Is Stephen Harper Smothering the Military?

With a blanket of silence, controlled by the PMO? Le Devoir seems to think so.

The Ministry of Defence has been forced into silence about the costs of the war in Afghanistan. The Privy Council, the Prime Minister's ministry,is preventing the military from speaking to the media about any delicate subject.

That political control, already omnipresent, has been reinforced during the election campaign. In the Armed Forces the military and officials don't hesitate to speak about "censorship" and "abusive control of information" by the Conservative government.

According to Le Devoir, two directives drawn up by the Privy Council and the PMO, were sent to all Ministry of Defence employees. One of them the day the election was called.

It read:

"During the election period it is of the greatest importance that the employees of the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces don't act in a manner to influence, or appear to influence, the results of the election."

The Armed Forces says its's just a line of conduct, but since then Le Devoir says no requests for information about such things as the mental health of soldiers, or the cost of the war have been answered.

And even more disturbingly the paper charges that there is a secret directive that forces MOD employees and Armed Forces personnel to channel any requests for information through the Privy Council and the PMO.

"This directive has never been written down. You won't find anything if you make an Access to Information request. The idea is not to leave a trace. People must not know that the Ministry of Defence doesn't control its communications anymore and that the public only hears what the Conservatives want, " said a military source who received the directive.

Which makes me wonder what Stephen Harper is trying to hide. And whether this report. will ever see the light of day. BEFORE the election is over.













Because if it's billions and billions more than expected, it could be DEVASTATING for Stephen Harper at a time like this. Destroy his ill deserved reputation as a money manager, and provide a big boost for the NDP which has opposed the war right from the start.

Then of course there is the even more disturbing question. What kind of government is running Canada? When is enough enough? When does control freak authoritarianism become something even MORE sinister? And why do we put up with it?

It's bad enough that the War in Afghanistan barely registers on the electoral scale. Except maybe in Quebec. But something is terribly wrong in Canada.

And we really NEED to do something about it...

Stephen Harper: The Puppet and the Dummy

Well hang me kangaroo down sport. Or throw another Con on the barbie.

I always knew that Stephen Harper was George Bush and Karl Rove's puppet. Their little stooge bum boy.

But who knew he was John Howard's DUMMY?

A Conservative campaign worker has quit over damaging revelations that a major 2003 speech by Conservative leader Stephen Harper, then leader of the Opposition calling for support for the Iraq war, copied almost word-for-word a speech just two days earlier by Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Can you believe that? A Canadian political leader delivers the most important speech of his career, on a matter of life and death. And he copies it from a doddery old racist and George Bush poodle ......in AUSTRALIA?

Never in the entire history of our country has a political leader sunk so low. Or crawled on all fours through the gutter of treachery. I'm just stunned.

And confused.

Is it really possible to be a poodle of a poodle of a poodle? Is that a chihuahua or what? Are these RepubliCons even Canadians? Or just wannabe Amerikans....or Aussies? Huh?And if so can they be ARRESTED for working for a foreign power?

But never mind. We don't have enough prisons. Yet. And I have an even better suggestion.

From now on can we call Stephen Harper Great Kangaroo Leader......or MATHILDA.....like we used to call Stockwell Day DORIS?

And follow Bush/Cheney/Howard's puppet wherever he goes....or hops....or bounces.

And sing this song for him....

And the TV cameras?



So Canadians can be reminded once again that if Stephen Harper had been Prime Minister of Canada our soldiers might still be in Iraq. Fighting and dying and being mutilated in a crazy criminal war.

Reminded too...that Great Kangaroo Leader takes his marching orders from the international neocon conspiracy, NOT from the people of Canada.

And the sooner we can expel this nasty Chuckie dummy from power. Like the turd that he is.The sooner Canada will be Canada again.

And the SAFER we'll all be...

The Night Obama Lost...and God Bless Quebec

Imagine it's election night in the United States. And the worst has happened.

Sarah Palin managed to fool everyone into thinking she was a good debater, after Republican operatives planted a small radio receiver in each ear, so they could tell her what to say.

And Bristol and Levi's shotgun wedding was such a hit.

Everyone forgot about ...um...EVERYTHING.

And John McCain managed to convince everyone that the financial meltdown was the fault of a few greedy carpetbaggers, instead of the slash and deregulate policies he has spent his whole life defending.

