Saturday, May 09, 2015

Is Stephen Harper Slowly Cracking Up?



In one of my last posts I wrote about how Stephen Harper had been hit by a perfect storm of bad news. 

Which had left him badly shaken up, clinging to his sanity with both hands, and screaming with frustration.

And at a news conference yesterday that was only too apparent. For all the pancake makeup and mascara in the world couldn't conceal the fear in his cold dead eyes.

Or as Chantale Hebert writes, make him look more like a man who is just glad he made it to the weekend. 

Set aside Tuesday’s NDP’s election victory in the Conservative heartland of Alberta and Stephen Harper’s ruling party still had a terrible week.

All week, partisan overkill made the government look both ugly and inept. It is hard to think of a more self-defeating combination for a party that is about to solicit a fourth mandate.


The wheels seem to be coming off the Con bus. The reckless decision to endanger the lives of our soldiers in Iraq for the sake of a cheap photo-op is turning into a neverending nightmare... 



Another video showing the faces of Canadian military personnel has surfaced on the prime minister's website, just days after his office was forced to remove two similar videos that potentially endangered soldiers' lives.

His attempt to pose as a Great Warrior Leader has failed. His massive propaganda machine is out of control. The young fanatics in the PMO don't know what they're doing.

The trial of Mike Duffy is turning into the trial of the Con regime.

Slowly but inexorably, the disgraced senator’s trial continues to turn into a trial by proxy of the ethical culture that prevails at the highest levels of the current government.

Omar Khadr's news conference has revealed that the real monster is not Omar, it's Harper...



As the former Guantanamo detainee holds his first scrum, it becomes apparent why Harper’s government was so adamant that he not be allowed to speak to the media. It was easier to paint Khadr as an unredeemable terrorist in the abstract than it will be now that most Canadians have the opportunity to hear from the actual person.

And as Andrew Coyne points out, what other government could do so many things WRONG in just 24 hours?

If one were to draw up an indictment of this government’s approach to politics and the public purpose, one might mention its wholesale contempt for Parliament, its disdain for the Charter of Rights and the courts’ role in upholding it, its penchant for secrecy, its chronic deceitfulness, its deepening ethical problems, its insistence on taking, at all times, the lowest, crudest path to its ends, its relentless politicization of everything.  

But you’d think you would need to look back over its record over several years to find examples. You wouldn’t think to see them all spread before you in the course of a single day.

I mean that's one for the Guinness Book of Fascists eh?

And the best news?  Despite all the millions Harper has spent promoting his porky budget, and himself, his polls are STILL going nowhere.

Despite a heavily a heavily publicized Harper government budget, the Liberals appear to be closing the gap and are now effectively tied with the Conservatives, who are now at 30.3 points and have seen a gentle erosion in their support since their peak of 35 points in early February. The Liberals are at 29.6 per cent and the NDP are at 24.2.

Conservative fortunes have stalled, virtually eliminating any chance of an early election call. The NDP, meanwhile, have been consistently polling around 23-24 points for several weeks now, territory that was relatively foreign to them just a few short months ago. 

Even some seniors are abandoning him:

Seniors, who responded well to the April 21st budget, have nestled back into their old patterns and the commanding lead enjoyed by the Conservatives last week has narrowed from 18 points to just seven.

He's heading in the wrong direction...



So is the economy. 

Nearly 20,000 jobs disappeared across the Canadian economy in April, the biggest drop in eight months, even though the unemployment rate remained at 6.8 per cent as many people stopped looking work.

And when you add it all up, it explains why Stephen Harper is suddenly looking so desperate.


The strain is just too much.

And he is going CRAZY...



You know, we've gone through some dark times in the last few months, when it seemed that Stephen Harper could do no wrong.

But now EVERYTHING is going wrong for him and his Cons.

And I think it's safe to say that the wind is now in OUR sails...



In fact, I'm going to test that theory out today.

Because that's the other bit of good news eh?

We also made it to the weekend. 

Have a great one everybody !!!

