I was hoping for a quiet end to 2018 in Canada, because quite frankly I'm beat. The ugly year took so much out of me, I might need to be pushed across the finishing line in a wheelbarrow.
And I'm not sure I should be wildly celebrating the arrival of 2019, because it could and probably will be worse.
But one thing is for sure, for me this year ended with a bang.
When I woke up and discovered there was a rumour flying around Twitter that I had died of cancer.
I knew that some dark invisible force had recently given Andrew Scheer a big boost in the polls, and I thought I knew what it was.
A primeval panic and new eruption of toxic Trudeau hate, caused by Scheer's false claim that Trudeau was about to erase our borders, by signing the U.N. Global Compact on Migration.
And was encouraging the migrant hordes to invade our country.
I haven't read or heard anything by Rex Murphy for so long, that I thought he was missing in action, or retired, or dead.
But no, the crusty old oil pimp is still going, still ranting and raving over at the National Post.
And he's just as ghastly as he ever was...
It's like a third rate werewolf movie starring the creepy Andrew Scheer. And while it may be tacky it's also really scary.
For the hairy Scheer may be a serial liar, a religious fanatic, a racist, a misogynist, a xenophobe, a climate change denier and an oily messiah who would happily torch the planet for crass political purposes.
But in the eyes of our terminally mediocre media he's just lil' Andy who can do no wrong.
It's Christmas Day in Canada. A day for me to give thanks for living in a country still so peaceful and so beautiful.
And a day when I rerun a post I wrote years ago to try to explain what Christmas means to me.
I was going to write something different this year, because so many things have changed, and the reasons I wrote that post have been lost in the passage of time.
But in the end I didn't.
So for one last time, here we go again...
It's hard to understand how much damage Brexit has done to Britain. You really have to see it for yourself, as I did last week.
Jobs are being lost or moving to the EU, people are stockpiling food and medicines in case the hapless Theresa May has to settle for no deal in March.
Fear and loathing are everywhere, and even the army is being made ready in case anarchy erupts.
But somehow the spirit of Christmas still clings to life.
As we all know only too well, Andrew Scheer is a serial liar who mangles the truth over and over again, to try to smear and destroy Justin Trudeau.
He lies about our booming economy, he lies about the state of our criminal justice system, he lies about everything.
But this has to be his biggest lie yet.
I must admit it wasn't easy to leave Edinburgh, where I spent the last week celebrating an early Christmas with my family and friends.
And everything seemed more alive than anything in Canada these days.
It's not that I wasn't glad to come home, or don't enjoy the simple pleasures of the place where I live.
I think you know how I feel about Andrew Scheer's kooky far right campaign against the U.N.'s Global Compact on Migration.
It's another Big Lie. It appeals to the worst instincts of humanity. It's the call of the loony fascist. And it's dangerous.
But I have to admit I never thought that many Canadians would be fooled by Scheer's monstrous lie.
And now I'm not so sure.
As you can probably tell from the sporadic state of my blogging, I am rapidly approaching Christmas mode, where I try to think about only nice things, and have as much fun as possible.
So when I was skating the other day, I was dreaming about how at this time next year, the Cons will be splattered all over the ice.
Judging by the way their polls have been tanking.
Only to go home, and get a horrible shock.
Whatever you do, don't tell Canada's grubby gang of Con climate change deniers anything. For I doubt they could survive the shock.
They want us to believe that fighting global warming is too expensive, not worth it, and bad for business.
And of course, that Justin Trudeau's job killing carbon tax is the worst tax ever in the history of the world.
But sadly for that Con gang, it seems that some of the world's biggest investors beg to disagree.
Pity poor Andrew Scheer, he's never looked more like a loser. He just can't seem to do anything right.
He has tried everything to try to smear and destroy Justin Trudeau. And I mean EVERYTHING.
But it's just not working.
Last week he was rummaging through the closet of kooky conspiracies, claiming that the U.N. Global Compact for Migration was a plot to undermine our sovereignty and erase our borders.
Only to be made to look like a serial liar. Again.
