Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Tony Clement's Weird and Deeply Disturbing Campaign Launch



We all knew that Tony Clement's campaign launch for leader of the Harper Party was going to be a ghastly spectacle.

Because all the hype or the lipstick in the world can't make him look like an attractive candidate, let alone a winning one.

He's got loser written all over him.

But who knew the big launch would be both farcical AND deeply disturbing?



Because while it was farcical to see Clement trying to make it sound like an "important" announcement.

And blowing his tiny trumpet outrageously.

Clement said he was "tested, and ready today, to earn back the confidence of families, of millennials, of moms and dads, of urban and rural Canadians, and of small business leaders, and seniors who want government to be an empowering force for good."

When you read what he had to say, you really have to wonder whether his massive ego is now totally out of control. Or whether he is losing his mind, or the last of his marbles.

For if he thinks he can get millennials to vote for him, after the way him and his Great Economist Leader kept their unemployment rate steady at twice the national average.

Or thinks he can fool seniors into voting for him after the way the Con regime went after their money...



Or worse, thinks he can fool Canadians into thinking that any member of that regime could be an "empowering force for good."

He must be dangerously deluded.

And the way he bragged about his time as health minister under the brutish Ontario premier Mike Harris is more proof of that.

Clement also cited his experience as the former minister of health for the Ontario Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris. 

 "For greater prosperity and more opportunity, I am your leader. For a better quality of life from health to the environment I am your leader. For security of our people and the defence of values, I am your leader.


For it wasn't something to brag about, it was a health care catastrophe.



Shortly after assuming office, the Harris government announced that several hundred nurses would be laid off to cut costs in the health sector. The government also implemented a series of hospital closures on the recommendations of a Health Services Restructuring Commission. 

Harris compared the laid off hospital workers to the people who lost their jobs after the hula hoop fad died down in the early 1960s, commenting "Just as Hula-Hoops went out and those workers had to have a factory and a company that would manufacture something else that's in, it's the same in government, and you know, governments have put off these decisions for so many years that restructuring sometimes is painful"

So Clement is no leader no matter how many times he repeats the word or tries to make us think he's cool...



And of course his decision to go wild on Twitter was absolutely bizarre. 

For not only was it totally manic. And can only make even more people question his sanity.

It also inspired the Twittersphere to go absolutely wild.

And remind Canadians of Tony Gazebo's appalling record in office.

But then Clement, like all those other Con candidates, is not just a victim of his own mediocrity.

He's a victim of changing times. That's what the last election was all about.

That's why Justin Trudeau is so popular. And why if an election was held tomorrow he'd do even better than he did last October.



How much better? How about winning 280 seats in the House of Commons – nearly 100 more than nine months ago – while reducing the Conservative Party of Canada to a chihuahua-sized opposition (55 seats rather than the 99 they won) and blowing the hapless New Democratic Party out of the airlock of official party status (five seats rather than the 44 they hung on to last autumn).

Because he represents change, and Canadians prefer sunny ways.

Polls reiterating that the man who just wasn’t ready is in fact shaping up as Canada’s ridiculously popular leader continue to pile up. And no matter how fervently Trudeau’s opponents may pray for rain, it seems that as far as voters are concerned, every new day is sunny.


And because the Cons don't understand that, and are still stuck in the past, and still the grim Harper Party.

And they can't change.

Now they're ALL staring into The Abyss...



They really don't know what they're doing. 

They really don't know what country they're living in.

And they really are all heading for the oblivion they so richly deserve...

Please click here to recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers

17 comments:

  1. Don't change Tony. Only he would consider his lack of leadership and ineptitude during the SARS crisis (let alone during the rest of his reign of error as health minister) as a positive.

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    1. Hi Dan...I had forgotten that Clement was involved in the SARS crisis. What a scary thought. My first recollection of him was when he decided to go after drug users instead of dealers, about nine years ago. He was roundly condemned by public health experts, and it did reveal that like other Cons he would put his punitive ideology before the health needs of Canadians. I've heard some say that Clement could become a favourite to win the leadership. Let's hope that's the case, because if he does win the Cons really will be doomed...

