It tells you a lot about the dilapidated state of the Harper Party, and the lamentable judgment of their hapless interim leader Rona Ambrose.
That just a few days after being criticized by some anonymous party officials for failing to properly organize the Con leadership race, by just standing around doing nothing, and looking stupid.
Something that comes naturally to her...
She would seek to correct that impression by embracing the ghastly hustler Kevin O'Leary.
Celebrity businessman Kevin O'Leary is having conversations with interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose, continuing his informal moves behind the scenes at a bid for the Conservative leadership.
And declare that he would make an excellent candidate.
"Kevin O'Leary is someone who believes in smaller government, lower taxes, he calls himself a Conservative and he's welcome to run in the race," she said.
Even though O'Leary's outrageous assault on Rachel Notley, couldn't be more cowardly or more wrong.
The reason Alberta’s economy is in shambles is not because the electorate voted for the New Democrats last spring; it’s because the bottom fell out of the global oil market, pure and simple.
And he's just a wannabe Donald Trump...
Mr. O’Leary now says he is mulling a run at the federal Conservative Party leadership. Of course he is. After witnessing the success that Mr. Trump is enjoying south of the border in his run for the Republican presidential nomination, it’s only natural Mr. O’Leary might fantasize about riding the same shallow, narrow-minded brand of populism to power.
Who doesn't even live here.
And once said this on the CBC:
Elect me as Prime Minister for 15 minutes. I will make unions illegal. Anybody who remains a union member will be thrown in jail.
Which tells you all you need to know about his fascist tendencies.
But although I am stunned by Rona Ambrose's appalling judgement, I am also delighted.
Because if that capitalist predator does end up running for Con leader, he will help turn their leadership race into a circus, make the Cons look like tea baggers, kill their chances of ever been taken seriously again.
And almost certainly end up totally humiliated.
So as Scott Reid writes, we really must encourage him to take the plunge.
The spectacle of seeing O’Leary get devoured in the shark tank of federal politics would be the most entertaining reality program of all time: Keeping Up With The Kardashians meets CTV’s Question Period.
And see how long he lasts, before he's eaten alive...
Not only would an O’Leary candidacy inject a dose of electricity into a Conservative race that would otherwise rely on Tony Clement for its buzz factor, it would offer the opportunity to witness an epic humbling.
Politics isn’t as easy as Kevin O’Leary thinks. Elected leaders aren’t as foolish as he claims. And governing isn’t as simple as he suggests. So let’s call his bluff. Let’s see how the dragon does when he’s the one tossed into the den.
And of course, good luck with Rona Ambrose's attempt to portray the Cons as the party of real economists. With a candidate who would run Canada like a hedge fund.
At a time when Canadians are running or stumbling around firing off a confetti gun salute to the last "real economist" Stephen Harper...
But wait there's more.
As Dan Leger points out, if a wannabe Donald Trump like O'Leary can run for Con leader, why not Don Cherry?
Maybe O’Leary’s real agenda is just to get more of the attention he craves. There’s no indication that any real Conservatives would support him for leader. Still, the job’s wide open and anyone can be a candidate. A friend suggested Don Cherry might as well run, too. Why not? He’s also loud, famous and politically clueless.
In the age of Trump and O’Leary, that’s apparently all you need.
Because that is the bottom line. The Cons are now so dilapidated, their failed policies so obvious, the damage Harper did to them and the country so great, they can't attract any good candidates.
For even if there are any out there, they must surely know that when we bring in electoral reform no leader will be able to save them.
So the Con's future is looking grim.
Their leadership race will be a circular firing squad, or a freak show...
And if they don't kill each other, we will finish them off.
Now isn't that a happy thought to end the week?
Have a great weekend everybody !!
Please click here to recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers.
9 comments:
I wonder if Peter M. has changed his mind???????
What mind; that's just reptilian reflex.
Unfortunately the NDP not only lost its position as the official opposition but they also lost much of their funding. That funding all goes to the Conservative Party of Canada and effectively cuts the ability of the NDP to do research by 75% or more. This resulted in the layoff of a lot of NDP staff and the move of the remaining ones to smaller premises. This will give the Cons considerably more funds to research and attack the Liberals and we are seeing their focus already. The opposition will clearly come from the right to Trudeau with the NDP relegated to 3rd party status and rarely heard from. This will either help to keep the Liberals to the left or it may result in moving them to the right as it did in the Chretien / Martin years. That resulted, under Martin, in one of the worst periods of austerity in Canadian history. It was so bad that even the Harper government could not match the drastic cuts in medical and infrastructure brought on in the name of deficit reduction by Martin. We need to keep the pressure on Trudeau to keep his party moving to the left, despite the Con attacks. Keep up the good work Simon as you are providing a progressive pressure that keeps us moving in the direction of social justice and equality. We don't need that asshole O'leary destroying government in 4 years time. What he wants to do to Alberta is eliminate taxes and royalties and regulations to allow for the extraction of natural resources for less cost for the purpose of investment and profits. Not for jobs and people. He only believes in unfettered capitalism on the backs of the workers. See the article attached for the level of damage sustained by the NDP in last election. http://www.hilltimes.com/news/politics/2016/01/15/ndp-loses-%243-million-in-caucus-office-research-funding/44867#.Vpm2bKPfUiQ.facebook
I have no difficulty with Rona "welcoming" O'Leary to the cons and their leadership race. That is what a democracy is all about. it isn't just about the "right" people running for office. A democracy is also about the "wrong" people running for office. Not to mention it will be more entertaining than what is on t.v. these days.
Love the picture of O'Leary at the end of the article.
hi Kathleen...not from what I hear. With a list of Con leadership candidates as mediocre as we have now, old Dumbo might actually be able to pass himself off as smart. Still, I'm betting on an outside candidate, just not O'Leary...
hi rumleyfips...yes that would be a good word to use, along with prehistoric. O'Leary seems to get an unhealthy thrill from celebrating capitalism's worst aspects. And he is the kind of person my parents warned me about, narrow, greedy, and vulgar...
hi John...yes what you say is true. Although I am supporting the Liberals as strongly as I would have supported the NDP if they had been elected, that does not mean that I am suspending my critical faculties. We do need to keep the pressure on them to keep their promises, and hopefully push them in the direction of real change. Justin Trudeau seems to be asking Canadians to get involved rather than sitting back and watching, and I look forward to that challenge...
hi e.a.f...once again we're going to have to agree to disagree. A guy who calls union members parasites, and says he'd like to jail them, is unfit in my opinion to run for any Canadian party. But yes, he could be entertaining, and he will almost certainly do them great damage. So long live democracy... ;)
Gretzky got involved in the last election. I suppose he failed to realize that Harper took action to ensure he could not vote. Not the sharpest pencil in the drawer. Be an ideal Conservative leader with a bit more of a mean streak and anger management problem!
Post a Comment