Sunday, October 13, 2013
Kellie Leitch and the Corruption of Stephen Harper
You might think that Kellie Leitch would be better than most Cons. Better than her ghastly leader.
She's a pediatric surgeon who still works on a volunteer basis at an Ottawa hospital.
She's smart, she has an impressive resume, and she's a woman in a government of good ol' boys.
So I have to admit that even I dared hope she might be different eh?
But not any longer. Because this is outrageous.
Status of Women Minister Kellie Leitch is blasting the "abhorrent" practices of rape as a weapon of war and the forced marriage of young children in the developing world. But she's defending Canada's refusal to fund any aid projects that might help the victims of such barbaric practices obtain abortions.
"As a physician, I'm very confident in saying that we have chosen the right one, that pre- and post-partum care is the place where we'll have the most meaningful impact to save the lives of children and their mothers."
It's bad enough that a Canadian Status of Women Minister won't stand up for the right of women to control their own bodies. It could only happen in the sinister state of Harperland, where the howls of religious fanatics dictate government policy.
But to see a medical doctor defend that blatantly ideological and inhuman decision is simply beyond belief.
Because the truth is that providing safe abortions, like pre- and post-partum care, is an integral part of an overall approach to improving maternal health in developing countries. Not providing that service can have deadly consequences.
And not helping the victims of rape as a weapon of war is an affront to human decency.
Those who would be most affected by Canada’s decision are largely women and children in conflict zones around the world. They are the ones who are often kidnapped, captured, detained or abducted from their homes by assorted military bands, and used as sexual objects by cruel and brutal men.
According to Save the Children, which has documented the atrocity across continents, the most vulnerable are adolescent girls, and pregnancy has become a leading cause of death among girls aged 15 to 19 because of unsafe abortions and complications from giving birth.
Leitch should know that, and she should be ashamed of herself.
When did Hippocratic become HYPOCRITICAL?
But then why should we be surprised eh? When everything Stephen Harper touches he corrupts...
I call it the Harper Effect. And to get an idea of its powerful corrupting influence all you have to do is look at how it has demeaned three of his new/nouveau cabinet ministers in the short time since he appointed them.
Rona Ambrose, who he forced to kill a heroin withdrawal program for desperately sick addicts, against all medical evidence. And by so doing made it clear that she is no Health Minister.
Leona Aglukkak, who was sent out by the Harper PMO to mumble some nonsense questioning the effects of climate change. And to attack the NDP's non existent carbon tax...
Only to instantly melt any credibility she had left, and prove beyond a doubt that she's no Environment Minister.
And now the sad case of Kellie Leitch, a healer made to sound like a heartless ideologue, or a hapless stooge, and clearly no Minister for the Status of Women.
Just another Con monkey in Stephen Harper's new/nouveau cabinet...
And the good news? If Great Ugly Leader thinks that shabby collection of losers is going to breathe life into his moribund scandal ridden government, he's going to be very disappointed eh?
Because they really are pathetic, and the message to Canadians couldn't be clearer.
If this country is ever going to be clean and decent again, if its reputation is ever to be restored. If the lives of women and children all over the world are to be saved.
The Harper Effect must be repelled or repealed.
And the great corrupter has gotta go...
Click here to recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Hi Simon
ReplyDeleteGreat post on another dismal cabinet seal. Yes, we must get rid of this corrupt excuse for a govt. But how do we get rid of the apathy of our citizens? Maybe when the full attack on our own health care system comes or more lenient gun laws are enacted? When will people wake up?
Cathy
hi Cathy...Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. As for how do we get rid of the apathy that afflicts so many... it is of course one of the biggest challenges we face, if not the biggest. It could just happen if all the Con scandals outrage enough Canadians. But what I think progressives need to do in case it doesn't is sharpen the message. Because if you can't reach people you can't move them to vote. You've got to give them a reason to get motivated, and it's got to be powerful and simple or it won't get throught the clutter or the noise out there. Consider it a work in progress... ;)
DeleteIts Tuesday 22nd Oct at 7 pm and the it suddenly got very hot (maybe its a fire - Greg Weston) for Leitch and her boss Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada after Duffys 'impassionate speech' in the Senate!
DeleteSimon, how could you be so naive as to believe that she got her position in the harper crime cabal without being the appropriately vetted piece of shit that is required for membership into his "family"? Doctor or no, woman or not, she still had to prove her worthless, psychopathic tendencies in order to gain admission to "the family". Charles Manson's "family" only killed a few people and he is still in prison. harper and his "family" is/will be responsible for the deaths of hundreds or thousands and he's the Prime Minister of Canada as his punishment. How the fuck does that work?
ReplyDeleteI probably did give Leitch too much of a break, and I must admit I haven't ever tried to discover what her motivations were for entering politics, apart from naked ambition. And if I find out that she entered politics to privatize medicare, I'll probably have to change my name. Or maybe I'm just biased in favour of healers, and need to be reminded that Mengele was also a doctor. ;)
DeleteBut it doesn't matter anymore, she's exposed herself as just another PMO sock puppet, and shamed herself thoroughly...
