Sunday, January 11, 2015

How We Can Stop Harper and Take Our Country Back



In my last post I looked at Stephen Harper's ghastly record and wondered how he gets away with it. 

And I said that I was confident that although a lot of people in this country are discouraged, that record would come back to haunt him in the election campaign.

Despite his desperate efforts to reinvent himself...



Especially since that record is even worse than most people imagine. 

As Michael Harris explains in this shocking video...



And the good news is, as Harris says at the end, we can do something about it:

"The difference is us. If we stand up and we do something about it we can stop this man. But if we sit back and count all the reasons we can't do a thing, that steamroller that Stephen Harper has rolled over the institutions of this country will continue to flatten everything in its path."

We are not helpless. There are ways we can take back this country. 

In the coming months, Canadians must engage in a serious dialogue about the future of this country. The shameful record of the Harper regime needs to be patiently exposed, and the class interests of who it serves brought to light. The Conservatives are spending millions of tax dollars in blatantly partisan advertising, so it will take a lot of work to keep their true record on focus. The opposition parties will play their role as both critics and potential governments, but there are many things the rest of us could do:

We can stand up for pensions. Or the rights of veterans, seniors, and poor people. Or attack his shabby economic record. Or his foul record of corruption.



We can expose him for who he is, the worst and most depraved leader in Canadian history. A monster if ever there was one.

We can encourage the young to join in the struggle:

Focus on getting young people engaged in politics. With youth unemployment in the double digits, this will be the first generation to be worse off than their parents. Many cannot find stable jobs, yet too few turn out to vote to change their future. 


We can form community groups everywhere.

Engage activists and leaders from diverse communities to challenge the new-found influence of Conservative Party within their communities.

We CAN build a mighty movement...



We can stop that monstrous leader.

And take our country back...

Please click here to recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers.

19 comments:

  1. Michael Harris really nails Harper to the wall and exposes him for who he really is a cowardly dictator that can't shine his own shoes. I hope Canadians are listening. But Simon when enough people are pissed off it historically results in higher voter turnout so let it be written so let it be done.

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    1. hi mogs...yes, Harris has done an exemplary job of nailing the Cons, and I greatly admire his talent and his dedication. He already has a noble record of fighting injustice, but this struggle against the Harperites is his greatest achievement. And you're right, the more people are pissed off the more they will rally to defeat those Cons. And NOTHING is more important than working to turn out the vote, because if they do turn out the Cons will be toast...

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    2. Simon I got to share this with you Sebastian and your readers/followers are you ready? I emailed Michael Harris and as you know the guy is brilliant and has authored many books. Well I published my list on several blogs across Canada of who was Steve not pissed off are you ready? My email exchange with Michael: This I posted on Owen Grays blog:

      mogs moglio said...

      Owen I am touched by the Humanness of Michael Harris I wrote him an email thanking him for educating Canadians on the real Harper. Sent him my list of the people Harper has pissed off that I published in one of your earlier blogs and I figured I'd never hear from a man of that caliber. He has written several books as you know. He obviously has a brilliant mind.

      Well he actually responded and I was very happily surprised following is our email exchange:

      Re: Thank you

      michael harris
      Jan 9 at 9:25 AM

      To me

      hello mogs

      michael here. your list is brilliant. i like to think that all the people and groups named will bring together the very forces that will defeat this man. 2015 is as much about us as it is about him. are we full of fear, or full of courage? we will continue to be herded like cattle by lies and propaganda, or shout out the truth and set a bolder course? i am glad i have someone like you taking the time to write to someone like me. yours truly, Michael

      Sent from my iPad

      On Jan 5, 2015, at 10:09 AM, Mogs Moglio wrote:

      > Michael Harris I salute you for educating Canadians on the true Harper and his ‘zombie like’ con clowns.
      >
      > Who has Harper not pissed off?
      > These he has:
      > Coast Guard,
      > Veterans,
      > Army, Navy, Air Force,
      > Dept of Fisheries workers,
      > Postal workers,
      > National Parks workers,
      > The unemployed,
      > Anyone who has had his or her job taken by a “Temporary [permanent] Foreign Worker,
      > Scientists,
      > Lawyers,
      > Professors,
      > Environmentalists,
      > Charities on his hit list,
      > And a ton of Public Service workers he has fired,
      > Ordinary Canadians like me who do not like the changes he is making to Canada to benefit the 1% at our expense,
      > Finally journo’s in the MSM [bout time they woke up and took shots at his majesty instead of swooning over the fool on the hill (Parliament Hill)],
      >
      > The list is endless so since he knows he cannot get re-elected without cheating. A war measures act or emergency prorogue of parliament?
      >
      > Thank you,
      > Mogs Moglio

      And also Owen thank you for educating Canadians on what is really happening behind the Harper closed secrecy curtain hide in the closet con self so-called Harper government.

      He has more pictures of himself plastered around parliament than Hitler had in the Reichstag ...

      Go figure.

      Cheers,
      Mogs

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    3. This is AWESOME! Thank you for sharing, Mogs.

      I have read several of Michael's books in the past and when I got wind he was writing one about Harper, I was thrilled. In my opinion, Michael Harris is the truest investigative journalist that we have in CANADA!

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    4. Agreed Kathleen agreed...

