-pmo/

Steve said...

The officail opinion of the CRAP party is expressed by a certian newspaper. They are crapping all over Rusty.

Simon said...

hi anon...I don't know what got into Dewar. It's acceptable to bid Baird farewell in a most polite manner. But he simply went overboard, and you don't hug a man with a record like his...

Simon said...

hi Kathleen...well I hadn't thought of it like that. They should have hired a Mariachi band, and it would have been perfect... ;)

Simon said...

hi thwap...thanks. I would have been happy to see Baird shamble off into the sunset without writing a word. But the chorus of praise enraged me, and I couldn't let him get away with that...

Simon said...

hi mizdarlin...I understand that it is common for people to be hypocritical and use weasel words when those who were their enemies leave. And I don't object to maintaining some decorum even n our corrupted Parliament. I just thought that Baird was being excessively praised, and I wanted to set the record straight, so nobody can be under any illusions who he really was...

Simon said...

hi mogs...yeah, I know some people object to the use of the word fascist. But they have turned our Parliament into a circus, and the way they demean our democracy is what fascists do....

Simon said...

hi Ray...oh he will land on his feet in Bay Street somewhere, where I read recently most of his former staffers end up. So what with his large pension, and his new job, and all those speaking engagements he is already lining up, he will definitely end up high on the hog, appropriately enough...

Simon said...

hi e.a.f...well goodness knows after the way he has been flogging weapons all over the Middle East, I wouldn't be surprised if her ended up as an arms dealer. And don't forget, his mightiest weapon is his mouth... ;)

Simon said...

hi anon...yes I saw that and it is interesting. The pitbull John Baird versus the hyena Jenny Byrne going at each other. I would have given anything to witness that one. And it does confirm what I've heard. Byrne is on a rampage, and Baird isn't the only one she is pissing off....

Simon said...

hi Noah...I must say that I find the chummy atmosphere on Parliament Hill both hypocritical and absurd after what the Cons have done to our Parliament. And in that regard Baird must share a large part of the blame, for there was no louder and more obstreperous Con. And the reaction to his parting should have been far more muted. For he deserves nothing more than the contempt of his peers...

Simon said...

hi anon...after Harper no Con has embarrassed us as much in the eyes of the world did. Some things are forgivable, but that is not...

Simon said...

hi David...I overreacted? How could you say that when I was only reacting to the over- reaction. I'm not saying Paul Dewar is a bad guy, he isn't. But fawning over Baird because he took him and Garneau on one of his trips, at the end of his career, struck me as pathetic. And Dewar's comments about how Baird was a great defender of the LGBT cause was simply absurd. He wasn't and all of the gay people I know disowned him long ago....

Simon said...

hi David...I find it very hard to imagine Baird as a victim of his own government. But something clearly happened, and I won't rest until I find out... ;)

Simon said...

hi Steve....well that'll teach him that there is no loyalty among the Cons. One moment they're at your feet, the next moment they're at your throat...

Unknown said...

Amazing with Baird's departure that makes 21 Harper-cons who have jumped the Sad Ship [SS] Harper but wait the news is better Brent Rathgeber who crossed the floor to sit as an Independent the news keeps getting better that bings the SS Harper cons down 22!!!!!!! Ya gotta love it.

Perhaps we will meet the winds of real change Simon.

Unknown said...

I forgot to include the list most are from Ontario and Alberta :-)

http://www.canadianprogressiveworld.com/2014/09/16/conservative-mps-jumping-harpers-sinking-ship/

David said...

Conservatives introduce new cabinet minister, Mungo
http://www.thebeaverton.com/science-a-tech/item/1744-conservatives-introduce-new-cabinet-minister-mungo