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  2. Anonymous3:46 PM

    "A government to be an empowering force for good." Honestly Simon, I cannot see any current Government being "a force for good" these days!!!!! Self serving yes, good NO!!!!!!! But to hear Gazebo Tony associated with "a force for good" is simply mind boggling!!!!! These CON idiots get more desperate with each passing day!!!!! At least the CON stupidity allows you to write blogs like this that makes me smile everyday!!!!!! Love ya Simon FS

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    1. Hi FS....yes, I thought that phrase "empowering force for good" was probably the most ridiculous thing Tony Gazebo said, He is an absurd reactionary, and definitely not a force for good. Among other things he wants to destroy the CBC, so I have absolutely no time for him. And sadly he's so boring I find it hard to satirize him. But we're working on it... ;)

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  3. Anonymous4:20 PM

    Clement has about as much chance of being elected Con leader as I do. He's just in the race as "the fugly friend" to make the other candidates look better and more sane.

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    1. Hi anon....he's in the race because his massive ego has somehow made him believe that he can become the leader of the Harper Party. But you're right, his chances of winning are slim to zero. On the other hand, unless the talent pool improves, I suppose anything could happen, And no doubt Justin Trudeau would love to see him become leader....

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  4. Anonymous7:14 PM

    I agree he is way too boring. I'd prefer Maxime Bernier.

    -MC

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    1. Hi MC....well there's no doubt that Maxime would be a more entertaining candidate than Clement. But his extreme libertarian views, and his championing of the gold standard will probably make him TOO entertaining for most Canadians. Still as the only one with some traction in Quebec, I wouldn't rule him out yet. And goodness knows I don't want to alienate his friends in the Hells Angels.... ;)

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  5. Anonymous8:10 PM

    "Tony Gazebo"

    'nuff said

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    1. Hi anon....I caught the tail end of Rosemary Barton's interview with Clement, and when she asked him about the gazebo affair, he blamed it on "haters." So I think that says it all...

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  6. Gazebo Tony

    Thank you. I love the title.

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    1. Hi jrk....well don't thank me, thank Tony. He worked hard to earn earn that title, so did our tax dollars. And the most depressing part is that it worked for him. His narrow victory in the 2008 election became a comfortable one after the gazebos were built.....

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  7. Anonymous8:49 PM

    Like a poison pill sometimes a failing divided party will pick a mediocre leader that threatens no one. I am not sure if its part of a natural law of stupidity or some well thought out strategy of killing off the opposition during the accelerated period of collapse so they can emerge strong and united on the other side.Either way its usually a good number of years wandering the wilderness looking for a savior and couldn't happen to a nastier bunch of retro clowns.
    RT

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  8. Hi RT....the only way I can see Clement winning is if he becomes some kind of compromise candidate. But that usually happens when there are some other stronger candidates, and so far I see nobody. Michael Chong is at this point the only one with at least some credibility...

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  9. Anonymous1:37 PM

    Clement was saying that he has experience running day to day business of government from being head of Treasury Board under Harper. Well, new Phoenix pay system that he introduced has resulted in thousands of students and temporary workers in Fed Gov not getting payed for months. Many are in dire straits.

    I guess he left that part out of from his cv.

    TS

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    1. Anonymous10:51 PM

      You're absolutely right TS. The pay system is Harper's last slap in the face for the PS. All the experts from across the country who dealt with pay, region by region were lost when Harper and Clement created this massive boondoggle and it will cost taxpayers plenty, for years, to fix their mess.
      Another feather in their cap of incompetence.
      JD

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  10. I don't hate Clement, I just dislike him intensely. You just have to read 'Party of One' to see what Clement supported all those years - omnibus bills, irrational budget cuts, etc. Had he really and truly objected to what Harper was doing, he could have joined the group of Conservative MPs who objected and voted against the government. As Chrysler says about the RAM pickup - no guts, no glory. Clement can say what he wants about haters but he and the government gave us reasons to hate (dislike intensely). With him as leader, the Cons won't get my vote.

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