It has been almost a week since Stephen Harper emerged from his far right crypt to endorse Pierre Poilievre, and we still don't know why he did it.
Did he do it to help Poilievre? Did he do it to screw Jean Charest? Or did he do it to help himself, and try to make people believe that the Cons still belong to him?
We may never know the answer, but one thing is for sure.
It was an absolute disaster.
The far-right Con cult had hoped to portray Harper's endorsement, as the closest thing to divine intervention.
With their lardy lord reaching down from the clouds to bless his favourite son, and reassure nervous Cons that a vote for Poilievre is also a vote for Great Leader.
But it all went horribly wrong.
Harper's sudden appearance scared a lot of Canadians, by serving to remind them of the horror of his monstrous years in power.
The cartoonists had a field day...
And the media reviews can only be described as BRUTAL.
Andrew Coyne led the parade of nays and boos, by questioning Harper's dubious credentials.
The Harper Conservatives jettisoned every principle that he or they had ever stood for, from democratic accountability to a strong defence to balanced budgets to free markets. And they still won but a single majority in five attempts. They sold their souls, and got nothing in return; swung for the lowest common denominator, and missed. All that remains of Mr. Harper’s legacy, the sole basis for his reputation as an unbending conservative, is his scowl: a petulant Cheshire cat.
And warning that the ugliness of Pierre Poilievre will be used against him.
There can have been few more polarizing political leaders in recent Canadian political history. And if there is one thing ideally suited to the perennial Liberal strategy of stampeding the left-of-centre vote into the Big L corral, it is a polarizing Tory leader. If the Liberals succeeded at painting such relative milquetoasts as Andrew Scheer and Erin O’Toole as scary, heaven only knows what they will do with Mr. Poilievre.
Two of Harper's former cabinet ministers, Peter Kent and Lawrence Cannon, wondered why he didn't mention Poilievre's "batty" proposals. Like his absurd plan to use bitcoin to fight inflation.
Even though that made it only too clear that just like his hero Harper, he too is no Great Economist Leader.
Harper made no mention either of the far-right extremists Poilievre has been hanging out with...
Even though his sordid flirtation with those uglies could be used one day to charge him with being a terrorist sympathizer.
As for the once very Con friendly Warren Kinsella, he portrayed Poilievre as a loser, and mocked the Con cult's infatuation with Harper.
Ottawa, which is a few square miles surrounded by reality, was buzzing this past week. An aged sullen, miserly misanthrope (Stephen Harper) came out to declare his support for a younger sullen, petulant misanthrope (Pierre Poilievre). Only in Ottawa would that be regarded as news.
Stephen Harper, as Andrew Coyne pointed out in a blistering Globe and Mail column this past week, was essentially a failure.
But of all the darts aimed at Poilievre, this one probably hurt the most...
Because now they Canadians everywhere are laughing at him...Let Pierre debate. It's time to #FreePierre#cdnpoli #cpcldr pic.twitter.com/U5WzVeemTN
— Jean Charest (@JeanCharest_) July 28, 2022
20 comments:
With an east coast restaurateur having their windows caved in because the Prime Minister went there, it's all but certain that this won't be abating anytime soon, not with Peter Popinjay hard at work whipping them up.
The polls favouring CPC at the moment are accurate...for the moment they wre taken in, in any poll. The Liberals need a big-ticket item to get them a majority next time, so they don't have to put up with CPC and so on being such dorks in committee. One suggestion has been to use the surplus (that no one in Canadian media is speaking of...) to start a Universal Job Guarantee. Basically the government would help you find something tailored to your skills and pay a salary or help the company defray salaries. This way, people would be gainfully employed and pay taxes and there would be (potentially) less acrimony.
Although Alberta gonna Alberta, what with their Harper obsession. Once an oil-drenched ghoul, always an oil-drenched ghoul, I suppose....
Methinks the Pierre For PM - CPC - PostMedia / Star / Globe ‘Conservative Consortium etc etc Inc et al is going to begin to blow themselves out after the Pomp & Ceremony - Ceremonial Royal Changing Of The Stornoway Bedsheets. Dear Ms Candice Bergin did not ‘dignify’ the place ar all via her daily venomous snarks. She’s certainly done nothing deserving such a free ride.. aside from kissing Convoy Conspiracy Ass !
So basically every media outlet in the country is conspiring to put Pierre into 24 Sussex.
As wonderful as that might be, it is hardly the case.
