It's easy to forget the past, in the age of Trump, when the truth is so easily buried under a daily avalanche of excrement and insanity.
But two years ago, at this same dark time of the year, a desperate Stephen Harper was about to launch his Great War on Terror.
It had just been a few months since a gunman had stormed Parliament Hill, Harper thought he could use the fear card to scare Canadians into giving him another Glorious Majority.
And he wasn't about to let facts get in the way, or take no for an answer.
So when Justin Trudeau suggested we should examine the root causes of terrorism, Harper ridiculed him and accused Trudeau of "committing sociology."
While his yapping minion Pierre Poilievre continued to proudly proclaim that the root cause of terrorism is TERRORISTS!!!!
Ever since my days at McGill, I've been interested in studying the brains of Cons, to try to determine what makes them so dumb and so bestial.
And for years I've known that what sets those brains apart from those of normal people is the size of the amygdala, or fear gland.
Peering inside the brain with MRI scans, researchers at University College London found that self-described conservative students had a larger amygdala than liberals. The amygdala is an almond-shaped structure deep in the brain that is active during states of fear and anxiety.
Which in a stressful moment can turn them into fearful creatures, or quivering cowards.
The other day I wrote about how the threat of political violence was growing in Canada, and about all the death threats aimed at Justin Trudeau.
I wondered why the Ambrose Cons weren't doing anything to rein in their violent supporters.
And I also wondered why the MSM had ignored this story for so long, even though it's so obvious, so disturbing, and so dangerous.
So I'm glad to see that Chantal Hébert has noticed a foul stench in the air.
He insisted that he had done all he could to help those desperate Syrian refugees.
He tearfully claimed that he was torn up by the death of poor little Alan Kurdi.
But now it turns out that months before that tragedy he personally intervened to deny help to the most vulnerable refugees.
Stephen Harper and his Aussie attack monster Lynton Crosby must be delighted.
Not only do they now have the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal to wave around as a shiny bauble to try to distract voters.
The niqab issue is back in the spotlight.
The Federal Court of Appeal has denied the application for a stay of the Federal Court ruling in favour of Zunera Ishaq, clearing the way for her to wear a niqab during a citizenship ceremony.
So they can hope to keep riding it to victory.
It was weird out there last night. A massive modern art show was going on all over the city, from dusk to dawn.
And in my neighbourhood there were all kinds of strange and disturbing sights. Like people writhing on the sidewalk, or a hall full of 30,000 black paper moths, which when you were there seemed to close in on you in a threatening manner.
But it was the raven figure on the wall that I found most chilling. For it made me think of Stephen Harper lurking in the darkness trying to figure out how to increase the climate of fear.
And then I saw this story.
I must admit it is getting a bit grim out there. Fall has finally arrived, it's getting colder and darker, the skies over this ghastly Harperland are filled with flying monkeys.
Stephen Harper is a frenzy urging them on to destroy his enemies, with his poisonous wedge issues.
And of course this is a living nightmare.
Less than two months ago they were fitting him out for his political coffin, he was being battered by the Duffy scandal and growing less popular with every passing day.
Now he's back, and gunning for another majority.
From the moment Justin Trudeau was named Liberal leader, Stephen Harper and his foul Cons went after him in what can only be described as a bestial manner.
The brutish Harper has tried to portray Trudeau as foppish dilettante, not ready, and too dangerous to be prime minister. He has questioned his masculinity. Him and his Cons now calling him a terrorist sympathizer.
But most of all the depraved bully Harper has tried to turn him into caricature, a cardboard cutout, a doll. So he could more easily destroy him.
So in that regard I found Jonathan Kay's impressions of the real Justin Trudeau, the man behind that caricature, both interesting and moving.
We know what he has become; the monstrous leader of the most evil political cult this country has ever known.
A morally depraved demagogue who is using fear as a weapon against his own people, and using racism to divide them.
So he can snatch another another bloody majority, and use his anti-terrorist bill to turn this country into a police state.
Even if, as Ralph Surette writes, he destroys our Canada beyond recognition.
The snow is finally melting on the waterfront. If I close my eyes and feel the warm sun on my face, I can almost dream that Spring is here at last.
Which is a good thing, because there isn't much else to celebrate in Canada these days.
Not when the country is as beached as the boat in that painting. Looking grubby and going nowhere.
And not when its depraved leader Stephen Harper is using fear as a political weapon.
The other day I wrote a post where I asked, or begged our progressive leaders to elevate their game. To go big or go home.
And make the struggle to defeat the Harper Cons a larger struggle to save Canada and its values.
And I have to say that last night in Toronto, Justin Trudeau did deliver.
Well it couldn't have been a more grotesque spectacle, the war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu addressing the U.S. Congress, and claiming that all he's interested in is peace.
When the only reason he was there was to try to improve his chances of winning the next Israeli election, try to start a war with Iran, and try to stick a fork into Obama.
And the only consolation is that his ghastly speech is getting some REALLY bad reviews.
