The Harper Regime's War on the Maple Leaf

I have no idea why Stephen Harper and his Con minions have such a love affair with royalty.

I have no idea why they want to turn us into a colony again. Or make us more British than the British.

But I do know that Peter MacKay is an absolute idiot, whether he wears a crown or not.

And that this is outrageous.

As part of the ongoing image makeover of the military, Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced Monday that the army will replace the Maple Leaf rank designation on the shoulder boards of officers with the traditional "pips" and Crowns in a nod to the country's past

"This takes nothing away from the Maple Leaf," he said. "There are other places which the Maple Leaf is honoured. This in no way diminishes Canadian identity, and I would suggest we are returning to the insignia that was so much a part of what the Canadian Army accomplished in Canada's name."

For ask yourself, as Kyle at Blunt Objects does, what looks more Canadian?

And the answer is OBVIOUS. And sadly so is the reason the Cons are declaring war on the maple leaf.

Just because Stephen Harper is so crazed, and so partisan, and so determined to destroy the Liberal Party, what the Liberals put on, he would take off. Period.

And of course if it pleases his rabid dominionist base, or the geezers at the Legion, by making our history sound more royal and more warlike, so much the better eh?

And if it turns off Quebecers, and all the others who don't genuflect before royalty, or guts our modern identity, or tells young Canadians that we need to travel back to the past to figure out who we are.

And that pips and crowns are better than the maple leaf that so many of us wear so proudly...



Well that's just too bad, because those kind of Canadians don't vote for the Cons.

Oh boy. You know I'm all for honouring the sacrifices of the past. But dressing up our soldiers in the manner of our former colonial masters, strikes me as both bizarre and totally PATHETIC.

And I wonder how many Canadians realize how long and how hard it was for this young country to assert itself as more than just a colony, or an adjunct of Britain.

Or how much damage Stephen Harper is doing to the modern fabric of Canada, for no good reason, by dragging us back in time. And demeaning himself and his country.

For a man who vowed to "Stand up for Canada", Stephen Harper has knelt to all glyphs reminiscent of his favourite founding colonizer nation.

Minister MacKay also claims the move strengthens the bond with the past. An obsession with the colonial past seems to be a recurring theme amongst Tories. Ah, the good ol' days! Before multiculturalism, official bilingualism, women's rights, and all those pesky policies that bequeathed Canadians' glowing hearts. It behooves a civilized society to respect its past without returning to it.

But I do know that I will not vote for a party that doesn't promise to put the Maple Leaf back on EVERYTHING, as soon as the Cons are defeated.

I know that this country doesn't need to borrow any symbols from any other country to celebrate its own unique identity.

I know that we are not British, we are CANADIAN.

And that this is the simple but incredibly powerful and amazingly beautiful red and white symbol of The Great White North...



The one that means CANADA. The one that unites us all. The Maple leaf FOREVER.

And try as they might Stephen Harper and his Royal Con Colonials will NEVER change that.

So they can take their pips and their crowns and their royal jello, and all their old wars, and shove it where the sun don't shine.

Or save it for their chappies.

And their la dee da.

Or their jolly good show...



Because I'd rather remember the modern, decent, peacekeeping Canada we were building until Stephen Harper set out to destroy it.

Oh boy. Did you ever think we would have to defend even the maple leaf from those hideous Cons and their depraved leader?

I didn't either eh? No sane person could have imagined anything so CRAZY. 

Who do they think we are?

Send the whole treasonous gang back to the past where they belong. 

And tell the mad king to take a HIKE...



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