As we all know, the Con media and the opposition have been having a ball attacking Justin Trudeau and his Liberals for charging people to attend Liberal fundraisers.
And suggesting that Trudeau could be bought for $1,500 bucks.
Even though he has denied that in a manner that seems to me both honest and reasonable.
"Any time I meet anyone, you know, they will have questions for me or they will take the opportunity to talk to the prime minister about things that are important to them," Trudeau told a year-end news conference.
"And I can say that in various Liberal party events, I listen to people as I will in any given situation, but the decisions I take in government are ones based on what is right for Canadians and not on what an individual in a fundraiser might say."
But even though those fundraisers are perfectly legal, and even though the idea that a casual conversation and $1,500 can buy the services of a prime minister is absolutely absurd, and borders on slander.
The Con media just can't let go of a good thing, for obvious reasons...
And even though parliament has adjourned for its Christmas break, they are still jumping up and down, shaking their fists at Trudeau, and vowing to bring him down in the New Year.
As this Postmedia writer does in this absurd diatribe.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s political fundraising habits are no worse than any other politician’s, which is a problem for him.
He’s supposed to be cleaner, more open and transparent, more honourable. Instead, he’s going to dinners with rich people who want things from him and holding out a bag.
Which begins on that ridiculous note, and ends with this gaseous emission.
The people with the money are not there for the food, the golf, the beautiful venue or the scintillating conversation. They’re not giving money to your favoured charity because they love it. They’re doing it, politicians, because they want you to like them. If you didn’t have power, they would not pay hundreds of dollars to be with you. You are not that great.
Which is not only wrong. Many Canadians WOULD pay hundreds of dollars just to meet Justin Trudeau, because like it or not he's that great, or that popular.
It also ignores the fundamental fact that political parties need money to function. And lots of money in a country as big as this one.
No matter what Postmedia's Andrew Coyne believes...
Stephen Carter, the highly respected political consultant, is right to call him out...
And the unfortunate truth is that since the Cons got rid of the voter subsidy, in an attempt to kill the Liberal Party, all political parties now have to resort to all kinds of ways to raise money.
No matter how desperate...
So unless parliament votes to bring back that voter subsidy nothing will change, and the Con media will just keep playing their tiny violins.
Or in the case of the Postmedia gang, singing for their suppers...
And sounding ever more pathetic In their desperate attempt to bring down Justin Trudeau and pleasure their corporate masters.
Because until they can prove that Trudeau or other Liberal ministers can be bought for $1,500, or that they've broken the rules by personally soliciting funds, they've got nothing. It is just slander.
The opposition parties have every right to question the Liberals and hold them accountable.
But the Con media's demonization of Trudeau, like the demonization of Hillary Clinton, is just pure Breitbart.
Or worse...
Isn't that disgusting? Doesn't it just reek of misogyny and homophobia?
Can't you see some of the ghastly old Trudeau haters in this country watching that video over and over again, and panting with pleasure?
While screaming "Trudeau is worse than Harper, or Hillary Clinton, or TRUMP!!!!"
*Shudder.*
But at least it does reflect the frenzied way the Con media, in their shrinking bikinis or bureaus, have been hyping that fundraising story. And trying to gang bang the decent Justin, to massage their masters and cling to their jobs.
They are just playing the same dirty old game. The gotcha game of little Ottawa.
And they should be ashamed of themselves...
14 comments:
So unless parliament votes to bring back that voter subsidy nothing will change...
Hmmm. Seems there's an easy solution open to Trudeau. Bring back the voter subsidy and ban political fundraising. That would really give the Cons and their media a black eye.
Think he'll do that? Nah.
Yeah it really is disgusting how they try to bring him down for clicks. Did you happen to see the article Den Tandt wrote about O'Leary. He claims he has the "chops" to become PM.
And these arseholes wonder why they are going out of business.
No matter who's doing it, the optics are not good. Compound that with the Con hyenas yipping and yapping and distorting the facts and we have a made in Conada scandal.
Funny how the Cons were okay with Harper using Duffy, Wallin and others to fly all over the country at taxpayers expense to do the exact same thing for him. It's laughable to hear these hypocrites drone on and on about JT when what they did(abusing taxpayer dollars) was far worse.
JD
In 2016, the Trudeau Foundation raised $535,000 from foreign contributors, compared to $196,000 from Canadians.
Sounds like the same kinds of ethical questions our American neighbours were concerned about in the 2016 election.
http://www.torontosun.com/2016/12/14/trudeau-channels-hillary-clinton
-MC
"Even though he has denied that in a manner that seems to me both honest and reasonable."
To me, he is being disingenuous in the extreme, so I couldn't care less what you think. I'm embarrassed every time JT is interviewed - never heard so many ums, ahs, ers and pauses. The man makes it up as he goes along, and isn't anywhere near the pro at it that Tony Blair was, the best public liar I've ever heard.
Yes I happen to find it embarrassing to listen to a tongue-tied Prime Minister who apparently cannot work out what it is he wants to say. Fife skewered him today and the interview in the Guardian was banal and useless beyond description.
Apparently I'm supposed to believe this twit, for that is what he is, when he ums and ahs his way through justifying charging $1500 for ten minutes with his handsome self, and cannot work out the awful ethics involved are borderline criminal as per the Ethics Commissioner. This also makes him inarguably stupid.
At a time when the racist right (let's not pussyfoot around calling peple like Leitch alt-right, a whitewash term if there ever was one - she's racist to the core) is flapping its wings and trying to take over the dumbshit rubes in the province of Alberta, more than ever we need a strong leader federally to stand up straight and condemn the racism. You can read other blogs here on Progressive Bloggers and find out that the mouth-breather white hicks are out and about in Ontario too, scaring non-whites and stapling up hate literature on telephone poles. It needs to stop and the perpetrators brought up short and charged with racist incitement. A tax audit on Rebel Media would also be a laugh and a half.
