It's almost impossible to imagine a more depraved and disgusting spectacle, than the sight of Stephen Harper preparing to meet his rabid base, and posing as Mr Clean.
By trying to expel from the Red Chamber without due process, three Con Senators he himself appointed. And asking us to believe his version of what happened.
Even though, as Lawrence Martin points out, Stephen Harper's truth is his alone, and his appalling pattern of behaviour speaks volumes.
The prime minister’s shop and a fellow called Truth have had a very interesting relationship over the years. It hasn’t always been an easy one. Truth has been taken out to the woodshed on more than a few occasions.
Muzzled scientists, access to information requests that go nowhere, deception, duplicity, naked intimidation.
And with a record like that one, he should not be surprised if many Canadians don't believe a word he says.
All said — and these are just a handful of examples of how upright and honest this government is — the prime minister’s men should understand something: There are a lot of people out there who may not be inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt this time.
But of course that probably will not stop Stephen Harper. So great is his imperial arrogance, so corrupted is his sense of decency, that he may well think as Michael Den Tandt suggests, that he can act like a thug again, abuse due process again.
And try to turn it to his advantage.
There is just one rational explanation for the seemingly bizarre chain of events that has overtaken Ottawa this week, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government once again engulfed in the Senate spending scandal, because of a battle with three former Conservative senators they could very easily have avoided. Here it is: Harper wants a war. He chose this tussle understanding he’d take casualties, anticipating he’d be wounded, but calculating it wouldn’t be fatal.
Beyond the bubble, a shooting war between Harper and three disgraced senators might be understood to help no one so much as Harper. Opposition statements or media coverage sympathetic to the senators’ plight – focusing, for example, on the arbitrariness of the move to cut them off, or the hypocrisy of shunning them for actions their own leadership apparently endorsed at the time – just further proves the “media elites” have it in for the Tories.
It’s a classic wedge; possibly even a fundraising tool. Harper can now plant his flag on Main Street and blast the fat cats – people he himself appointed, but never mind that. It’ll play well at Tim’s.
Or it may just be that he is so crazy desperate to please his grubby base, that his government is out of control, he's making it up as he goes along, and he doesn't know what he is doing...
Or understand that so great has been his corruption of power, and so foul his pattern of behaviour, that most Canadians will not rally around him or trust him, no matter what he says or does.
For if they did, and he did succeed in fooling enough of them, this would be true:
In the face of all this, the sheer dreck of it, Canadians are urged to remain placid, because we will soon have free trade with Europe, and the deficit is on track to being eliminated by 2015. Really? This is Canada, now? The gambit, if that is what it is, may succeed. Shame on us if it does.
But I prefer to believe this:
To date, he’s gotten away with a lot of it. But it could be catching up with him. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
He will not escape this Senate scandal, because the way he is dealing with it only serves to remind Canadians of all the dirty things he has done before, and why so many hate him so much.
The scandal cannot be separated from his ghastly record that really does speak volumes. The damage is cumulative, and in the end his own foulness will destroy him.
He will pay for all the things he has done to this country, for dragging us into his immoral darkness, and shaming us in the eyes of the world.
Which is why in the fall of 2013, even as winter closes in, my daily prayer has never been so hopeful.
For I'm now sure it will be answered eh?
Monster, monster go away.
And give me back my Canada...
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8 comments:
Isn't your Canada Simon, and never was.
Harper is a Dictator and a control freak. Why else would his team be stupid enough to support him? Anyone opposing Harper, pays dearly for doing so.
Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini were also dictators. They all lied, deceived, thieved, were corrupt, used dirty politics, dirty tactics and all of them, cheated to win. Sound familiar, it should?
To be rid of Harper? We would have to go to Parliament and, bodily throw Harper out of our country. Harper's team are all, spineless, gutless wonders.
Your posts on the Senate here are top-notch, Simon and I'd love to comment on them all if only I weren't pressed for time. I will say though that all these shenanigans must surely constitute absolute proof that the Senate in its current make up is simply NOT working as originally intended and hasn't been for sometime. It is high time to to a serious house-cleaning....either reform it and make the bloody thing work or get rid of the whole damned thing.
Anonymous @ 12:48PM:
It's as much Simon's Canada as it is yours, or mine, or Harper's. Right now Harper is in power. Someday, hopefully soon, he no longer will be.
Harper was famously quoted as saying that you won't recognize Canada once he's done with it. As somebody who loved most of what Canada stood for and how Canada was viewed around the world when he said those words, I'm certainly not pleased with the changes that he's made, and the further plans he has for this once respected nation.
Oh please, why is you Cons are always telling people or provinces they don't belong in Canada? Who do you think you are? It's so bizarre it makes me question your sanity. I mean I think Alberta is Canada's Texas, but I don't tell them to leave. I accept people and provinces for what they are and you should do the same...
Well as I've said before, unfortunately we can't impeach him. But if we organize and unite and turn out the vote like never before, we can defeat the Cons in the next election...
hi Way Way Up...nice to hear from you, I hope you're not working too hard. Try to be inspired by my laziness. ;)
As for the Senate it really is a mess, and the amount of democratic oxygen it's consuming is frightening. Maybe the idea of having a Chamber full of distinguished Canadians might have been a good idea once, I have a lot of respect for the views of our elders. But it just hasn't worked, it's become a patronage pond, and as partisan as the Commons, and I can't see how you can reform it. For if you make it an elected Senate it will have the same claim to legitimacy as the Commons and that could lead to competition and gridlock, like it does in the United States. So I would rather abolish it, and reform the Commons to make it more representative and accountable. But when I think of the constitutional problems that might cause, I see no easy solution, except for Canadians to demand better from their elected representatives...
hi sinned34...thanks for standing up for me, and for summing up the situation so concisely and well. My main beef with harper and his gang are that they're trying to change Canada beyond recognition, with no mandate to do so. By any standards their behaviour has been abominable, and I'm hoping we can get back to building a better Canada, as soon as they are defeated....
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