It seems only appropriate that the only thing Stephen Harper tweeted yesterday, was a little video of himself learning the proper way to pour beer in Ireland. Because I'll bet Great Leader was pouring himself more than a few last night, after what had to be an absolutely disastrous day for him and his ghastly Cons. The day when his campaign of fear and bigotry came back to bite him. And he shot himself in the foot.
Well so much for Great Strong Leader, who would try to brainwash into believing that all we need to do to feel safe is to trust our fate to HIM. Trust that only HE can stop the terrorist hordes from beheading us in our beds. And allow HIM to turn Canada into a police state. So we can feel even safer... But now it turns out you don't just need Great Leader to feel safe, You also need a gun in the house.
Well I see that the camera caught Stephen Harper in an unusually tender moment. Claiming that he had to turn off the TV when the sights and sounds of the Newtown Massacre became too much to bear.
“I think once you’ve been a father, you’re affected by the deaths of children in a much more profound way than other people. It’s hard for me to talk about it,” he said in a one-on-one interview with Global National anchor Dawna Friesen. “It’s hard for me to imagine how anybody can be so deranged, so angry, so troubled that they would do such a thing. It’s really beyond our comprehension.” Which was all very moving eh? If it wasn't so phony. Or so deranged.
Uh oh. Zombie alert. As if the Newtown Massacre wasn't scary enough, here comes Vic Toews, the Minister of Public Insecurity. Stumbling out of his crypt to claim that the Cons are protecting Canadians from gun violence. "We made (it) very clear that there are certain types of firearms that simply should not be in the hands of civilians. They have a very specific police or military purpose, but we believe that they should not be in the hands of ordinary citizens," Toews said. While conveniently forgetting to mention that the assault rifle that killed all those children and their teachers is easily available in Canada.
I was glad to see Obama visit the latest community in America to be shattered by gun violence. And I was happy to hear him say this.
"We can't tolerate this any more. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change. So maybe all the poor little children, and the brave adults who tried to save them, didn't die in vain. But I just wish Obama had mentioned the word "gun" instead of invoking "God" so many times. Because there was more than enough God and madness in America today.
I see Jared Loughner has appeared in court, looking crazier than ever.
While the Republican teabaggers run for cover like cockroaches. The maniac Glenn Beck consoles Sarah Palin.
“Sarah, as you know, peace is always the answer,” said Mr. Beck, reading from an e-mail he sent her. “I know you are feeling the same heat, if not much more on this. I want you to know you have my support. But please look into protection for your family. An attempt on you could bring the republic down.”
As if she was a victim, instead of a dumb right-wing demagogue who doesn't understand that words have consequences.
And David Frum makes an absolute fool of himself by blaming it on marijuana.
After horrific shootings, we hear calls for stricter regulation of guns. The Tucson shooting should remind us why we regulate marijuana.
The stoopid....it hurts. Frum may be more reasonable these days, but he'll ALWAYS be a nerd.
But here's the thing eh? It doesn't matter why Jared Loughner did it.
For the past two years, many conservative leaders, activists, and media figures have made a habit of trying to delegitimize their political opponents. Not just arguing against their opponents, but doing everything possible to turn them into enemies of the country and cast them out beyond the pale. Instead of “soft on defense,” one routinely hears the words “treason” and “traitor.”
Because the right-wing is going to wear this massacre until the end of time. We've got them on video, we've got them on audio tape, we've seen who they are.
And we can use all this to force them on the defensive, not just in the United States, but in this country as well.
Because which party in Canada tries to delegitimize its opponents? Which party turned our Parliament into a hyper partisan pig pen? Which party and what leader bullied Dion, calls Michael Ignatieff a Russian, and suggests that the opposition parties are TRAITORS?
Which party wants to flood our cities with dangerous weapons, and turn our streets sticky with blood?
Yup. I think we just got ourselves a new political weapon we can use to club them like seals. And a great election slogan.
From guns to medicare to prisons and funny money pensions. Stephen Harper wants to turn us into Amerikans.
The huge 10-by-20 foot billboards will go up in the key ridings early this week, calling on constituents to pressure the local MPs to vote with the government and support Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner's private member's bill to scrap the registry later this month.
And referring the rednecks... who can read....to their fancy website.
Because they and their friends in the big gun lobby got all the money eh?
While those of us who believe in a less violent Canada, must rely on the humble power of reason and gentle persuasion.
You know that homicide rates for women in rural communities across Canada are higher because of the availability of guns. You know that, while many gun owners use their weapons responsibly, women in those same rural communities are painfully aware that the shotguns and rifles in their homes are not just used for duck and moose hunting. Their injured and sometimes fatally wounded bodies are, too often, the damning evidence.
To save the lives of women in rural and urban areas. As well as the lives of police officers, teenagers, and so many others.
“Too bad none of today's MPs were there with them, as I was, that awful, heart-searing day in 1975 when a kid with two long guns in a duffle bag shot up Brampton Centennial Secondary School, killing 17-year-old John Slinger and teacher Margaret Wright, and seriously wounding nine students before killing himself ... Too bad the prime minister can't face the surviving Slinger children, Rob and Jayne, and make his argument for getting rid of the registry in front of them.” Oh boy. Don't you hate those gun nutters who would sacrifice all those lives just because they're too lazy, ignorant, selfish or paranoid to fill out a simple form?
But here's the good news eh? When the AmeriCon porkers say this:
"These MPs need to be reminded they work for their constituents who want the long-gun registry scrapped, not their Ottawa bosses who want to keep it."
The same thing applies to THEIR MPs in urban areas where the gun registry is popular.
Don't they need to be reminded they work for their constituents who want to save the registry, not the slobbering bubbas who want to kill it?
Because boy will it EVER. If the Cons kill the registry with this whipped government bill, it will trigger the biggest backlash this country has ever seen. No Con seat in an urban area will be safe.
We will make sure their constituents know whose bloody fingerprints are on that cold dead registry.
And of course, like I always say. Because you can't say it ENOUGH.
Sometimes I'm glad to be able to get away from Toronto, because this week all anybody seems to be talking about is how the city has been taken over by the Tamils. And it's driving me nuts. I've never heard such an avalanche of outrage over such a small peaceful protest. Nobody was hurt, a few drivers were delayed in traffic. In a city that can be as boring as batshit, it was the best show in years.
And in all the overheated ugly talk about these brown buggers , Tamil terrorists ungrateful immigrants, hardly anyone remembered that the Gardner Expressway had been blocked before by some dangerous looking white radicals.
So what's the problem eh? Not racism I hope.
And besides if people want to be outraged they should save it for this story.
That was buried by the story about the traffic tie-ups.
Because it's so sad. Witnesses said the kid was crying as his short life slipped away from him. And unlike the Tamil protests that are just an inconvenience, and as far as I'm concerned a very small price to pay for the pleasure of living in a vibrant multicultural city.
What's happening to some mostly black kids in some neighbourhoods is a tragedy.
And a REAL problem...
Stop the bullets. Kill the gun.
Support our Tamil neighbours. Understand their pain and desperation.
Stop the racist nonsense. Save our black children....