Where the hell is our fearless leader on this burgeoning racism? No f**king where, not to be found, completely 100% useless. No, he's off gladhanding the elite for $1500 a pop to ensure that in 20 years he'll have a prosperous retirement funded by pals as company directorships beckon.
At the moment I have zero respect for any of our federal parties. They're cronyism personified and IQ deprived except for a few idealists left purporting to be NDP, and one Green. As for the intellectual dimwits running around pretending to be provincial premiers, my scorn rating is even higher.
I therefore cannot understand this blog's defence of JT, no matter what idiocy he's up to. You defend him as a reflex action, dreaming up justifications that make as little sense as the blitherings the man himself utters. Climate policy seems to involve approving pipelines, electoral reform hah!, and the old Con citizen-spying Act is still in force. All promises and no action unless the action conforms to his preconceived notions. Form a Parliamentary Committee, and then trash the recommendations (Assisted Dying); Electoral Reform Committee, get someone as cabinet minister with a Grade 9 understanding of the task to tell off distinguished MPs' recommendations and put out a bullshite web page to ask Canadians instead. Great, huh?
I'm supposed to be impressed with this man? Why do you defend him to the death for his slipshod work? Goodale would be 10 times better as PM - at least something would get done that made sense.
I cannot understand a mind that is so partisan that commonsense and logic take a back seat to an appreciation of reality. Still, that is the cross you have to bear, Simon. I'm just telling you that I heartily disagree with your rah-rah defence of a not particularly bright airhead with great hair and no notional sense of ethics who happens to be the PM of our fair country. Blogs should be on the leading edge of criticism, not defending uselessness and blather and questionable ethics.
BM
hi anon... yes bringing back the voter subsidy would be the solution, and the only way to stop the parties from begging for money. But you're right it probably won't happen. The Cons would accuse the Liberals of eating tax payers money, and since the Liberals now have a fundraising advantage, why would they go to all that trouble? Common sense is common sense, but politics is politics...
hi anon... I think the parliamentary press gallery now lives in a world of its own. Ottawa is a small town and the reporters in that place move like a school of fish. Where one goes they all go. And no I didn't see Den Tandt's article, thank goodness. Anyone who thinks O'Leary would make a decent leader of a political party must be either totally desperate, or out of their minds....
hi JD...no it's not good optics, and as so many people warned before Harper killed the subsidy, it would inevitably lead to a situation where a small group of rich people could corrupt the political process. But as you point out, the Cons are hypocrites, and they created the situation we now must deal with....
hi MC...I don't think you can compare the Trudeau foundation to the Clinton foundation. The Trudeau foundation is much smaller, Justin has nothing to do with it, and as the article points out, most of the foreign contributions are from Canadians living abroad. Besides, dare I remind you, it's Trump's foundation that should be investigated...
hi BM... I can understand your frustration with political situation, but the fact is Trudeau is very popular, not just here in Canada but also abroad. He has demolished much of Harper's legacy in just one year. His defence of women's rights and gay rights may not mean much to you but that does mean a lot to me, and a whole lot of others. And while he may not be perfect who exactly is the alternative? The problem I have with progressives like you is that forget what country we are living in. Politics in this very centrist country requires an enormous amount of compromise, and sometimes perfection is the enemy of the good. At this time Trudeau and his Liberals are a beacon of light compared to the U.S. and what is going on in Europe. He comes across as the anti-Trump. And quite frankly at this time that's good enough for me. Am I satisfied with that? No I'm not. I'm far to the left of the NDP and I believe that only a massive movement can bring about real change. But the only way we are going to accomplish that is by forming a coalition, where progressives of all stripes will have to coexist. When I figure out how we can do that I'll let you know. And if you figure it out first I hope you will let me know. But until then the enemy of my enemies is my friend. And I have no time for sterile discussions. This isn't a political science class, it's very grim reality....
Yup, now that Trudeau's in power and he sees the fundraising advantage of incumbency, he's taking the road Harper took. In the end, that will be his ruin. You can't keep sucking on the crack pipe of donations without becoming dependent on your 1% dealers. And they won't keep feeding you 8-balls without a few favours. Pretty soon, you're turning tricks for them and their buddies, and telling yourself you're championing the middle class.
I cannot believe O'Leary would make a decent leader of a political party but he might do very well for the Cons. (evil grin).
Heck he might destroy the party so completely that a sane right-wing party like the Tories we saw with Stanfield, Clark, or, heck much as I detested him, Brian Mulroney, could evolve.
At the moment, we can console ourselves with the thought we don't have a combination of Harper in Ottawa and Trump in Washington.
The Chinese are bribing him wake up idiot. You think they are tossing around money for nothing? Cuz they want to hang out with Trudeau? BM is right, you are such a fool.
One thing I've noticed about conservatives that I think goes into their reactionary mindset is their need to demonize their political opponents to an almost cartoonish degree. Look no further than the right-wing in America made Hillary Clinton a child-molesting murderer with that Pizzagate nonsense or with Barack Obama and his birth certificate. It never has anything to do with policy and it's always contradictory (like Barack Obama can be an effete feckless dandy-like figure who can't stand up to Putin at the same time as being an evil autocratic tyrant out to steal all the guns... which he's too much of a wuss to use).
It's a defense mechanism that keeps them from having to make a moral choice to abandon the ideology they've invested in. Like saying "Sure Harper did A, B and C, but that Trudeau, it's just so much WORSE!" The alternative is admitting that liberals were right and they were wrong and they'd rather chew their own arms off than admit anything that blasphemous.
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