Monday, September 05, 2016

Michael Harris On the Death Wish of the Harper Party



When Rona Ambrose was named interim leader of the Cons, I predicted that the hissing ghosts of the Harper Party would come back to haunt her.

And turn her job into a nightmare.

And sure enough now they have.

With Kellie Leitch dredging up the corpse of her infamous cultural barbarism campaign.



And Ambrose forced to criticize her publicly. 

Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose says that she “doesn’t support the idea” behind a proposal from leadership candidate Kellie Leitch to screen immigrants for “anti-Canadian values.” 

Ambrose told CTV’s Question Period that she “personally” doesn’t support such screening. “I don’t even know what that would look like,” she said. Ambrose added that “as far as our party is concerned, we value immigration.”


In a desperate attempt to stop Leitch before she reinforces the reputation of the Cons as the anti-immigration party.

And reminds Canadians why they were once so desperate to defeat them and their monstrous leader...



But sadly for Ambrose, her nightmare is almost certainly going to get worse.

For although Leitch is remaining as mute as a carp, as Great Fish Leader would want.

Her sinister campaign manager Big Nick Kouvalis is not amused...



And he's challenging other candidates to declare whether they support Ambrose or Leitch.


And who knows what some of those candidates might say or do?



Or how much Ambrose's leadership might be undermined.

Even though the barbarous Leitch is playing dog-whistle politics.

Dr. Leitch is a politician with a history of doing her dog-whistling in sound bites. Now, she’s been test-marketing vague terms such as anti-Canadian values. And there’s a chilling note of political calculation in the way she reaches for the hot button.

And both she and Kouvalis should be ashamed of themselves.


But then as Michael Harris points out, this is just the latest episode in the Con's desperate struggle to find their party's soul.

And so far they're failing so miserably, they seem to have a death wish. 

It looks like Anthony Weiner will stop texting his junk before the Conservative Party of Canada gives up its death wish. 

Crushed in the last election, the CPC still can’t come to terms with the reality of the Harper legacy — mass rejection. 


Until it does, it will be where it is, standing on a creaky plank above a deep gorge in a high wind with dubious would-be leaders like Kellie Leitch jumping up and down on the rotten boards.


They just can't seem to understand why they were defeated.

Even if Leitch did the right thing, too many other marquee players on the Conservative side continue to make a variation of the same mistake. They continue to play the violin for Stephen Harper. 

They continue to act as though the loss in 2015 was the result of great ideas poorly articulated, rather than a decade of tyranical one-man rule that very nearly ruined the country with Harper’s warmed up version of Northern Republicanism.


They're still playing the same incendiary tune their lost leader played for them...



While people like Kellie Leitch try to channel Donald Trump.

Happily, the CPC will get to see how it all ends south of the border long before they have to choose a new leader. If Trump hits the wall and goes up in a fireball in November, the path ahead will be clear — even for the Harper lubbers. Conservatism either finds itself or it simply disappears in a cloud of expletives and disappointed expectations.

But still have the gall to accuse others of harbouring anti-Canadian values.

Great eh?

And yes, I think you know how I believe this shabby Con story will end.

With an enormous cloud of bitter disappointment.

And one massive fireball...



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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ok just want to play Devil's Advocate for a second here. Let's just say hypothetically speaking we did screen immigrants for Anti-Canadian values.

We're screening immigrant #2034 and one of his questions is "How do you feel about homosexuals"? And his response is "Well to be honest in my culture it's frowned upon it's totally wrong and we cannot accept it".

That's not too bad right? Maybe just tell him in Canada we accept everyone and teach him to be more open-minded.

Screening immigrant #2079... "What happens if your daughter marries a man you don't approve of?" Answer "If she hurts our family's honor she will have to be punished." ...

Screening immigrant #3045 "Do you believe in beheading those who insult the Prophet Muhammad?" ...

I'd imagine that most coming here just want a better life for themselves. But if one in a thousand could be a risk wouldn't you want to know about it?

I used to be a manager at a big company. I'd do hundreds of interviews. I guarantee you one out of every 50 was a wackjob. You would be amazed at some of the thing's complete strangers who I've just met would say to me.

Please excuse my ignorance but to a certain extent don't they screen immigrants anyhow? I'm sure throughout the process (which can take years) they are asked all sorts of questions. I'd like to think Canada does some screening as it is, unlike what Merkel did which was pretty much a free for all.

jrkrideau said...

What the devil is an "anti-Canadian value"?
I am reminded of a question from a friend from France asking me what was "Canadian cuisine".

Anonymous said...

We are running circles around whether it's 'anti-Canadian' or 'anti-ReformaCON/Conservative values'. Leitch needs to EFF OFF. We had this discussion last October and Canadians decided that they didn't want any part of this crap. JH/Alberta

Anonymous said...

Trump is 4.4 points behind and closing.
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/

If Trump wins the cons are going to unleash a 5H!t storm of hate across Canada.

Anonymous said...

Post election surveys show that Brexit was a referendum on immigration. The issue is live.

Look at these responses:
http://harveyoberfeld.ca/blog/would-someone-tell-politiciansrefugees-vancouver-is-full/

Marmalade said...

When there is so much talk about "will I run or wait and see who comes forward" there isn't much unity in the Con party! I see the NDP as having similar problems! They are all so busy bashing the present Government, that they can't see the forest for the trees!