She is not Harper's bee-atch. She's Flaherty's. She ran his provincial leadership campaign. She was also a PC stalwart when everyone abandoned after 1993. She's earned her conservative pedigree. Fiscal conservative but not social. Sees a need for major healthcare reforms and opening up to more private but also more support for public. I imagine her hands are tied here: she inherited Harper's plan and can't budge from it. This is a "tester" portfolio: she handles this minor portfolio well-enough, she'll be the Minister of Health next. She's an interesting story in this cabinet of also-rans. Flaherty and the old Harris Tories seem to be building a base to counter the western/reform Conservatives. If they get stronger, they aren't as beholden to Harper and we have a Thatcher possibility. She used to date Van Looon too. As I said... interesting one to watch.
DeleteRemember that Dr. Joseph Mengele was a highly intelligent physician as well. Dogma and fanaticism always go hand in hand.
Delete.. dragged into Stephen's cage .. The unfortunates named above, Leitch, Ambrose et al, do seem to have their noses pressed against the bars of the Harper Cage.. in the Conflict Oil Cockass Zoo.. How they blew away evolutionary theory & harper-jumped backwards past Darwinism to sit among dinosaurs is an evangelical miracle.. Truly they can go back in time following Stevie/Ray .. Nigel.. Del Mastro, Clement, Baird .. the retrograde weasel Poilievre and blunderbus Jenni Byrne.. Onward Kristian Harper Sojers !! Marchin off to ecolectoral war rooms !! All hail Joe Oliver.. doddering discount oil salesman of the year .. Peter Mackay for years of servicing industrial espionage.. hello Keith Ashfield & Peter Kent .. for helping deliver Canada to China !
ReplyDeleteResign yourself to your dark, dirty legacy Stephen Harper .. You deserve it !!
hi salamander...when you list the all the characters in this sordid Con drama, it really is a spectacular Roman circus. What a collection of ghastly mediocrities without morals or vision. And how small they would make our big country seem. But yes, I'm sure you and I and so many others will make sure that Harper and his filthy un-Canadian regime get the legacy they deserve. And that history records this depressing period as Canada's Very Dark Age....
DeleteSimon: Leitch already showed her true colors when she refused to stand up against the export of asbestos despite some 200-300 of her fellow medical doctors and scientists from around the world, and within Canada, appealing to her. Quite obviously, she had already traded her Hippocratic oath for her Harpercratic oath. Now of course Canada has reversed its stand on asbestos but it is none of her doing: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-does-u-turn-on-asbestos-mining/article4545704/ Many other physicians would likely have been ashamed for not doing anything but not her, I suspect.
ReplyDeleteJust watch her parrot her talking points and refuse to answer questions, just like her Dear Leader. Just watch her sitting in Parliament nodding enthusiastically when Dear Leader speaks such as when Dear Leader said that he stood behind Nigel Wright and had full confidence in him. I suspect she was nodding enthusiastically too when Dear Leader later threw Nigel under the bus. Disgusting how someone who appears so well educated has apparently decided to play up to the powers that be for what appears to be her own self interest.
Not sure how any parent could have any confidence in her medical practice/opinions when it is quite clear that she allows either her self interest, her loyalty to her chosen political party or her ideology to triumph over compassion and empathy. Would you trust a doctor who only repeats talking points instead of someone who is able to analyze the symptoms and then form a diagnosis? If I were to walk into a room with my grandchildren and I see her as the attending physician, I would run right out with them as fast as possible.
hi there...Thanks for letting me know about Leitch's stand on asbestos exports, I honestly didn't know that and of course I'm appalled. But I have noticed how she has been parroting her lines, and nodding and bobbing like a cheerleader whenever Stephen Harper farts. She was clearly going after a cabinet post like a heat-seeking missile. And of course now she's blown up her own credibility. However, I do want to say in my own defence, that when I wrote that I had some hopes for her, they weren't THAT many... ;)
DeleteTo me it's the same as a medical doctor who is a Jehovah Witness and is opposed to blood transfusions based on his/her religious beliefs versus scientific evidence. Totally mind blowing.
DeleteLeitch has been a Harper puppet since Day One. She is a master of the talking point, never EVER does she answer a direct question, just parrots the Harper line over and over and over again. But suddenly in recent days she has sported a facial makeover -- dyed her hair, wears makeup, and tries to look like feminine. Too bad she can't do a makeover of what comes out of her mouth and let it be her own beliefs, not a regurgitation of what Harper believes. Sad to say she's my MP.
ReplyDeleteya well just vote the other parties in. they are worse than any Harper gov. will ever be. lying bastard NDPs and the rest of them are crap. u all have something to bitch about and as soon as u vote in another gov. u will be bitching about them......Harper is great and so is the Liberal party in BC. get of your asses and do something instead of bitching about one of the better PMs we have had in a long long time..........
ReplyDeletePlease carry on,
DeleteOr should we just assume that it's as simple as you say and accept it? I'm trying not to be a bitch about this.
Like Ronald Reagan said" you aint seen anything yet"
ReplyDeleteI have always believed that a medical doctor who enters politics as a profession is probably because they're a lousy doctor.
ReplyDeleteI have read enough about this woman to come to a conclusion, she's a hard core Cons supporter with little commendable in her attitude
ReplyDeletefarm videos for kids