So this happened.



Now imagine it's election night in Canada.

And repeat after me: God bless the Québécois.

For resisting Great Pig Leader's slimy courtship. And doing the right thing for the right reasons. Killing culture is just plain wrong. And so is child rape.

Now I know that so many English Canadians harbour such warm feelings for the Québécois that it's not always easy to say thank you....or merci. Or hail Gilles Duceppe as the saviour of Canada. Wot?

Or just say we LOVE you.

But I've got Sébastien. So I'll say it for you.

Lucky me eh?

Lucky Canada....

----------------------------------------

P.S. Now that Sébastien has left the room..... I can tell you how SURPRISED I was to see that the Con Jean- Pierre Blackburn is losing in the Saguenay where hunky comes from. Since just about everyone in the region is descended from 14 families.

And there are so many Blackburns in the Alma area.

I can't IMAGINE how he could lose...

Sarah Palin, Heather Mallick, and the Top 5 Bloggers

Well I learned something new today. If you want to be the TOP ELECTION BLOGGER you have to denounce someone.

So I think I'll start by denouncing Susan Ormiston.

Now I'm sure she's a very nice lady. And the CBC is a precious Canadian institution. But really dahling, I'm afraid to say that anyone who includes Jason the Jabba and Stevie the Doggy Food Detective on a list of top bloggers, has got to be OUT of it.

But why am I surprised? So are her bosses.

Now look, even though I LOVE Heather, I'm not saying the Ombuddahman was completely wrong. For example when she says that Republican men are sexually inadequate, how does she know that I wonder? Huh? And was the toe tapper Larry Craig inadequate or just unlucky?

But does the CBC have to be so absolutely mindnumbingly BORING. Why did it have to give in to somebody like this? Jabba's ugly cousin.

Why do they inflict the right-wing dwarf Rex Murphy's dribbly diatribes on us all the time?

And don't they understand that in a country as sexually repressed as this one, anyone who can evoke the image of vaginas calling out to each other in the night, deserves to be REWARDED not punished.

Besides I thought her attacks on Palin's redneck family, and the white trash that support her, could have been so much worse.

And so much more shocking.

A shotgun marriage between Wasilla's wild makeout queen and the redneck oxycontin dealer .... to save the Republicans? Is that a Hail Ho pass?

Or something as scary as this halloween mask?















And as for calling this Christianist homophobe a porn star and a liar, I bet she isn't the only one.

Although I'd rather call her Jezebel.



Heather Mallick RULES. Susan Ormiston should get with it.

Her CBC bosses should stop being so BORING.

And if anyone sees Jason Cherniak or Steve Janke's absurd bloated ego floating past their window ....like one of Jabba's farts.

Make sure you have a safety pin handy....

-------------------------------------------------

P.S. Extra good news...the guy who put that video of Sarah Palin on YouTube says he's got footage of her playing the flute.

EXCELLENT. Will it be a redneck howdy doody?

Or a funeral dirge?

Stephen Harper's Absurd Manly Man Act

Oh no. Now this election campaign is absolutely RUINED !!! It's already horribly BORING... in a nightmarish sort of way. Now it's about to lose what little glamour it had.

First Great Nice, Hockey Daddy, Pretty, Angry Leader takes off his granny drag.

Now it turns out John Baird WON'T be escorting Mrs Stephen Harper to the ball after all.














A day after Stephen Harper complained that the arts community is “a bunch of people at a rich gala,” his wife has pulled out of a ritzy soiree at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, scheduled for Oct. 4.

Laureen Harper has been involved with the NAC Gala since 2005. This is her third year as honourary chair. Her entrance — made with Mr. Baird — has always made a bit of a splash, mostly because onlookers wanted a glimpse of what the prime minister’s wife was wearing.

And of course what Johnzilla was wearing too...
















*Sigh* It's just TOO disappointing. You know some people are blaming Mrs Harper, for slapping a bunch of "rich" artists..... with rented tuxedos..... in the face. But I'm blaming Jane Taber.

I think when the guys in dark suits in the RepubliCon War Room digested that image. You know Stephen Harper as " Ordinary Guy" sitting on his couch munching popcorn, plotting how to DESTROY his enemies, while his wife goes out on the town with another man. I think the suits had a COW. Or a cow patty in their pants. Or just an Ezra.