It takes a certain kind of religious fanatic who would work hard to prevent gay people from visiting their dying lovers in hospital.
It takes a monster to brag about it.
But Jason Kenney did both.
In the early 1990's he helped overturn a spousal rights law in San Francisco.
In the year 2000, in a campaign speech, he bragged about it.
When I saw this picture of Doug Ford and Justin Trudeau yesterday I could almost imagine what Ford was saying.
"Gimme, gimme, gimme everything I want *snort* or I'm picking up my marbles and going home!!!!"
So I wasn't surprised when the Trudeau government just shrugged its shoulders.
For they must surely know that Ford is just trying to deflect attention from his many scandals.
It was snowing in Montreal this evening, just as it was on the day they were murdered.
So the fourteen light beams shimmered as they rose from Mount Royal, one by one into the sky.
One for every woman murdered in the École Polytechnique Massacre 29-years-ago.
Murdered just for being women, by a man who hated them.
A long time ago I started warning people that Andrew Scheer was not what he appeared to be. He was an alt-right sympathizer and a threat to this country and its values.
Some laughed at that warning, finding it impossible to imagine that the apparently bland nerd with the creepy smile could threaten anyone or anything.
Well Scheer has now revealed or exposed himself, and this is who he really is.
I'll never forget how Mad Mike Flynn used to warm up Donald Trump's election campaign rallies, by getting the Trumpling mob to chant "lock her up, lock her up, LOCK HER UP!!!!!!!"
Triggering a foaming frenzy of hatred aimed at Hillary Clinton, that was drenched with misogyny and depravity.
And of course I also can't forget the few weeks that Mad Mike actually served as Trump's National Security Advisor.
I think it's safe to say that Andrew Scheer is not the man he used to be. His creepy smile has been replaced by a werewolf snarl.
He's angry, he's desperate, his polls are tanking, some in his party are already talking about quickly replacing him if he loses to Justin Trudeau.
And that old sinking feeling that time is running out, is driving him to new depths of degradation.
It definitely doesn't look like the ideal place to hold a climate change conference.
The Polish city of Katowice, the centre of the country's coal industry.
Where even though between November and May smog can hang heavy in the air, most Polish leaders aren't sorry, they're proud of serving King Coal so faithfully.
But nevertheless it is the site of the COP24 UN climate conference, where many people including David Attenborough, believe we're running out of time to stop human civilization from collapsing.
As you know, I have always portrayed Andrew Scheer as a deplorable clown.
A dangerous clown, but a clown nonetheless, who likes to blame everything bad on Justin Trudeau's carbon tax.
And now that Scheer is also blaming the tax for GM's closure of that Oshawa plant, even some in our useless media are starting to agree with me.
The creepy Con clown is losing his marbles
I've spend the last few days flying around all over the place, so it's great to be back home.
And to make matters even better, the rink is fully functional.
But just as I was saying to myself, yes, that's MY Canada.
Then I saw this.
It was supposed to be a political fairy tale. Caroline Mulroney, the daughter of Brian, joining the Ford regime.
And on her way to one day being crowned prime minister.
But sadly for her and her father, it just didn't work out that way.
After the glittering coach that was supposed to carry her to the doorway of 24 Sussex
Drive, suddenly turned into a pumpkin.
I'll never forget how in the dying days of the sinister Harper regime, Joe Oliver, who was the finance minister, suddenly disappeared.
And since the economy was threatening to collapse like a rotten pyramid scheme, and the Cons had "lost" the surplus, I suggested they should put Oliver's face on milk cartons in case he tried to flee the country.
But then he returned, he "found" the surplus by raiding the rainy day fund, and selling GM shares at a loss.
For about a week, along with hundreds of thousands of people all over the world, I have been keeping an online vigil for 95-year-old Harry Leslie Smith.
Harry had been battling pneumonia in a hospital in Belleville, Ontario.
He fought bravely, but early this morning that battle finally ended.
But what a life it was.
Donald Trump has been in a bit of a funk recently, ever since the Democrats wiped out his House majority. It seems he can't stand any more bad news.
