Although it wasn't a very big story, and most Canadians didn't pay it much attention, the Con leadership race was one of the recurring horror stories of 2016.
A real zombie apocalypse and a virtual cesspool of bigotry. With Kellie Leitch going after immigrants, Brad Trost going after LGBT Canadians, and Rona Ambrose just standing there looking stupid.
So who can be surprised that the year should end with the ghastly Steve Blaney, who is both bigoted and stupid, showing us all how low HE can go?
By attacking Justin Trudeau for tweeting this:
As only Blaney could.
Conservative leadership candidate Steven Blaney took a shot at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Wednesday for responding faster to the death of actress Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the Star Wars movie franchise, than to the deaths resulting from the December 19 Berlin Christmas market terrorist attack.
Even though Trudeau did react on the day of the massacre, and Blaney should know he's a big Star Wars fan...
Having you'd think learned that the hard way.
But then what do you expect when Blaney isn't the brightest bulb in the galaxy?
And this latest desperate attempt to get people to notice him came so soon after he held up an apparent bundle of nuclear rods at a leadership debate...
Which had some people questioning his sanity, and others wondering whether he was really brandishing a fasces.
Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Party of Italy was named for the fasces, which the members adopted in 1919 as their emblem.
For his campaign couldn't be more bigoted or more Benito.
He was always a faithful servant of his depraved Lord Stephen Harper, so he has no shame...
And he never will stop trying to turn Canada into a police state.
But then if you thought the sight of Blaney brandishing a nuclear rod or a fasces was bizarre, now we've got the Con clown Kevin O'Leary brandishing a spatula.
Kevin O'Leary says removing "all that crap" from Ottawa in the 2019 federal election will be a difficult procedure, but he insists he has the tool necessary for the job.
A big spatula.
And threatening to enter the Con leadership race. But only after the French debate because he doesn't speak that language.
But he does live in Boston, and he does speak Trump...
Just like Kellie Leitch now finally admits she does.
"I am talking about screening immigrants, I am talking about building pipelines, I am talking about making sure Canadians have jobs, so yeah, some of the ideas and language are the same," said Leitch, an energetic and plain-spoken former labor and women's affairs minister.
Surprise, surprise...
But while it all appears to me to be a sick joke, and I find it hard to believe what Frank Graves says.
While much can change in the next three years before the general election, Graves, the pollster, said a Conservative victory is possible in part because Canada's economic malaise has sparked the same kind of working class resentment that helped propel Trump to victory.
One can't help wonder how much those ghastly Cons will poison this country, before their day is over.
Which is why I thought this cartoon best summed up the Con leadership race...
And why I think the message for progressives couldn't be clearer.
Forget the spatula, pick up a shovel.
And in the New Year.
Help bury those Con zombies forever...
13 comments:
Trudeau's response to the Berlin attack was weighted, as he was speaking on behalf of all Canadians. Thankfully, he doesn't impulsively Twitter away on these matters without consultation.
On the other hand, his response to the death of Carrie Fisher was personal. He is allowed. There was nothing offensive or controversial in his response to her death.
These cons are, as usual, irritating, and disgusting. The image of O'Leary in a toilet bowl with a spatula is one that I'm trying to scrub from my mind.
Cheers Simon. Enjoying your blog daily :)
TS
The sickening Cons are so desperate to disparage anything JT says or does, and now Steve (fallout Boy) Blaney is timing his responses to someone's death. Get a life Blandey.
My advice to the smug O'leerie is save your spatula for when we scrape your sorry ass off the ground after we soundly reject you.
The caustic Trump style may work in trailer parks across the country but the vast majority of Canadians will not tolerate it. Just ask Harper about that.
I love the cartoon Simon. Hilarious and so true.
JD
My biggest fear is that those obsessed with ideological purity will run back to the ndp and split the vote for the Cons. As a L(l)iberal, I often get called a sellout but I remember arguing with doltish dipper types in late 2005, early 06 about the perils of tearing down the Martin government and losing national childcare and Kelowna. Then I remember arguing with them incessantly about the benefits of Dion's Green Shift plan 2008. Good on Adam Vaughan for destroying Olivia Chow on her hypocrisy on coming back to fight for child care when she and her hypocrite husband scuttled it for an extra 10 seats. Oh well, Jack got his extra seats and his chance to dupe the public into voting for him when he knew he was dying. It all has the rotten stench of Jill Stein and the Both Sides argument that plagued Hillary Clinton. The good news is, unlike Clinton, Trudeau is an effective politician that has not fallen in love with his own inevitability.
Three years ago, what percentage of Americans thought Trump would be the next President? What percentage of Canadians think Kevin O'Leary will be our next Prime Minister? We live in a strange world that is full of surprises.
For the Cons to become government once again, Trudeau and the Liberals would have to royally screw up. The job looses were started by the fall of oil prices and that wasn't Trudeau's fault. He made a smart move when he implemented the "cash for kids" plan. Parents get cheques each and every month. None of this tax credit business as with the Cons.
