Well his Con clown tour of Europe has finally ended. After a week of posing as a champion of democracy in Ukraine, his golden coach ride is over.
Now it's back to reality.
Wheels down. Good to be home. #cdnpoli #cdntrademission
— Stephen Harper (@pmharper) March 28, 2014
Back to suppressing democracy in Canada.
Or as Don Martin calls it, back to the state of conscious uncoupling.
Our Prime Minister has spent the last week on a referendum-ripping tour of Europe. Stephen Harper has denounced the Crimean annexation and threatened more sanctions while vilifying Russian aggressor and President Vladimir Putin.
But there has to be conscious uncoupling going down as the same Stephen Harper moves to unilaterally change Canada’s democratically-sacred election laws to solidify his grip on voting in this country.
You can’t claim the high ground on global democracy if you're fiddling with voting regulations to help maintain power in your own back yard.
Back to democracy a la Putin, or la Poutine...
Protest deafness? Twisted evidence? Voter manipulation? Designed to help a leader retain power? If you listen closely, that’s democracy with a Russian dialect.
Or la Poilievre...
But then as Andrew Coyne points out, the ghastly Con regime is a government like no other.
Under any normal government, this would be considered fairly devastating stuff: not only near universal expert opposition, but a widely held suspicion that the bill, far from merely flawed, is expressly designed to tilt the next election in the Conservatives’ favour.
As for Mr. Poilievre, the revelations that he had acted in such consummate bad faith on such a critically important bill — failing to consult, ignoring some experts’ advice and misrepresenting others — would ordinarily be career-limiting, to say the least.
But this is not a normal government. It does not operate in the usual way, nor does it feel bound by the usual rules. After all, if this were a normal government, it would not have as its minister for democratic reform such a noxious partisan as Mr. Poilievre, whose contempt for Parliament and its traditions registers every time he rises to speak in it.
And yes, this nightmare really is happening in Canada...
And so we face the likelihood, as incredible as it sounds, of the government using the majority it won in the last election to pass a bill widely perceived as intended to fix the next — and contesting that election in the shadow of illegitimacy the bill would cast.
Where freedom is just another weasel word, or a threat that must be muzzled.
And where shortly before Great Freedom Fighter Leader landed so did this so-called budget bill.
The first budget implementation bill of 2014 was introduced Friday and it primarily provides details on measures that were first announced on Feb. 11. However, the bill includes some changes – including new laws – that critics say should have been introduced as separate bills to allow MPs to debate and vote on those specific items.
Designed to bury the truth in a mountain of words, and make a mockery out of our democracy.
NDP finance critic Nathan Cullen said the bill is another anti-democratic “monster” that makes it hard for MPs to understand what the government is doing. “The process, of course, is a sham,” he said. “At first blush with [more than] 350 pages of detail, we’re going to have to take another look because we know with this government often the devil is in the details.”
Because just like the foul election bill, the devil is in the details.
Or in the diseased mind of this monstrous leader...
And the good news?
He's desperate, he's out of control, he's losing his grip on reality, he's leading his Cons to destruction.
This is how you get to 28% in the polls: when every criticism is only further proof that you’re right. It’s one thing to fleece the rubes in the grassroots with this nonsense — They’re all out to get us! Please send money! — but when you start to believe your own rhetoric, your brains turn to mush. It makes you incapable of acknowledging error, or even the possibility of it. And so it blinds you to the train wreck to which you are headed.
Because when even the MSM is finally starting to recognize the true nature of that foul regime and its depraved leader, after acting like his hapless stooges for so long, you KNOW they're in trouble.
More Canadians are finally waking up.
The clock is striking midnight.
The golden coach is turning into a pumpkin.
And this nightmare will soon be over...
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19 comments:
When harpercon MPs start babbling about all the corruption and fraud they witnessed in previous elections, they half-believe themselves.They honestly believe that things that were technically impossible to have happened, happened, because they remember them that way. They think that everyone is as sleazy and corrupt as they are. They probably wanted to do something illegal in a past election and they've projected their own thoughts onto their memories of what others did.
The long and the short of it is that they are both stupid and insane.
All true, of course, Simon. But it doesn't matter now. Thanks to this bill Harper and his cronies will be in power for the next forty years. The only way to stop them would be if all the opposition parties actually DID something. . . .but they won't. They continue to operate as though the system isn't being fixed. But they need to make dramatic and united moves - refusing to sit in Parliament at all, refusing to take part in the next elections, going to the UN and call for sanctions against Canada, actively calling for a popular uprising, etc. But they won't because they are hoping to get in power and do the exact same kinds of thing that this government is doing. So it goes.