Because that's NOT exactly the image of an "Ordinary Guy" AND a "Manly Manly Man" that they need to sell Great Monster Leader's demagogic Imaginary Crime and Child Rape plan.

Which of course in itself is absurd. Because under no circumstance can Stephen Harper be considered a Strong Manly Man Leader. I mean can a chubby nerd policy wonk, who is fascinated with Stalin, but determined to turn us into Amerika, be an ordinary hoser? Or protect us from ANYTHING? I don't think so.

The only place I'd follow Great Fat Leader to is a donut shop. And only if I could wear a paper bag over my head, so my friends couldn't recognize me. And call me a nerd too.

But it seems the sinister Con War on Everything Room just won't give up. Can you believe what they had Harpo doing last night ? Playing POOL at a High School reunion!!!!

Not that anyone was supposed to know what happened.

Even the waitresses seemed to be sworn to secrecy. Curious onlookers asked what happened behind the glass doors, which separated the alumni party from the rest of the pool hall.

"Why are there (security) dogs here?" a patron asked a waitress, who smiled but did not reply.

But I can only IMAGINE. Stephen "Fats" Harper bending over a pool table ......showing the crack of his ample ass.....like nerds always do. While his "buddies" miss easy shots to make him look good. Jason Kenney crawls under the pool table with a divining rod...or the bone of a saint...trying to steer Fatso's balls into the pockets.

And John Baird stands there waving his arms around and screaming " Boss!!! Boss!!!! The hole!!! The hole!!! What a leader !!! What an EXTRA "Ordinary Guy."!!!! What a Manly Manly Manly Man. I'm so proud to be his EUNUCH !!!!

Oh boy. You know all I can say is this. One.....Stephen Harper may be the opposite of a Great Strong Leader. Because if he is one, Dion is Tarzan, and Layton is King Kong.

He may be a fraud and a dangerous bully.

But never was a monster so PRETTY...



And two .....if this absurd Bad Karma Chameleon Con act manages to fool Canadians into thinking only his Nerdly Darkness can keep them safe. Fool them into giving him a majority.

It won't be pretty. It'll be REALLY ugly. We'll all be wearing paper bags....or handcuffs.

And we'll DESERVE what we get....

Harper, Prison Rape,and the Angry Canadians

There have been a lot of low moments in this campaign so far...just Google Cherniak for some of them. But for me the most vile moment came when Stephen Harper vowed to sentence 14-year-old Canadians to life behind bars.

And then had the nerve to accuse Gilles Duceppe of being a demagogue for saying that would make them fresh meat for older Cons in our jungle jails.

When of course Duceppe is right.

Men rape in prison every day. They target those who are younger, physically weaker, smaller in stature, inexperienced in prison life or suspected to be gay or gender-variant. Older, stronger men rape for both sexual gratification and social power.....Those unable to defend themselves — straight or gay — have little choice but to become sexually subservient in exchange for protection.

Canadian prisoners are generally at lower risk of sexual violence than their American counterparts, because of the more manageable size of our prisons and judicial discretion in sentencing. But this could change if the Tories’ law-and-order agenda continues unabated.

(Stop Prison Rape) warns such a “zeal for incarceration” will lead to an influx of young, inexperienced first-time offenders — and that overburdened staff will be less equipped to deal with the powder keg created by the resultant overcrowding.

Because you think it's easy to build twenty more prisons? Or pay for them? Or turn our country into Amerika?

But of course Stephen Harper knows that.

















Knows that it hasn't worked in the United States. Knows that it's unconstitutional. Knows that judges already have the option of harsher sentences. But he doesn't care. Because he isn't appealing to reason. He's counting on fear to scare people into voting for him. Because he'll say or do ANYTHING to get a majority so he can turn Canada into a neocon jungle....or jail.

So we can ALL be raped...by Big Business and Big Oil.

And what worries me is that it might actually WORK. As a guy who lives with one foot in each official culture...or solitude...I know it won't work in most parts of Quebec. The province emphasizes rehabilitation and has lower recidivism rates than any other.

But in English Canada, even though youth crime has been declining for twenty years, it's a real problem.

I see it in the blogosphere. I hear the deranged ravings on the airwaves. I smell the fear and loathing all around me. Which makes me wonder why so many Canadians are so frightened and so angry. Just like Carol Goar does.