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    5. hi mogs...that is indeed impressive, as is your correspondence with Michael Harris, and his reply. I am blown away and of course extremely envious...;)

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  2. norberto10:44 AM

    hi, I completely agree that we must STOP HARPER! The main problem I see is how to take a realistic and practical approach, what can we really do.
    In this democratic country the best tool we have is Voting in the next federal election. However, let be 100% honest here, what are our options? In my humble opinion, the smartest party leader in Ottawa, by far, is Elizabeth May, but we know her chances of forming government are very small. Liberals are the next possibility, but I am afraid that Trudeau is still too young. Maybe in a few more years. That leaves us Tom Mulcair and the NDP. I like him, but he is not Jack. And we know many Canadians wont vote NDP just because.
    One possibility is to take the "strategic vote" approach: "anybody but harper." And yet, we need to be very careful to avoid the split vote and end with harper again. Besides, we know many, many Canadians are skeptical about the vote system and prefer to avoid it.
    What I am trying to say is that the STOP HARPER campaign will help, but it wont solve the problem. We need to find ways to communicate Canadians the real problems, to make everybody understand the country is in deep trouble, to engage the seniors and the youth, much more than protesting, to show we are fighting for our future, for our jobs, for our environment.
    The problem is much more than demand climate change action, or better and more jobs, or to protect our pensions, or to respect First Nation rights.... Many issues here, many values in jeopardy...
    Maybe an alliance of sorts is the solution? I don't know. But we need to realize the power of voting is the best chance we have for actual change, to get rid of harper, to take our country back.

    Thanks for all your posts Simon. Keep the information flowing....

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    1. hola norberto...you make a lot of excellent points, it is not easy, and a STOP HARPER movement alone won't defeat them. But what it can do is make us participants rather than mere spectators, as well as making the next election more than just an election like any other other. A movement can inspire people, turn a campaign into a sacred cause, and best of all help encourage more people to get out and vote. Because we absolutely need to do that if we are going to crush the Cons. As for strategic approaches, I am willing to try strategic voting with all the caveats you mention. But I will never give up my dream of seeing the red, the green and the orange all working in one new and mighty party to drive the Cons from power, and not simply defeat them but crush them. I hope we can all exchange ideas about how to best fight them in the next election, and I am open to all of them....

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    2. Uh... did the "strategic vote" approach work in 2011?

      How exactly do you "strategic vote" but avoid the split vote so the Cons don't (again!) come up the middle and win?





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    3. Um huge obstacle is cons are instructed not to go to town hall meetings or attend debates. They refuse to answer phone calls or emails they think they are "untouchables" so my question is how do you get through to a so-called untouchable?

      You cannot and unfortunately folks this is Harper's agenda. Keep the Canadian public out and slam them with con ads showing how perfect the Harper con clowns are. The "dummies" buy it???

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  3. Anonymous1:49 PM

    We need the opposition to relentlessly hammer away at Harper's record so the weak of mind can see through his smoke and mirrors and expose him for what he is. JT needs to dump his sunshine and lollipops methods and start flinging the shit right back at Harper not once or twice but 24/7. I proved in grade school that the only way to beat a bully is to give as much and more than you get. The result was a bully defeated and exposed for the coward that he is.

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    1. hi anon...I agree with you, progressives need to counter the barrage of Con propaganda with their own attack ads. I hear party people tell me that they need to wait until the campaign officially starts, but I don't believe that. We live in the age of the permanent campaign, and the sooner they start framing the issues and the Cons the better...

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    2. ++So true anon 1:49 i do not understand why Mulcair and Trudeau are not nailing Mr bullshit artist Harper to the wall...

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  4. Anonymous6:15 PM

    You’ve been hit by ►►►
    .
    |^^^^^^^^^^^^|
    | CRUSH Harper Truck | ‘|”"”;.., ___.
    |_…_…______________===|= _|__|…, ] |
    “(@ )’(@ )”"""""""”"""”"*|(@ )(@ )****(@ )
    http://www.facebook.com/groups/292671928599/


    C.R.U.S.H. - Canadians Rallying to Unseat Steve Harper
    (incorporated as “Canadians Defending Democracy”)
    Multi-Partisan Discussion Group of 20,000+ Canadians
    http://www.facebook.com/groups/292671928599/


    - splintered off from infamous CAPP (Canadians Against Proroguing Parliment) Facebook group of 225,000 Canadians on Feb. 7th, 2010

    CRUSH Twitter Account
    https://twitter.com/UnseatHarper
    @UnseatHarper

    CRUSH website:
    http://www.unseatHarper.ca
    (not kept updated, but tons of information there)

    CRUSH’s YouTube Channel
    http://www.youtube.com/user/SmackdabProductions#g/u

    -00-




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  5. hi anon...hooray for CRUSH, I've been run over by a truck and I LOVE it ;) I support all anti-Harper groups and will as soon as I can find some time add a sidebar to my blog where I will list them all. The more we support each other, the stronger we will be...

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    1. United we stand, divided we fall!

      Anti-Harper groups are popping up on Facebook........so are ads offering money to the disabled.......why not help for veterans........see where this is going?

      Sneaky ads.....

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  6. Anonymous11:02 AM

    Hi Simon,

    I think we need to remind all Canadians that Harper was 46 when he became the PM with very little job experience in our real world. Also counteract the trolls & all Canadians what Job experience Harper had as a regular guy in Canada's work force prior to becoming the Leader of the Western Alliance Reform party. JT is gaining a lot of experience as we speak as well a lot of good potential MP's who can bring Harper down on Oct 19, of this year. I notice that some responses on this site are still mimicking Harpers trolls about him being to you etc.

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  7. Hi Simon,

    I applaud your endorsement of real-world activism and community building. Let me know when you've organized an evening of consciousness-raising and strategizing in Toronto, and I'll be there.

    .

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    1. hi thwap...thanks, if I can get some kind of public meeting going, beyond my immediate circle of conspirators, you're definitely invited....

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