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27 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think Harper was cracked a long time ago Simon. The fits of white hot rage and furniture tossing just touch the surface of the "bats in his belfry". Doesn't he look good in the light colored khakis? He'd look even better in institutional whites wouldn't you think?
JD

thwap said...

You've been predicting a crack-up for years Simon. On the other hand, harper has been insane the whole time anyway.

mizdarlin said...

Frankly that poll is depressing, Simon, since it shows virtually nothing...
Let's not forget the polls were at a dead heat in the UK, too, yet the Cons won a majority..talk about depressing..
We can never rest on our progressive laurels until after the next election..I don't trust polls at all anymore, and I think they are simply exploited by the rightwing to get so called progressives to sit back and think they won't have to vote at all, why, look at the polls..
To our own disgrace in BC, that is what happened here..all the polls said that the BCLibs were toast...yet they got a majority, and now we are stuck with them..
When we talk about polls I think we are doing the ConDevil's work for them, and giving everyone a sense that all is well..it's been wrong, twice now, and I don't trust anything bot the end results on election day...

Hugh said...

The Conservative Government has signed deals which would allow foreign investors and corporations to sue Canada over our laws they don't like.

I'm not sure why anyone would vote for that.

Unknown said...

Enjoy Simon! This has been a great week for progressives!

David said...

Song: Heave Steve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWgYC6wWNWU&feature=youtu.be

Steve said...

The British Election is not a good Harbinger, fortunealty no one reads the Toronto Sun

e.a.f. said...

I've not believed Steve was playing with a full deck since the day he de-funded women's groups during his first term in office. whatever made voters think he wouldn't come for the rest of us later.

Seniors maybe "leaving Steve" because they've heard the talk about Steve and his Cons taking $30 BILLION out of the healthcare budget in 2017. Now if you are entering later life, those years when much might go wrong with your health and the government starts mass defunding of the health care system and you see other seniors declaring bankruptcy more frequently, ya, you'll leave Steve, because Steve isn't delivering the goods, hasn't in 10 yrs and won't ever. Its not part of his make up.

Running around Europe in his "fatigues" geeze louise can you get the boy a new tailor. At least Jason kept on his regular cloths.

There are people who are so ideologically bent, like in Indiana, where they banded the sale of needles, now they have a town where 1 in 30 have HIV, Hep. C., etc. That's the type of government Steve would like to provide. He has tried to shut down In-sight in Vancouver. If he had succeeded, we would have similar figures. Combine that with poverty and the whole town can go down the shitter. With Steve running the country, the whole country could go down the shitter. Not a nice thought. Its time for Steve to leave politics. Perhaps return to his "foundation" or go preach his version of "god" some where, just get out of Canadian politics because beyond providing tax breaks for the well to do, he hasn't done a dam thing for Canada and Canadians. O.K> I take that back. He made life real nice for some senators.

Anonymous said...

I can't help it Simon, but everytime the Cons screw-up I have a joyous schadenfreude moment.

John B. said...

During the media event with the guy from the Philippines, Harper had to reach for the water glass three or four times in the course of a response to one question. It's possible that he could be experimenting with his dosage in the absence of professional advice.

But then again, his system having finally become overwhelmed by an accumulation of the deceit through which he has until now thrived, he might just be suffering from one of the worst cases of Liar's Cotton Mouth that has ever overtaken a politician.

e.a.f. said...

he may be suffering from dry mouth. that can happen when people are not telling the truth or are under a great deal of stress. He might have even had some vodka in the glass, who knows, who cares, just as long as he leaves politics. The man has problems. its time for him to go. did notice his wife isn't travelling with him much these days. Is everything o.k. in the house of wedded bliss???????????

Anonymous said...

What guy from the Philippines? When?

Simon said...

hi JD...yes, I've always believed that he suffers from a severe personality disorder aggravated by the fact he is clearly a clinical psychopath. But what I mean by cracking up is that all the pressure is getting to him, he is prone to depressive episodes, and from what I hear the Alberta election result has just about pushed him off the deep end. And while that's good in one sense, because it won't make him more popular, it also makes him dangerous...

