Thursday, March 20, 2014

The Harper Cult and the War on the Media



It looked like a mob meeting, with big black cars and burly bodyguards to keep reporters away.

Or as Tom Mulcair called it, the gathering of some secretive cult. 

But it was only Oily Joe Oliver's hush hush swearing in ceremony. 

Mr. Harper’s office closed the event off to the public. It was not announced. Journalists who arrived anyhow were cordoned off outside for hours. Mr. Harper’s staff used his motorcade of black vehicles to block views of him entering and existing the building, and the three ministers entered and left with little more than platitudes.

A ceremony so secret that if you wanted pictures of what was going on inside, you had to checkout Stephen Harper's twitter feed:

And if you wanted to hear from Oily Joe, you had to dial-up Harper's personal propaganda channel. 

To see Oliver looking half dead reading his approved lines...



Like a good cult member, in Great Big Brother Leader's  new Canada of total message CONTROL.

Because there are only three reasons Harper could be acting in such a bizarre manner, and all of them are deeply disturbing.

(1) He wants to get back at the Parliamentary Press Gallery for daring to demand the right to ask the questions they need to ask to fulfil their role in a democracy.

Journalists unanimously passed a motion on March 7 at the Parliamentary Press Gallery’s Annual General Meeting asserting the right of journalists to ask questions “in all photo-ops and availabilities with the Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers, and all Parliamentarians, to fulfill our functions as journalists in a democratic society.”

Even though as Andrew Mitrovica points out, the Press Gallery is not prepared to go as far as boycotting those photo-ops. And is still waving the white flag.

Summing up: Some gallery members think a boycott is a stupid, useless idea, while others think it's a worthy concept whose time has passed. Not exactly the definition of unity.

Still, it's clear that these disparate voices inside the Gallery have one big thing in common: They've spent the past eight years waving the white flag in the face of a government which tells them how to do their jobs.


Which tells us all we need to know about the state of our democracy, and the troubled state of Harper's mind...



(2) He is embarrassed by his choice of Joe Oliver as his new Finance Minister, as Tom Mulcair suggests.

New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair says newly appointed Finance Minister Joe Oliver is an embarrassing choice to represent Canada because of his views on climate change.

"Joe Oliver is an embarrassing nomination as finance minister for a G7 country," Mulcair said, adding that Oliver's "information on global warming has consistently proven to be fanciful."


And who can blame him eh? When Oliver is a 73-year-old guy who recently had a serious heart operation, is clearly not up to the physical demands of his new job.

And has spent the last two years peddling his bitumen to the Americans, trying to deny climate change, or trying to convince Canadians that the water from the tar ponds is safe to drink.

And getting absolutely nowhere...



A shabby old loser who has attacked decent environmentalists as "radicals" and "extremists" which must lead any sane person to question his judgement.

As well as Harper's judgement, who as we know has a long and sordid record of really bad appointments.

And it's blindingly obvious the only reason Oliver has the job is because he doesn't want Harper's job. He supports income splitting, unlike Jimbo Flaherty did.

And is only too willing to parrot or quack the party line...



(3) Harper is slowly losing his grip on reality. All those scandals have taken a terrible toll. 

The sudden departure of Jim Flaherty has left him feeling terribly vulnerable...



Theo Moudakis/Toronto Star

And the Ukraine story has driven him over the edge.

In short, his values don’t necessarily coincide with legality and democracy. Rather, they speak to something deeper and more visceral. To Stephen Harper, some regimes are simply and unequivocally evil.

Made him feel more like a messiah, or a cult leader, than a Prime Minister.

And I know it sounds crazy, but we must now consider the very real possibility that Stephen Harper is mentally ill. Or suffering from the same condition that caused the first Harper in Canada to be removed from office.

The original Canadian Harper - born in a small village in Yorkshire in 1730 - immigrated to Nova Scotia in 1774 and moved into a house near Fort Cumberland, only to have the home burned to the ground two years later by rebels. He spent years taking revenge in the courts and slowly rising through the political system.

He had risen to the post of justice of the peace by the time a judicial inquiry found him guilty of, as one historian put it, "violent and oppressive measures" - vindictive to a point beyond all reason.

He's muzzling scientists and now the media, he's strangling our democracy, he's talking up war in Europe, he's doing weird crazy things no Prime Minister has ever done before. 

How much more evidence do we need that something is terribly wrong? And that the Emperor has no clothes.

How much longer will it be I wonder, before people realize that he may have to be removed from office by the competent authorities?

In handcuffs or in a straitjacket.

Before his madness consumes us ALL...



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14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, and who's going to put the cuffs on him? The o.p.p. or the r.c.m.p. or c.s.i.s.? Which police organization in this iced-over banana republic is going to challenge the hand that feeds them? You can't really think they will "nick" the very reason they've become so overly militarized or needlessly brutal or so corrupt, do you, Simon?
We'll be lucky if he decides we are allowed to hold another election and then he will be looking for similar results to North Korea's election of his newest role model, Kim Jong Un. oliver, like uglykook or poolever, is just another mindless harpie crony or he would not have gotten the job. Verstehst du?

