Stephen Harper and the Beat of the Fascist Drum

He couldn't have had a better excuse to miss the return of Parliament, and dodge all those questions about his catastrophic economic record.

For there he was at the funeral of a dead Mountie.

Looking suitable sorrowful, and posing as a Great Crime Busting Leader.

Which like everything he did today was choreographed to the max. 

And accompanied by the distant beat of a fascist drum.

For shortly before Parliament resumed, the military conveniently revealed more information about the once secret activities of our special forces. 

Canadian snipers on the front lines in Iraq have once again killed Islamic State militants during their non-combat mission advising Kurdish forces – part of an evolving role for this country’s soldiers as the battle accelerates to win back the northern city of Mosul.

Something they NEVER used to do before, but are now bragging about on an almost daily basis. While failing to explain why our troops are the only ones engaged in this obvious mission creep.

Roland Paris, director of the Centre for International Policy Studies at the University of Ottawa, said mission creep is under way. “The U.S. military indicated last week that American troops currently in Iraq are not being deployed with Iraqi units to front-line positions. Rather, they are training Iraqis behind the wire at four major military bases. The assertion that deploying Canadian troops to the front lines is an inevitable element of advising and assisting is, therefore, misleading,” he said.

So when Tom Mulcair demanded an explanation:

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair called on the Conservatives to concede Canada is now in ground combat. “Last fall, the Prime Minister specifically said that Canadian Forces would not be pinpointing targets on the ground. The Chief of the Defence Staff agreed that it would be a semi-combat role and it would not fit with a non-combat mission,” Mr. Mulcair noted.

Harper's trained seal ferret Rob Nicholson could reply like this:

Mr. Nicholson said the Conservatives don’t believe in leaving the “heavy lifting” to others. “That has never been the Canadian way for 200 years.” We do not stand on the sidelines, we get out there and we stand up for those who are oppressed.”

And go on to say he's PROUD to work for a leader who fires back at his enemies. In an obvious attempt to try to portray the opposition as weaklings.

And his Great Strong Leader as the only one who can save us from the terrorist menace...



While Great Closet Leader sat in a crowded arena in St Albert, next to the RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson.

The man who more than any others has helped Harper construct the idea of that terrorist menace, by claiming that the killer who stormed Parliament Hill was guided by "ideological motives."



But who has now apparently decided that we will NEVER see the tape Michael Zehaf-Bibeau made, so we can decide for ourselves whether he was a real terrorist or a MANIAC.

Which can only lead to two very disturbing questions. The one Tasha Kheiriddin asks here. 

The question for Canadians today is: Will our conflict with Islamic State be Stephen Harper’s Falklands War? There are many parallels: an economy plunging into recession in parts of the country, a government accused of seeking to balance the books at all costs after trailing in the polls for a year. In this environment, the Tories sorely need an issue that can rally voters. 

For Harper, as for Thatcher, war appears to be a winner. While Harper must respond to the terrorist threat — he is the prime minister, after all, and that’s part of the job — the fact remains that the more the Islamic State conflict remains in the news, the higher his numbers go. If an election were held today, the Tories would eke out a victory — and the Trudeau Liberals would form the opposition.

Is he trying to emulate his Con icon the ghastly Margaret Thatcher, and using the patriotism card to try to win himself another glorious majority?



The Conservatives are playing the patriotism card — and it’s a move that should worry the opposition. It’s the same card Thatcher played into a winning hand in 1982, rallying Britons around the glory of their military heritage. It works brilliantly on a gut level: Stand with us, and you are a proud, true Canadian. Stand against us, and you’re not.

While grinding us into the rubble of our civil liberties, and changing Canada beyond recognition.

For let's not forget how it worked for Thatcher.

The war didn’t just ensure the Conservatives’ election victory. It gave the government the mandate — and the confidence — to bring about deep socioeconomic change. The Guardian’s Simon Jenkins wrote: “The Falklands changed everything. The miners were confronted, left-wing local government crushed, Europe riled and universities humbled. Most crucial of all, the patrician Tory moderates were diluted and eventually driven from power. The now-familiar Thatcher came into her own and ‘the Eighties’ began.”

And then there's the other disturbing question that I keep asking: are the police and the military playing political games, and doing all they can to help Harper win another bloody majority?

Because if they are, as I have said before, we are already living in a police state.

And the good news? If that doesn't motivate us to fight him and his sinister Con regime harder than ever, NOTHING will.

For as I have also warned so many times before, if that monster isn't stopped...



The beat of the fascist drum will only get louder.

He will lead us to a very dark place.

And we will wake up one day in the rubble of a country we don't recognize...

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