In a tactical sense, Harper's strategy is shrewd. Fear is a powerful motivator. It fits the mood of the times. It is much easier to elicit than hope.

Now look , I don't call Stephen Harper a monster just because I like playing with words. I mean it. I honestly believe that he is a clinical psychopath, with no capacity for empathy, a brutish bully with an alien ideology, and the most morally odious Prime Minister in Canadian history.

And I blame the irresponsible failure of the centre-left to unite, for making it possible for such a monster to win a majority that could TORCH our country.

But at the end of the day I always come back to the same question. I don't want to be too judgemental. I love my two solitudes. Eh?

But is English Canada losing its battle not to become Amerika? And if not.

What kind of a country are we?

The Amazing Jet-Man and the Fascist Invasion

During the Second World War my grandfather had to bailout twice over the English Channel.

So when I saw Jet-Man or Fusion Man winging over the waves today I couldn't help think of him. And how I wish he was still alive so he could have seen that amazing sight.

And how I would have loved to strap those jets on him and me, so we could whiz across the channel heading for the white cliffs of Dover, and his home in Kent where my mother was born.

Like Yves Rossy did yesterday.


I know he would have loved it. He taught me to love flying. Just like he taught me not to glorify war.

But he also taught me to hate fascists.












So the sight of a whole pack of them terrorizing an English village would have disgusted him.

He wouldn't have understood how such a thing could happen. And neither can I.

How a bunch of Nazis were allowed to wave their filthy swastika flags, sing their racist songs, and threaten people in a country where so many fought and died to defeat that evil philosophy is simply beyond belief.

So as much as I miss him, I'm glad my Grand Dad didn't see that hideous spectacle.

Just like I'm glad he taught me that flying is awesome, and war is hell. But freedom is EVERYTHING. So sometimes you have to fight the bullies.... even if you'd rather not.

The same kind of bullies who are trying to destroy the Human Rights Commission in this country....so they can attack Jews or Muslims or gay people or any other minority group.

Oh well. The worst of humanity. Damn those bastard Nazis.

And the best of humanity.

Three cheers for Mr Rossy....

John McCain and the Big Iraq Lie

As I watched the Presidential debate tonight I wondered whether Obama would fall for John McCain's Big Iraq Lie. And sure enough he did.

He allowed McCain to claim that The Surge was a big success....and that the United States was winning the war in Iraq.

“Senator Obama doesn’t understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy.” Mr. McCain also that “Senator Obama refuses to acknowledge that we are winning in Iraq.”

“That’s not true, that’s not true,” Mr. Obama muttered.

Which made McCain look like a wise soldier, instead of a senile idiot.

Because as I pointed out recently, The Surge is a mirage. And the only winners are the mullahs in Iran.

And because of that, victory in Iraq is more like a nightmare....especially for women and gay people.

Large parts of Iraq are now under the de facto control of the militias and their death squad units. They enforce a harsh interpretation of sharia law, summarily executing people for what they denounce as "crimes against Islam". These "crimes" include listening to western pop music, wearing shorts or jeans, drinking alcohol, selling videos, working in a barber's shop, homosexuality, dancing, having a Sunni name, adultery and, in the case of women, not being veiled or walking in the street unaccompanied by a male relative.

It is a death sentence in today's "liberated" Iraq to love a person of the same sex, or for a woman to have sex outside of marriage, or for a Muslim to give up his or her faith or embrace another religion.

Even children suspected of being gay are abducted and later found shot in the head.
















They destroyed the only secular country in the region, where women were relatively liberated, gays were relatively safe, and turned it into a slaughterhouse run by religious fanatics, who take their orders from America's biggest and most dangerous enemy.

That's not victory, that's defeat written large. Or just insanity.

But Obama either bought the myth that the surge was a success, or he knew he couldn't fight it. Because he let John McCain get away with murder. He let a dangerous myth sound like the truth again. And it will come back to bite him.

Wouldn't it be ironic if the war that should have won the election for the Democrats...ended up losing it for them?

Because the truth didn't set us free. The screams of the women and gays of Iraq fell on deaf ears.

Obama bought the biscuit.

And the Big Lie killed us all...

Stephen Harper and the Fainting Faithful

OMG. I can't believe my eyes. I'm staring at a headline screaming "Harpermania!"