Hi Pierre....What we are witnessing is the start of a terrorist campaign designed to intimidate Poilievre's opponents, and it needs to be ruthlessly put down, or the Con terrorists will tear this country apart. Your idea of engaging Poilievre politically is a good one, but nothing will work until he is Con leader, and is forced to defend his ideas and develop some kind of platform. For that's where we will finally have him where we want him, pinned down and exposed to the light of day. This county will have to choose whether it wants to live or die, and with what I know we have in store for Poilievre and his Cons, I still believe that we will destroy them...
Hi Salamander...I completely agree with you. The action will begin after Poilievre is anointed as Con leader, and the Cons lose a third of their supporters. There is no appetite for a man with a head so full of conspiracies, who would turn us into a prison state, and would rather torch the planet than do anything to confront the murderous greed of Big Oil. Let's not be afraid to call the man a maniac, and run him and his convoy crazies out of town. A lot of Canadians are in a post pandemic stupor, and that's understandable. But we have three years to snap them out of it, and outline the very simple choices they face. And by the time those three years are up, I'm pretty confident that little PP will be done like dinner, and even the Cons will be feasting on his remains. It will be the start of the Great Con Civil War, and we will be the only winners....
Hi anon@12:01AM...for a long time most of the media did conspire to try to make Pierre Poilievre Prime Minister. Now some of the most influential journalists and media platform are changing their tune, rather than be accused of being terrorist supporters, and are under furious attack by the convoy thugs. Which will only make them more determined to shrink Poilievre down to size, by revealing among other things who are the dark and oily forces that are really running the Convoy Party. Once that is revealed the Cons will fade to black and all that will be left is an ugly stench...
Al Jazeera columnist says Scumbag Steve may have picked the wrong horse (again). Or jackass, as it were.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/8/1/stephen-harper-may-have-picked-the-wrong-horse-again
Despite this, I'm getting worried Simon, about an engineered outcome, and escalation to the point of potential tragedy. My heart says that PMJT is a fighter who won't dare give PP and Harper the satisfaction of vindication that these anger-generating tactics and outright malicious lies (the firehose of bullshit as Bannon called it) are successful in driving good people out of office. But there's a nagging voice in my head that says he's using his family vacation to sit down with the wife and kids (and mom) for a heart-to-heart about what comes next and whether it's all still worth it, to run again?
The smashed windows, the death threats, the honking of horns, the assassination plots, the vulgar accusations, the fake scandals, the harm done to innocent civilians... I feel bad for him, because it concerns me that he'll think this is his fault, even though it isn't. Any other Liberal would still face the same vitriol, as one can see all over MPs and ministers' social media responses. Even the venerable Freeland, who is no doubt a target of Putin and his acolytes and even smeared by the ostensible left as a "Nazi sympathizer." Nobody would go unscathed by the CPC "comms strategy" which is, simply, a blowtorch.
The feckless media continues to whistle past the graveyard and obsess about trivial minutiae or global/provincial issues that are outside the LPC/federal purview, and it's driving anger PMJT's way. They won't talk about Orban's comments on race mixing or his connections to Harper or the Orbanization of the CPC into fascism. I know JT has a dogged determination (perhaps masochistically so) to see his mission through to completion, but I'm really concerned how bad things will get... Are Harper and PP so consumed with hatred for JT and the Liberals that they're willing to burn down the country to get revenge?
Hi Jackie...I share your concern about the safety of Justin Trudeau and his family, for there can be no doubt that Pierre Poilievre and his Convoy Party have stirred up enough hate to make a lot of Con crazies dream of killing them. And yes, I believe that Harper and Poilievre are so consumed with hatred for Trudeau and the Liberals, that they are willing to burn down the country in their desperate attempt to seek revenge.
But the good news is that the RCMP and other police forces are finally taking the threat seriously, and are rounding up quite a few of those potential terrorists. Which is bound to make most of the others squeal like hogs and run for cover.
They remain a clear and present danger and they must be ruthlessly hunted down. But as for the political threat, I can't help feeling that it is greatly exaggerated. I would disregard any polls taken at this time, for they still show that the Liberals, the NDP, and the Greens have more than enough support to win another majority. And once Poilievre is anointed, I don't think it will be too hard for the Liberals to aim for another majority. They have three years to expose Poilievre's gross incompetence and fascist tendencies. Three years to remind Canadians that our little Fuhrer would kill our medicare system and the CBC, as well as eliminating the $10 a day child support program, slash pensions, turn the country into a prison state, and do absolutely nothing to fight climate change, even as the planet burns. Put it all together, factor in a Con civil war, and I think our chances of winning the next election run from good to excellent. Now back to what remains of the summer. We're going to really hurt the Cons, so I want to be in really good shape, so I can enjoy what's going to happen...