Wow when you lose Don Martian you are really lost.
if enough people vote this can be overcome.
Mr. Poilièvre thinks that he is practicing a skill when he puts on such a ridiculous performance as he did during the P&P interview on Thursday. Never bat an eye; just keep the gums flapping and a serious look on your face. It works every time. I’ve had to deal with youngsters and some mature fools who’ve reacted in this manner when called to account. It’s overdue that an interviewer or a member of the opposition should take apart his responses and ask this gentleman how he is able to be so obtuse or whether he is as stupid as his explanations would suggest or is just a liar.
Not all that long ago, i took a course in political activism..and the biggest message that the course offered, the most important thing you could do, was Stay On Message...
Poilievre is simply acting out of his ZombieCon training..stay on message, act as if any opposition or other opinion is some sort of bad joke, etc...the other day on Power and politics, Pollievre stated that the more he listened to what others had to say against the bill, the more he was sure that 'they' were wrong and he was correct...he also admitted that he knew before the hearings that this would be the position everyone else would take, so what was the point? And you know what, he's right, Harper will ram this through whatever the opposition says, he doesn't see the irony of one position for the rest of the world, and quite another at home...
Let's not forget that originally, Hitler was democratically elected too...and Adolf made damn sure he was unopposed from that moment on...
the voter fraud thing is soo annoying, as the real fraud, was electoral and the cons ARE guilty. No pretend evidence, real evidence, real facts.
I so wonder why the opposition doesnt fight harder to get rid of the cons, and I suppose even if they did, the GG will just take harpers side. I wonder if Canadians or Canadian politicians ever look to the south and what is happening in America, I mean if half the scandals had occured there, Obama would have been impeached and dispatched. Canada needs an actual legal avenue that can allow the govt to be dissolved when they have screwed the people over so badly. Harper and his team have broken soo many rules....probably quite a few laws and definitely has operated well out of the realm of decency, and the most were allowed....is an election after 4 yrs of this stupidity. its criminal.
It must feel good for our supreme Dear Leader to be back home and get back to stifling democracy once again. It must have been very tedious for him to appear as a champion of democracy and to bark at Putin like a yippy little dog while hiding behind Angela Merkel's skirt. The best part of this is he is globally irrelevant. Search the global media and see. The only ones giving him the time of day is our media which I find odd when you consider how he tries to manipulate the message, wont answer valid questions and has basically shut down the parliamentary press gallery.
Those who praised his self serving European adventure are either gullible or just plain dumb. He does nothing unless he sees a gain to his grip on power.
So welcome home Dear Leader and goodbye democracy.
2015, Heave Steve
I agree entirely with that, and each day wonder when the panel ( 'specially Fridays 'cuz Patriquin slays-eh? What did he say the name of the new CON-bill would be-- Happy Fun Day and Lollipops For All!? oh, an' what ever happened to the 'prosperity for all' meme/mantra? jus' not feelin' it yet)...will come back from break and not be able to stop laughing thus blowing the cons right off the panel.
Like the good ol' SNL stuff, I mean- it's come to that, hasn't it?
The laughing at them (not with)- really does seem to be the only justifiable response at this point- everyone is gauranteed a fair trial here still, right?
That, and telling them straight-out
they're nothing but two-bit rodeo-clowns who couldn't shoot straight on any issue, any file, any word of honour what-so-ever, if their very future and legacy's depended on it.
I see laughter and/or ripe tomatoes in the future.
Sometimes- I even feel like throwing a couple, if I was there,in the House, oh well- I'm content with visualizing it anyway- (almost) everything goes better with jokes!!
hi thwap... when I read your comment a horrible image came into my mind. There I was sitting in a psychiatrist's chair, with a pad on my knee, and Stephen Harper was lying on the couch. And I couldn't think of anything to ask him, because I didn't know where to begin. My theory is simpler than yours. I think Harper imposed so much discipline and central control on the party to prevent redneck eruptions, it became a reflection of himself. A kind of cult, where different agendas were subsumed into his twisted destructive vision, and they all had one thing in common. The belief that those ideological or religious agendas were so important that the end justified the means. Because that's how he thinks, and that's how they behave. I don't know if stupid is the right word to describe that, but it is definitely insane...
hi Kirby...look first of all I want you to know that this Winter from Hell has reduced me to a state of total despondency and physical dilapidation. So don't accuse me once again of being a hopeless optimist eh? ;) But seriously, I don't think the situation is as bad as that, because polls do show that the more Canadians understand what the Cons are trying to do, the less they like the bill. Secondly, for a government that is so scandal-ridden, and is already tainted by the robocall affair, this could be the straw that breaks the camel's back, or the detonator that sets off all that other stuff, and brings down the house.