*Groan* As if the latest Nanos poll wasn't bad enough.

But it gets WORSE!!!!. According to the story Great Nice Pretty Ugly Leader is making the faithful faint.

Stephen Harper is making more people feel faint.

After a supporter fainted at his morning announcement, two more hit the ground at his evening rally.

Can you believe that ?

I just couldn't. Surely I thought it had to be Jason Kenney, who I recently found out is known as Mr Curry in a Hurry because of all the ethnic banquets he attends. To buy votes and stir up anti-gay feelings.

Standing in the corner pulling this kind of stunt.

Fanning the fumes and flooring the faithful. To make his Master look like a God.

That was until I saw the video of Brother Harper in action....



Now I'm just stunned. Or SHOCKED like that poor Con supporter.

I mean I knew Stephen Harper was religious fanatic.

But this is even MORE ridiculous...

-----------------------------------------------------

Note to the Con faithful. Please don't forget to pick up some of Brother Harper's Miracle Spring Water.

It's straight from the Athabaska River. So once you've drunk your fill. Yum. Yum.

You can always put it in your car...

Sarah Palin and the Tennis Player

When I first saw the video of Sarah Palin talking about Russia and Canada I was shaken to the core.

What if she got the two countries mixed up and nuked us by mistake?

Watch CBS Videos Online
But then I realized that the Republican operatives have got her so paranoid about what she does know and what she doesn't know, she's lost all her confidence.

So now instead of the Attila from Wasilla, she's more like a moose in the headlights.

Or the tennis player who said "I can do that."

But couldn't....



Muahahahaha.

Never mind the Anti-Christ.

The match is still on.

But Sarah Palin is OVER...

-----------------------------------------------

h/t Andrew Sullivan

The Nanos Numbers and the Divided Left

Uh oh. The latest Nanos poll is in and it's not so good.

It looks as if the RepubliCons are on their way to a massive majority.

So I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one calling for the left to stop fighting itself.

Or consider voting strategically.

Like I'm going to do. Because the times ARE extraordinary. The days of denial are over.

And the writing is on the wall.

"We are a Conservative government and the ministers who sit on the Treasury Board have that hat on as well," he told the National Post editorial board. "This is not a bureaucratic process. The decision is made by the ministers who sit on the Treasury Board and they have views on certain programs."

If these RepubliCons can put ideology before Canadian culture....or Canadian lives.

How long do you think they will wait before they criminalize abortion?

Or destroy the Canada we love? Answer: Not long.

The centre-left should have seen it coming. And it's awfully late in the game.

But if we play our cards right...and put Canada before our political partisanship. We can still beat these Cons...

That's why I like the message of this old YouTube so much.



No seriously somebody do SOMETHING.

And for Canada's sake do it NOW....

Stephen Harper and the Monster Man

When Hermann Goering heard the word culture he reached for his browning.

When Stephen Harper hears the word culture he reaches for his inner boor.

“I think when ordinary working people come home, turn on the TV and see a gala and all sorts of people at a rich gala all subsidized by the taxpayer, claiming their subsidies aren't high enough when they know they have actually gone up, I'm not sure that's something that resonates with ordinary people...."

You know ordinary guys like him, who sit on their couches munching popcorn plotting how to destroy their opponents. While their wives go out on the town with John Baird.

Huh?

When of course he's really a neocon monster who hates Canada and its values so much he's determined to destroy the culture that sets us apart from the Americans.

A culture he doesn't even believe in:

"There is a continental culture. There is a Canadian culture that is in some ways unique to Canada, but I don't think Canadian culture coincides neatly with borders."

Report Newsmagazine January 7, 2002

Because that's what it's all about. He knows that if you want to change a country beyond recognition, and turn it into a neocon jungle, first you have to kill the culture that protects it.

That's why he is attacking artists, smearing them as rich people. When all the artists I know are as poor as I am. Who only do what they do, even if they have to struggle to survive, because they love art and they love their country. As much as Stephen Harper HATES it.

That's why he is planning to destroy the CBC.

That's why he would destroy everything beautiful in this country. Be it ever so humble.

If Canadians don't understand what a foul, twisted, yankee loving, neocon traitor Stephen Harper really is. If the progressive parties can't stop fighting each other and unite to deny this monster a majority.

Then all hope is lost.

And the Canada we love has only three weeks to live....