So it's hardly surprising that he would try to bury a climate change report produced by his own government. By releasing it on Black Friday the day after Thanksgiving.
And claiming he didn't believe it.
But unfortunately for Trump it's not that simple.
I've tried to describe how Andrew Scheer must be feeling these days, but words and pictures seem so inadequate.
How can I possibly convey the depth of his despair, or his growing panic?
Especially now that John Ivison has revealed that some of Scheer's Cons are already sharpening their knives, and that he'll be on their cannibal menu very quickly if he fails to defeat Justin Trudeau.
But I think I've finally found a way to quantify that despair.
This is how desperate he is.
I don't know when Alberta first became the vile hate mongering place it is today. Maybe it was before my time.
Or maybe ten years of the greasy oil pimp Stephen Harper made it think that it was better than all the other provinces put together.
A little bit of ugly America in Canada.
But what nobody can deny is that it is a hate mongering place.
And these are just the latest examples.
Andrew Scheer has been keeping a very low profile recently. He's been absent from Question Period quite a few times.
He seems to be hiding from the media, the fake news as he calls it.
But then who can blame him?
His situation is desperate. It's all going horribly wrong. He's trailing Justin Trudeau by double digits in the polls.
And this must really hurt.
I've been warning for a long time about the way the toxic Trudeau haters out there have been slowly poisoning our country.
And how Andrew Scheer's obsessive never-ending attacks on the prime minister, in the style of Ezra Levant's ratty Rebel, have debased our politics, and made Canada a more dangerous place to live in.
And yesterday this toxic hatred bubbled up again, when Justin Trudeau visited Calgary.
And about a thousand protesters turned out to meet him.
It's Thanksgiving Day in America. A day for our neighbours to watch the floats in the Macy's parade, or just enjoy some quality time around a dinner table.
And of course, stuff themselves with turkey.
But as we all know, the U.S. is not a happy place these days.
If you've been following the Brexit nightmare, you know what trouble Theresa May's Con Britain is in.
With a new last chance deal, May herself, and the British economy in danger of going under.
The Cons fighting themselves, and millions clamouring for a second referendum.
But despite all that chaos, all that screaming, and all that despair, Brexit's biggest Canadian supporter and super groupie isn't budging.
When I last left Andrew Scheer and Doug Ford, they were hanging out together at the Ontario Con convention. Vowing to go after Justin Trudeau's dastardly carbon tax.
And looking like they were about to get hitched.
But what a difference just a couple of days can make eh?
Now Scheer is desperately looking for a quickie divorce.
Ever since he became leader of the Cons, Andrew Scheer has called Justin Trudeau all kinds of ugly names.
Criminal gang member supporter, coward, terrorist sympathizer, you name it.
But now, believe it or not, Scheer aka Schmear, has outdone himself.
And come up with an even uglier name to call Trudeau.
There was Doug Ford last night at the Progressive Conservative Convention, addressing his adoring Ford Nation.
No doubt getting one standing ovation after the other.
Because he likes them a lot.
And even though his government is already struggling to recover from one ugly scandal after the other, and is already running Ontario into the ground.
There he was going after Justin Trudeau.
They call themselves Extinction Rebellion. This is their declaration.
When Government and the law fail to provide any assurance of adequate protection, as well as security for its people’s well-being and the nation’s future, it becomes the right of its citizens to seek redress in order to restore dutiful democracy and to secure the solutions needed to avert catastrophe and protect the future. It becomes not only our right, it becomes our sacred duty to rebel.
And today their rebellion began.
It was quite the scene the other day. Emmanuel Macron at the Arc de Triomphe warning about the dangers of the new far-right nationalism, and accusing those who support it, of betraying patriotism.
While Donald Trump sat there looking like he was about to explode.
And in fact did explode, when he returned home, and fired off a stream of crude and childish tweets in the general direction of Macron. As only that man beast could.
But while Justin Trudeau, and I'm sure most Canadians, naturally sided with Macron against the bully Trump.