For the federal Liberals to loose the next election they'd have to have their hands in the cookie jar, Trudeau would have to loose his hair, the Liberals would have to ignore the results of any findings of the Commission into the Missing Women and then have to piss off most Liberals and a lot of NDPers,
Blaney isn't going to make it as leader of the Cons. He couldn't get the Party elected and he's bald. Leitch has a better chance.
Ambrose is smart to just "stand around". Whoever becomes the next leader most likely will be a dud. Then the next leadership convention, she will run and get the red carpet. Lots of people like her, not just those inside the party. We may not like what she says, her party, or what they stand for, but she is doing her job as Opposition Leader. She and people like Chong will take the party a little to the "left" as in Progressive Conservative. If the federal Liberals have a huge "f.u." such as a pipeline bursting or an tar vessel spilling all bets might be off.
Trudeau has to govern from a national perspective, but if there were a large enough tar spill on the west coast, the votes might turn. Now B.C.'s votes alone, should they go elsewhere would not be enough for him to loose office, but who knows if environmentalists got their national act together...............
The Con strategy is to pander to the Zombie groups,lock them in and then pick mainstream issues such as the economy,regional issues to woo another 25% of the remaining voters. Harper tried but lost when the price of oil plummeted;Trump was more successful by locking in the KKK, Evangelists, NRA , FBI, racist bigots, gender bigots and then trolling the general population with mainstream promises on the economy, safety,anti corruption etc. If 25% of the voting population fall into the Zombie ( deplorable crowd ) then the Cons only need 25% of the regular crowd to vote for them either because they believe their lies, always voted Con, want change , etc. Its like gambling with loaded dice, lock in the zombies early in the election cycle, occasionally blow the dog whistle and disseminate targeted propaganda to keep them alert while trolling the general population for another 25% support on more mainstream issues. This strategy only works if they are the only party wooing the zombies. Its game over if any of the other mainstream parties pick out any of the sub groups to woo such as anti immigration or niqab zombies.Perhaps the NDP will oblige but at present the Cons are counting on corralling all of the zombies and some mainstream voters who want change,always voted Con, believe their lies, or just don't like Trudeau. It doesn't take many additional votes when they have a pocket full of zombies waiting in the background.
In Canada a simple ranked ballot voting system would stop this game as mainstream voters that did not fall for the deception would rank them near the bottom as alternatives because of their affiliation with the zombie crowd.No chance to drive up the middle between Liberal and NDP vote splits. Game Over!
If you haven't already please log on to mydemocracy.ca and take the questionnaire that will help our government improve the voting system. Ideally everyone should be represented in a democratic system but lets at least get to a 50% plus ranked voting system before the zombie crowd gets another shot at forming the next government.
RT
hi TS...yes the Cons are disgusting, and that image of O'Leary in a toilet bowl with a spatula is one that will now haunt me. Thanks a lot. ;)
But the good news is that Con freak show will get them nowhere, and will keep them out of power for a good long time. All the best to you TS, thanks for all your support, and Happy New Year to you and yours !!
hi JD...I'm glad you liked that cartoon. I was hoping to insert one of my many graphics there, but I reluctantly had to agree that one was the best. *sigh*
But yes, can you believe those Cons? Just when you think they've hit rock bottom, they go lower. But the way I see it they're only digging their political graves so the deeper the better. Thanks for your support JD, and Happy New Year to you and yours !!!
hi anon...yes I too am afraid that unless the electoral system is changed, a rise in the NDP vote could allow the Cons to make a comeback. Which is why I've always tried to get progressives to unite. But luckily the Cons seem to be trying to brand themselves as the Hate Party of Canada, and as far as I can see the NDP is going nowhere.
So the danger of the Cons getting in is still a low level threat, and you can be sure we'll do our best to make sure it stays that way...
hi David....yes, it's a surprising world, but hopefully not THAT surprising. Kevin O'Leary will never be prime minister because among other thinks he doesn't speak French and is a monstrous asshole. But let him try. If he can turn the Con leadership race into even more of a shabby circus, I will definitely thank him... ;)
hi e.a.f...yes I agree, the Liberals would really have to screw up for the Cons to get back in power. And so far, although their record is not perfect, they must still be overwhelmingly favoured to win the next election. As for Rona Ambrose, I don't share your opinion of her. I blame her for enabling the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of drug abusers, by putting her foul ideology before the lives of Canadians.
And my guess is that after she is replaced by another leader, and the Cons lose the next election, she will disappear into the obscurity she so richly deserves...
hi RT...as I think I've mentioned before, you helped win me over to the idea of a ranked ballot. It favours either the Liberals or the NDP which is fine with me. I did take the my democracy quiz and came out described as a pragmatist. Which I guess is hardly surprising. Scots can be wild dreamers, but most of them are also very practical. I support all progressives who want to work together to build a better world, and anything that keeps the Cons at bay or out of power is good enough for me. Happy New Year RT to you and yours and thank you for your contributions to this humble blog.
I never underestimate people's stupidity. Stephen Harper was elected PM 3 times and people still think Jack Layton was a saint.
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