His mission? What mission? He’s a politician, he won’t give you a second thought once he is retired and sitting pretty with a fat pension the rest of us can only imagine.
Notice how nothing is ever his fault? Yeah, great leadership there Justin.
hi anon@11:47 AM….You poor Cons never cease to amaze me. You not only allow Justin Trudeau to live rent-free in your heads, and make your miserable lives even more miserable. Sad. But you also are so damn dumb. For only a Con would attack Trudeau for earning what you call a “fat pension” for having led this country through some of the most challenging times since the Second World War. You completely forget to mention that Poilievre, the professional politician, earned his truly fat pension at the age of 31 for doing practically nothing. You know, I want to feel sorry for all you poor losers, but all I can do is laugh and laugh, and laugh …😂😂😂
As absolute cold dark Randian theory in motion that the Harper goverment was, it does not compare to the historical
Ukrainizaion of Canada, that happened under BM The PM lyin Brian. Take the NEP and free trade and replace them with him not being elected and Canada is Norway, not with a trillion dollar heritage fund but a 10 trillion dollar fund and we are ruling the world.
Did you know that Monsanto et el own 70% of all the agricultural land in Ukraine, hmmmm. Yeah they are growing GMO
An inspiring reminder of glory days before the cheating lying opposition stole the game. All fight clubs have a revered symbol from the past to keep the fans motivated during a few off seasons. Unfortunately the Cons should not be in the entertainment business but a tax payer financed political party paid to provide guidance and support in addressing some of the important challenges that currently or will affect the future well-being of Canadians.
RT
Simon, you think Justin Trudeau lives rent-free in Con heads?
Someone I know is still going on about Kathleen Wynne...poor Cons can't handle anyone non-standard (read empathetic, LGBTQ+, poc, etc.) having any kind of decision-making power.
They are the party of yesterday and the party of Christofascism and they must be put down, once and for all...
Only thing I did not like with Wynne was selling half of Hydro One. I think the government kept a majority share
Hi Steve...I have only a vague recollection of the Mulroney government, but nothing he did was as bad as the Harper years. And if Trudeau hadn't booted him out of power we wouldn't recognize the country we live in. However, if we hadn't ceded control of the oil sands to the oily Cons of Alberta, this country would be a better place, and much much richer...
Hi RT....I can understand why (some) Cons still venerate their Great Leader for having given them almost ten bloody years in power. But they are too dumb and too bestial to understand how much Harper corrupted them, and set them up for disaster. Now they are little more than a Trumpian cult, a cult with no policies except the glorification of Big Oil and the denigration of their opponents. A cult too dangerous to ever rule this country again. I hope that some Cons still recognize the damage done, and will help split the party after their little Fuhrer becomes leader. But I think it may be too late...
Hi Pierre....Yes, it's truly pathetic how the Cons keep going on about Kathleen Wynne, who may have had some faults, but was a million times better than the grunting corrupt beast Doug Ford. Wynne had the misfortune of being the leader of a tired party, but it was naked misogyny and homophobia that brought her down. By the end of Ford's mandate it will be obvious what a mistake the people of Ontario have made by electing and then re-electing Ford and it will be a brutal realization. But on the other hand, it will help bury Poilievre and his increasingly fascist Cons, so this ugly saga may have a happy end...
Hi anon@10:25PM....Yes, the Hydro decision was a bad one, but at least she did have some plans to deal with climate change, while now on a day when it's going to get close to 40 degrees, we have none. and with Dumbo Ford our climate future looks bleak indeed...
Conservative Senators are crossing the floor or threatening to cross the floor to independent status if Poilievre is chosen leader.
This is relevant because as we know (and Peter Popinjay likely doesn't...) the Senate still does have to give bills a few readings and modifications to those bills before they return to the House for royal assent.
And if these Senators are diametrically opposed to PP...he'll basically be hamstrung. And this why MSM has finally dropped the veil of pretense and is lobbying for a crushing CPC majority; and this is why Canada must, once again, stand fast against this so that CPC learn their lesson and present a humanist party with a palatable leader, instead of the HARper-spawn Poilievre...
Hi Pierre...I don't know what to make of the goings on in the Senate, but any division is music to my ears. It sets things up nicely for the Con Civil War that is sure to follow the election of Poilievre. How big that schism will be remains to be seen, but I'm pretty sure that over the next three years it will mean more support for the Liberal Party. Especially since climate change is going to be a ever bigger issue and the Cons have nothing to fight it...
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