Lorne said...

Every exclusion of the media, the eyes and ears of a democracy, Simon, is just another occasion in which the Harper cabal is giving Canadians everywhere the middle finger.

Steve said...

I am a failure make me finance minister

Anonymous said...

Hi Simon! Remove him from office? I can see it being done! It only takes a few powerful people who care about Canada and Canadians, who care about the future of their children and their grandchildren. I believe there are people like that. I think they're just waiting for the right moment. We need to be optimistic! It can be done by the right people! Everywhere, Canadians are getting their wake up call and this is thanks to social media. It can be done! Harper is only as powerful as the members of his party allow him to be and among them are good people. I truly believe that. He's not a real conservative anyways. So, let's keep our hopes up.

Anonymous said...

Does his wife live with him? Or NOT?
He's a Ralph fucking REED! economist. He 'moves at night and you don't know what hit til your in the body-bag'...
precious Ralph...

Anonymous said...

I agree Simon, Harper's got a bad case of "bats in the belfry". His insane obsession with Ukraine, JT, media control, thinking he can sing, his maniacal ramblings comparing Putin to Hitler. Approximately 28 million Russians died fighting Hitler so Harper's idiotic statement will no doubt be the ultimate insult to many Russians.
All other countries criticism of Putin have been deservedly firm but measured, whereas Harper comes across like the village idiot. Earth to Steve, shut the f*#k up!! You going to Ukraine will only inflame the situation so let the big boys and girls sort this out. We know you condemn, strongly condemn and now maniacally condemn Putin. We get it Steve. You're in way over your head.

e.a.f. said...

Saw them exiting after the "ceremony". Looked like the gang members when they move around, here in B.C. There isn't much difference. One peddles dope, the other tar.

It looked like something out of Putin's play book. Can't really figure out why he has it in for Putin. He and Putin aren't that different when it comes to how they operate. Of course If oil can invaded any part of the U.S.A. he'd get his ass kicked.

Whatever oil can is saying about the Ukraine/Russia debacle, Mr. Obama put a stick into his wheel. Obama said they aren't going to war over this. He is correct. Although Putin is clearly out of line, up until yesterday no one had died. Harper keeps pounding his war chest but really, is this worth anyone loosing their lives over? Do we want the Crimea to look like Syria? We haven't dealt with the health needs of the Gulf war Vets. Lets now add more to this mess.

Simon said...

hi anon....Well you would ask the hard questions. ;) And I don't blame you, this country is so corrupted one hardly knows who to trust. However, through my work I know quite a few members of the security forces, and you can't tar them all with the same brush. Some of them are dedicated professionals who know real criminals when they see them. But of course it's really up to us. What I can't accept is that anyone in this country would consider what is happening as normal. And they day we mobilize ourselves will be the day the Con regime starts to crumble...

Simon said...

hi Lorne...the Cons have been giving the MSM the finger from the moment they came to power, but this creation of their own news network paid for with OUR dollars is the absolute limit. And you're right they are offending us all, and defiling our democracy. But the good news is that it all helps tarnish the Cons even more than they already are, and they will pay for it eventually...

Simon said...

hi steve...sorry no, I want that job !!! I was a total failure at mathematics, figures make me dizzy, and I can't even do my own simple taxes. But if Joe Oliver can be a Finance Minsters so can I... ;)

Simon said...

hi anon...As I was just saying we the people will eventually throw the whole rotten gang out. But I do with the pathetic establishment in this country would take a close look at Great Leader and decide whether they want to continue propping him up. And if there are any decent conservatives left, now is the time they should make their moves. Because Joe Oliver's appointment does show one thing. Harper is so afraid of people in his own party he only dare nominate a man too old too replace him. And where there's smoke there's fire...

Simon said...

hi libreralandlovingit...I have no idea where Mrs Harper lives, but if she lives at 24 Sussex Drive she should start thinking about hiring a moving company, because they'll be moving soon... ;)

Simon said...

hi anon...I'm glad somebody agrees with me that Harper's behaviour is becoming more and more bizarre. And the way he is fanning the flames in Ukraine is absolutely irresponsible. He should state Canada's position firmly but stop playing cheap politics with a dangerous crisis. It's a complex situation, his Cold War approach is doing nobody any favours. And you're absolutely right, he's way in over his head...

Simon said...

hi e.a.f...yeah they did look like a mob eh? And can you believe they way they parked that SUV right in front of the door so the reporters couldn't even get a glimpse of what was happening inside? It was just outrageous, and let's hope that if Harper escalates this war the MSM will fight back more forcefully.
As for Ukraine...let's hope that Harper can restrain himself when he's there, and not make a bad situation worse...