It adds to the sense of distrust that is already monumental, and I believe has the potential to really hurt the Cons. However, as I said before, it all depends on how many Canadians understand what is at stake. Because if they don't all will be lost. So I completely agree with you that the opposition must be bolder and more aggressive in getting out that message than they are now. We live in a video age, we can't just rely on the arguments in the House of Commons and playing the same old game, which in the dead zone that is Parliament is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. They need to be more theatrical, they need to run attack ads to help frame the issue as simply and as devastatingly as possible. I mean, you don't get Pierre Poilievre and Brad Butt together all the time, and just Butt alone can do them enormous damage.
So yeah, we beed to kick up a ruckus, as many are already doing, to tell the parties to get off their asses. I sincerely hope that's not asking to much. Because if it is we will be screwed. And of course, you'll end up looking like a prophet, and I'll look like an idiot... ;)
hi Steve...yes, the next election will come down to whether we can get many more Canadians to vote than we did last time. And all I can say if we can't do that, after all those filthy Cons have done to Canada, then were are truly fucked, and we deserve what we get...
hi mizdarlin...it is exactly the stay on message strategy you describe. But as I told the others, I see it as a situation where the Cons might win the battle but lose the war. The can pass the bill, and maybe get a few more people to vote for them. But it could also cost them some support, and it could motivate more people on our side to get out and vote. However, as I told Kirby, that depends on us getting out our message, and framing the issue so even the dumbest Canadians can understand why it's so important. We badly need to frame it now because it is complicated, and Poilievre and company are distorting the issue and trying to confuse Canadians. We need to take the gloves off and play the game in a more modern and effective manner...
hi deb...I share your frustration with the way the opposition parties are fighting the Cons. They need to understand that when you're dealing with an issue as vital as the health of a democracy, you can't just rely on the old methods, you have to create a movement to take the issue beyond the Commons, get the attention of the media, and through them the attention of all those complacent Canadians out there. As the wise old rabbi said, if not now when? And if not us WHO?
hi liberalandlovingit...I almost always have a grin on my face, or so my enemies say, so laughing at the Cons comes natural. ;) And it's my way of trying to cheer up progressives in these miserable times. But I also think that turning them into caricatures can sometimes get a message across more effectively than the words. Because if a message is going to register in our cluttered and distracted world it has to be clear and it has to be powerful. The Cons destroyed two Liberal leaders by caricaturing them. What's good for the goose is good for the gander...
hi John...Poilievre has clearly memorized his lines well, because of course that's all they are. The Cons really do believe that if you repeat a Big Lie enough times, we will all end up believing it. And unless they are challenged they will get away with it. The experts have shredded his arguments, but because the issue is complicated, we need to boil down what they said, and communicate that to Canadians in a way that is easily understandable. Take the argument beyond those experts and make people understand how it could impact their lives. The debate is a good one, but it will be useless if it flies over the heads of many Canadians...
hi anon...yes he really does deserve the title of hypocrite of the year, it's practically a parody, or a pantomime. But of course that's good, because we can work with that to make him look even worse in the eyes of Canadians. So yes, welcome home Great Leader and get ready to pack your bags again. Because in 2015 we're giving Steve the heave...
I see a pattern here in the comment thread. Everyone is sitting around expecting the opposition to do more. Believe me, they try but no one is listening. The NDP held town halls across Canada during the break and with all attempts to get people out to inform them, only so many show up. They bring it up in the MSM, social media, websites and in Question Period. They have filibustered, brought in testimony from important players in our electoral system to committee. Their hands are tied to how much they can do. The next avenue left is the courts and that takes time to build but it will be done. Frankly except for talk the other two opposition Parties haven't done much at all.
Has everyone here signed a petition? Sent an email to a Con MP? Gone out to a protest or town hall meeting? Talked to your Con voting neighbour?
Exactly. Or when Mulclair does try to bring the Cons to measure, he is portrayed as a angry irrational man by the CONmedia and the masses swallow that up instead of seeing the he does have a very good reason to be angry. There are some people paying attention, but the vast majority are still more worried about the March Madness sports events or some celebrity buzz. Its enough to lose faith in humanity at times.
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