The Blogging Cons and the Gay Stooge

OMG. Fan me with a feather. I'm having a horrible nightmare. And no this time it's not Great Pig Leader grunting in the dark, dreaming of his majority. Or all those other scary monsters. It's all those gay CONSERVATIVES !!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAH !!!!

First I find out that John McCain's Chief of Staff is a closet queen.

Now I see the Blogging Cons are going crazy over the case of a gay stooge.

Can you believe that? WTF? How come the Big Blue Bong didn't say a rosary for me? Just kicked me off her blog. Holy Caramba. If this keeps up I'm gonna have to turn STRAIGHT.

*Gulp*

Although I wonder what part of Chrissie's deranged writings these Cons liked best?

Was it really the part where he suggests we all arm ourselves? Like Five Feet of Monkey Shite with her magnum and her tambourine.

Or the part where he says socialism has "castrated" us and made us "effeminate." Because he's a Manly Manly Man and we're not.

Or this part....

"What I found [my fellow gays] to tolerate is promoting promiscuity, drug usage, and prostitution."

Hmmm....you know there is only one thing worse than a gay closet queen.

And that's a gay stooge who hates us..... as much as he hates himself.

I really don't know what to say. Except that the Cons are crazy hypocrites and homophobes.

Chris Reid is a self loathing wingnut wanker.

And of course, that when it comes to Manly Manly Men, Gay Pimp is the man for the job....



*Gasp*. That was HORRIBLE. Chris, Chris, was it good for YOU?

Is a Gay Pimp better than a Gay Stooge?

Definitely....

-------------------------------------------

P.S. Seriously though....if Great Pig Leader gets a majority...don't blame us. Eh?

John McCain and the Closet Queen

Hold the pool game, turn up the music, put on your party hats. It's time to celebrate.

It turns out John McCain's Chief of Staff is a great big closet queen.

You know I used to hate closet queens, because when I came out at the age of twelve nobody else did. So I had to fight the bullies all by myself. Until Sébastien came along, four years later, to stop me from killing them.

But now that I'm not in school, I just feel sorry for closet cases. I still think they're pathetic. But I would never out one.

Except if he was a right-wing Republican, helping a man who is trying to hurt us.

John McCain is opposed to every single gay rights measure of recent years –- from a hate crimes bill, to an anti-discrimination bill to an attempt to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military –- and is publicly on record supporting a ballot measure in California this November to strip gays and lesbians there of their legally-won right to marry in that state.

Hurt the parents of these kids....



Then if I had to I would call the nutbars from Focus on the Family myself

Because this Con closet case deserves what he's going to get.

And hell is too good for him...

-----------------------------------------------------

P.S. On the other hand if they sent him to Sarah Palin's School for Curing Homosexuality. I might be more merciful.

Because now that I think about it.......six months of wanking and wailing in Wasilla in winter, should be MORE than good enough...

How to Strip Harper Down to his Underwear

I must say I'm surprised that this little Rocky Horror Mammon Show hasn't made much of an impression on the way the progressive parties are conducting their campaigns.

Because it offers them a unique opportunity to strip Stephen Harper down to his ideological underwear....and hit him where it really hurts.

Let me explain what I mean. Take the tainted meat scandal for example. So far most of the attacks have focused on the Gerry Ritz comments. But that only speaks to the character of the Cons. What you also have to do is look at the real crime, as Scott Tribe points out here.

The fact that the RepubliCons would cripple the power of federal inspectors to keep our food safe.

But even that isn't enough. If Canadians are going to understand the narrative, in addition to a bad character and a crime you also need a MOTIVE. That's the missing frame in this campaign.

And the motive is that Stephen's Harper all consuming ambition is to destroy the power of government:

"Whether Canada ends up as one national government or two national governments or several national governments, or some other kind of arrangement is, quite frankly, secondary in my opinion… And whether Canada ends up with one national government or two governments or ten governments, the Canadian people will require less government no matter what the constitutional status or arrangement of any future country may be."

Speech to the Colin Brown Memorial Dinner, National Citizens Coalition, 1994

He wants to de-regulate or privatize EVERYTHING. To kill the government that we depend on in Canada to protect us. Kill the culture that sets us apart from the U.S. And turn our country into a neocon jungle where Big Business and Big Oil frolic...and the rest of us struggle to survive in a country that isn't ours any longer.