One well known Canadian bully, Stephen Harper, did not.
As I'm sure you know, the idea of Andrew Scheer as a crime buster makes me howl with laughter.
That angry nerd would protect us from the criminals?
And who I wonder would protect us from him and his Cons?
Especially since Scheer's Crime Busting Plan turns out to be practically fraudulent.
There was clearly something terribly wrong with Donald Trump during his recent visit to France.
He seemed bitter, paranoid, angry. Afraid of everything, including the rain.
It was clear that the midterm election losses had hit him hard, and shattered his once lacquered confidence.
But who knew it was as bad as this?
Ever since Maxime Bernier left the Cons to form his own party, the People's Party or Max Party, Andrew Scheer has been desperately trying to ignore him.
Trying to pretend, in public at least, that Mad Max is not a real threat to Scheer's fevered plan to DESTROY Justin Trudeau.
And no doubt hoping that because he calls himself Mad Max and attracts all kinds of crazies, that Bernier would soon flame out. And that his party would go down with him.
But sadly for Scheer, it seems that Bernier's party is off to a roaring start, and that Mad Max is a real threat.
If you remember, when we last left Andrew Scheer he was riding with the notorious Ford Gang, the ugliest group of Con climate change deniers this country has ever known.
And although I thought that Justin Trudeau's carbon tax rebate might make Scheer reconsider stealing money out of the pockets of Canadians, I was wrong.
He's doubling down and getting Boss Ford to endorse him as Canada's next prime minister.
As I'm sure you know, Donald Trump's trip to France, to mark the 100th anniversary of World War I, was a diplomatic catastrophe.
And a PR disaster similar to the time he climbed the steps to Air Force One, with a long piece of toilet paper stuck to his shoe.
He was heavily criticized for using light rain as an excuse to skip a visit to a U.S. cemetery.
He was trolled by the French Army.
It's Remembrance Day 2018, and a time to remember all those who fought and died for our country.
A time to remember and celebrate my fighting grandfathers.
I can only imagine what state Donald Trump must be in this weekend, after the way he reacted to the midterm election results.
Going after and then banning CNN's Jim Acosta from the White House, firing Jeff Sessions, mocking some of his own defeated Republican candidates.
Firing off inflammatory tweets like this one.
Denying that his staff used a doctored video to ban Jim Acosta.
Only to lie like a thief, again. And sound like a maniac.
Ever since the Tony Clement sex scandal became public, questions have been asked about Andrew Scheer's role in that tawdry affair.
How long did he know that Clement was bothering women? And why did he hesitate to throw him out of the caucus?
Scheer says he believed him when he said it was just a one off affair, a terrible mistake etc etc.
But it seems at least one well known Con finds that claim outrageous.
I must admit that when I first saw the new Maclean's cover, I was stunned, and horrified.
And then I almost fell out of my chair laughing.
For how could anyone in their right mind portray those five old white Con reactionaries as The Resistance?
Or suggest that they were Justin Trudeau's "worst nightmare?"
When in fact the anti-carbon tax mob is the planet's worst nightmare, and we are The Resistance.
It's funny. Andrew Scheer was in Toronto yesterday trying to scare Canadians into voting for him.
By accusing Justin Trudeau of being soft on crime.
Only to find himself accused of being too soft on Tony Clement.
Well it wasn't the big blue wave I had been hoping for, to bury the sinister sand man Donald Trump once and for all.
But it was quite a wave, it has crippled Trump.
Democrats seized control of the House while Republicans held the Senate on Tuesday in a national referendum on President Trump that drew record numbers of voters to the polls and opened the door to tougher oversight of the White House over the next two years.
The dramatic conclusion of the most expensive and consequential midterms in modern times fell short of delivering the sweeping repudiation of Trump wished for by Democrats and the “resistance” movement. But Democrats’ takeover in the House still portended serious changes in Washington, as the party prepared to block Trump’s agenda and investigate his personal finances and potential ties to Russia.
And all you have to do to know how deeply the orange fascist has been wounded, is to read his pathetic tweets.