Simon said...

hi thwap...that is true. As I just explained to JD I've always thought he was missing a few screws, for no normal person could act like he does. But I'm now detecting signs of panic. Neither the war nor his smoke and mirrors budget are boosting his support, the Alberta result has really rattled him, and there is no steady hand in the PMO to keep his moods under control now that Wright has gone. So I'm not ruling out a complete meltdown. Maybe is I keep saying that it will finally happen... ;)

Simon said...

hi mizdarlin....I'm not saying that one poll is something to go wild about. And a poll is a poll is a poll. But what all of them are showing is that he is not managing to pull ahead to the degree he needs to win a majority. And anything less than a majority will be the end of him. Because whatever Justin says now, if Harper only gets a minority, the pressure to form a coalition will be impossible to resist. As for polls in general, one hardly knows what to say. But they are useful for tracking a trend,. And of course, when they are good ones, for cheering up progressives.... ;)

Simon said...

hi Hugh...unfortunately those dreadful trade deals are too complicated for many Canadians to understand. Especially since we get hardly any details from the Cons, and some of the most damaging stuff is buried in the fine print. The challenge is to boil those deals down and put out simple messages explaining why they are so bad and dangerous. The messaging skills of the progressive parties leaves a lot to be desired...

Simon said...

hi Pamela...believe me I am celebrating, even if I am exhausted from studying and working on other people's boats. I've been flying ever since the Alberta result, Lord Harper's woes are a sight for sore eyes,, and music to my ears. And all I can say is what my Scottish granny used to say, " the laddy is wild so thank goodness he doesn't drink..." ;)

Simon said...

hi David...thanks for the song. I think I'm going to put a list of them in my sidebar. So when readers get weary of my depressing words, they can put on a little music to make the post more bearable... ;)

Simon said...

hi Steve...you're right, there are some very important lessons we need to learn from what happened in Britain. Because although I'm delighted by what happened in Scotland, some of the techniques Cameron used are the same ones Harper is trying in this country. I'll try to write a post soon to try to explain what I mean, and what I think we should do about it...

Simon said...

hi e.a.f...when I saw that the very first thing Harper did was order that the word's "women's rights" be removed from thousands of government documents, I knew that something was terribly wrong. And that we were dealing wit a creature this country had never seen before. But as time went on I also began to hear stories about his violent rages, that are often followed by depressive episodes. And as power went to his head, and he began to feel he could get away with anything, I started to realize that Harper was a control freak because he needed to control himself. And that when that control breaks down he really is capable of anything. We do need to get rid of him because he is a ticking time bomb...

Simon said...

hi anon...shame on you. How could you make fun of Great Leader when he's down and so miserable. But yes, I suffer from the same condition. More, more, I want more... ;)

Simon said...

hi John...yes he has been really shaken up, and it doesn't help that he is also exhausted by his frantic photo-ops. I'm hoping the combination of madness and fatigue will make him do something he really regrets, or drives him like a lemming over some cliff...

Simon said...

hi anon 3:28 am...Philippine President Benigno Aquino, the latest dignitary of a country with a strong ethnic presence in Canada, to be invited to visit, and star in yet another of his never-ending photo-ops Even the leaders of other nations are being brought here to campaign for him. It couldn't be more outrageous...

Mogs Moglio said...

The German speaking video clip is hilarious but you know under bill C-51 you could be jailed for posting it and I could be jailed for merely watching it and enjoying it. Who can up with that?

Cheers,
Mogs

e.a.f. said...

well MOgs if we have to go to jail, lets just hope we all get sent to the same one.

Mogs Moglio said...

Yo E.A.F.we have Canadian Ingenuity we will tunnel ourselves into freedom and a free world. Free of the Harper-cons where we can breathe eh.

Cheers,
Mogs

PS I hope you had a wonderful weekend the weather here is amazing in the Okanagan valley it was 24 degrees Celsius today. We went to the open air farmers market yesterday delicious. I do not regret moving here from snow valley BC [Fernie]. Today we went to the beach ;) Cheers again.

Anonymous said...

Steve's been suffering from dry mouth ever since he's kneeled at the altar of the Koch brothers ;)
JD