That isn't a Canadian view of course. It's an American one. For decades the Republicans have made cutting taxes and shrinking government their Holy Grail.

At least until now.

Of all the points raised by different analysts about the economy last week, surely the best was Representative Barney Frank’s reminder on “Charlie Rose” that Ronald Reagan’s favorite laugh line was telling audiences that: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’ ”

Hah, hah, hah.

Are you still laughing? If it weren’t for the government bailing out Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and A.I.G., and rescuing people from Hurricane Ike and pumping tons of liquidity into the banking system, our economy would be a shambles. How would you like to hear the line today: “I’m from the government, and I can’t do a darn thing for you.”

Hah, hah, hah, indeed.

Now suddenly after twenty years of calling for de-regulation John McCain is twisting in the wind. And so should Stephen Harper. Because after doing the same thing as McCain all his life, he's now standing there with his ideological underwear down to his ankles. As history runs out on him.

If the progressive parties can hang that frame around his neck...persuade Canadians that Stephen Harper would destroy the power of government to protect them at a scary time like this...and is willing to put his failed ideology before our lives. The Monster may yet be exposed for what he is.

And the war may yet be won....

Stephen Harper and Opus Dei: Part Two

A while back I wrote a post about a Conservative candidate in Quebec who was a member of the ultra right-wing Catholic group Opus Dei.

The Reform RepubliCons reacted with howls of outrage. Claiming they didn't know about her background. And accusing those who raised the matter of discriminating against religious minorities.

But now it turns out there is at least one other member of Opus Dei in Conservative ranks. And she's not just really powerful, she's also a member of their national candidate selection committee.

Which makes me wonder how the Cons didn't know that Nicole Charbonneau Barron was a member of that order. And did it hurt or HELP her candidacy?

Hmmmm....really?

Now look I don't care what a person worships in the privacy of their own home or church or whatever. A Big Daddy in the Sky.

Or a pig on a stick.





















But do Canadians really believe that if a party stuffed like a pork roast with religious fanatics, old Reformers, and disgusting homophobes, gets a majority....it WON'T lead to an all out assault on gay and women's rights?

Like no abortion after three months, no medicare funding, and no more gay marriage...just civil unions.Or worse.

And if Canadians really do believe that, does that make them guilty of dreaming in colour as we say in Quebec?

Or just hopelessly naive?

The lights are going out in Canada.

And The Monster is stirring...

The Divided Left and the Salami Cannon

Well it's the last weekend of the summer, and if this old schooner needed an anchor I'd probably volunteer.

Because what's the end of the summer compared to the end of Canada?

And I'm depressed like Dana.

Especially since, as Dana says, it really didn't have to happen.

We appear set for a replay of the 2000 election, when then-PM Jean Chrétien, against the wishes of a fretful Liberal caucus he memorably dubbed "Nervous Nellies," exploited a divided right and was vindicated with a renewed majority in what was initially derided as an unnecessary snap election.

Eight years later, the Tories are poised to return the favour, exploiting a split among no fewer than four opposition parties vying for centrist and left-of-centre votes, and coast to a renewed minority or even a majority in another snap election also widely seen as unnecessary.

If Canada is to be spared the status of a one-party state, perpetually governed by a party representing only one-third to 40 per cent of the electorate, a lot of understandable pride will have to give way to creating an electorally viable alternative to the Tories.

But of course it's too late to do anything about it now. The day of reckoning will come later...like winter.

All we can hope for now is that every progressive works his or her butt off attacking Harper's RepubliCons who would destroy our beautiful country....instead of attacking themselves.

And that when the day of decision comes, everyone will put Canada first, and vote strategically. Because this isn't a game of crochet, it's a brutal struggle for political power. And we must do what we can to elect as many progressives as possible...to deny Harper his hideous majority.

So may I humbly suggest that the next time a progressive feels like taking a shot at another progressive....be it ever so tempting.They take a deep breath, and play with their salami cannon instead. Like I am.

No not THAT salami cannon This one.

Isn't that great? Of course it could be even BETTER. It could be Harper's head floating over Parliament...and we could be peppering it with pig shit. And everytime you scored a hit the head would squeal OINK OINK.

But you can't have everything I guess. Isn't that the moral of this story?

And you know what I mean. Cheer-up everybody. We're not dead yet.

And neither is Canada...

More Evidence that The Surge is a Fraud

If the Americans can't understand that The Surge was a mirage... or a fraud.

Even when the not so glorious truth is staring them in the face.

Maybe they'll understand what REALLY reduced the level of violence in Iraq, by checking out the satellite image.

Satellite images taken at night show heavily Sunni Arab neighborhoods of Baghdad began emptying before a U.S. troop surge in 2007, graphic evidence of ethnic cleansing that preceded a drop in violence, according to a report published on Friday.

"By the launch of the surge, many of the targets of conflict had either been killed or fled the country, and they turned off the lights when they left," geography professor John Agnew of the University of California Los Angeles, who led the study, said in a statement.

"Essentially, our interpretation is that violence has declined in Baghdad because of intercommunal violence that reached a climax as the surge was beginning," said Agnew, who studies ethnic conflict.

They didn't understand the country they were invading. They didn't learn the lessons of history.

Even after all those years, all those dead and wounded, all those billions and billions of dollars, they STILL don't understand what happened. What's really going on.

All hail the Mighty Surge !!













Or maybe just spare a thought for the once mighty American Empire.

Stumbling through the twilight blind...

Is Stephen Harper Planning to Destroy the CBC?

LaPresse asks the obvious question.

Stephen Harper remained vague this morning about a survey sent by the Conservative Party to its members shortly before the election campaign that questions whether the billion dollars awarded each year to CBC and Radio-Canada is worth it.

The survey has 11 questions, and one of them reads like this: the CBC costs taxpayers $1.1 billion each year. Do you think this is a good or bad way to spend taxpayer's money?

So what did Harper have to say?

At a news conference in Farnham, where he was making a campaign promise, the Prime Minister first said he was not aware of that question. And then was vague about what his answer would be.

"I can only say that as Prime Minister I obviously always support the government's budget."

But of course we know what he really thinks. All we need to do is look at what they have already done...and why.

First they make deep cuts to cultural programs.

Then they go on a orgy of spending to vaporize the surpluses they inherited, so the government is on the edge of a deficit, so almost any emergency can be used to slash government departments and programs.

Then they they cut government inspectors in the food industry so Canadians are less safe...and government is even weaker.

Then they get a majority and destroy the power of the government that protects us, and the Canadian cultural tools that are used to hold a country together, and set it apart from the United States.

Then they turn our country into a neocon jungle and a paradise for Big Business and Big Oil.

If Canadians don't realize what Stephen Harper meant when he vowed to change Canada beyond recognition.

They are in for a nasty shock...

The Greens, Nader, the Parrot and the Beagle

At first I was glad to see this poll today. What more can an Anyone But Harper supporter ask for? Progressive parties are gaining ground.

The New Democrats and Greens appear to be gaining while Conservative support is slipping in the federal election campaign, a new poll suggests.

The Reform RepubliCons are bleeding out of majority territory. And Great Nice Pretty Leader's makeover is RUNNING.

Respondents who reported positive impressions of the Tory prime minister were at 47 per cent, down from a peak of 53 per cent in the Sept. 8-11 period.

Negative impressions of Harper climbed to 45 per cent, up from a low of 40.

Which is reassuring. Maybe idiocy really does have its limits. Because I never understood bully love. Or how people could love a man who is trying to destroy the power of government.Even if it means our food is poisoned.

You vote for them. They KILL you? WTF?

But here's the problem. Try as I might I can't help wondering whether the Greens are going to end up playing the same role Ralph Nader did in the American election. When he handed Florida and the election to George Bush. And now seems determined to do all over again.

Running for the Ecology Party....sound familiar?

And talking to his parrot...



Ralphie. Ralphie. Pretty Polly. Pretty Polly. Who needs a parrot when we got a hawk like Palin?

Just like who needs a spoiler in a Canadian election like this one? One that could give Stephen Harper a majority the size of a mountain, and kill the Canada we love FOREVER.

And force me to make my Great Escape. Not like Steve McQueen on his motorcycle because we all know how that ended.

But more like Sofia.

The beagle...



Awwwwwww. Woof. Woof. Isn't freedom wonderful?

Which is why although I support all the progressive parties, I'll be voting STRATEGICALLY.

Because the road to hell....or a Harper majority.... may be paved with good intentions.

But I don't wanna go there....