I love this photo for its cognitive dissonance. Alberta NDP Leader, Brian Mason is a Facebook Friend and a real friend. He is a hardworking and long suffering socialist politician in Alberta. He is a good guy...even if he is often wrong on the issues ;~)
Repubican VP Nominee, Sarah Palin was a one-time member of an Alaska independence political movement. That was before she went mainline as a moose eating Republican Governor in Alaska.
Some people wonder how I can be a proud Alberta Progressive Conservative and a staunch fan of Federal Liberal LeaderStephane Dion at the same time. Some even think it requires mental gymnastics to even be a progressive and conservative at the same time. They are usually harrow minded ideologues who tremble at the thought of uncertainty and would rather be wrong than curious or informed.
Looking at this photo of Alberta NDP leader Brian Mason and American Republican Vice President Candidate Sarah Palin shows me Mason "gets it." I also makes me smile and refreshes my memory as to why I love politics. It even helps reaffirm my faith that we can attract quality people into politics and for the right reasons - public service...not personal political power.
Looking at this photo of Alberta NDP leader Brian Mason and American Republican Vice President Candidate Sarah Palin shows me Mason "gets it." I also makes me smile and refreshes my memory as to why I love politics. It even helps reaffirm my faith that we can attract quality people into politics and for the right reasons - public service...not personal political power.
My guess is Brian understands how a citizen can engage in active politics and not be hampered by rabid adherence to a narrow ideology. He is going to have a lot of fun with this picture, especially amongst the staunch socialist in his party. Some of the more serious socialists in his circle will be praying this picture has been Photoshopped. Nope. It's the real thing according to Brian.
H/T to another Facebook Friend: Marisa Etmanski - who also gets it.
H/T to another Facebook Friend: Marisa Etmanski - who also gets it.
She was not part of an Alaskan independence movement. That rumour, just like the one that her baby was actually her daughter's, was pushed upon us by the CBC, who later reluctantly retracted it.
ReplyDeleteI know the point of your piece was to make a jest as to how unlikely it would be for Mason and Palin to be pals, but it is unfair to repeat a discredited rumour.
In fact, this picture likely stems from Mason's visit to Alaska during the recent Alberta Royalty Review. In his haste to make the PCs look like they weren't raising royalties high enough, he went on a "fact-finding" mission to Alaska, as Palin had increased royalties there. Hmm, Palin increased royalties? Not exactly the rightwing nutjob the left would like to make her out to be.
"Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982. There is no record of her ever being a member of the AIP, or any party but the GOP. Palin’s husband has been a member of the AIP in the past, but since 2002 has been a registered independent."
ReplyDeleteLittle more careful next time?
Mrs. Palin was NOT apart of the Independence Party...her husband was. Different.
ReplyDeleteI think someone's hot for teacher
ReplyDeleteAnd, I will indeed confirm that the photo is very real... Sarah Palin's royalty stance? Not so bad! Nearly everything else? Not so good!
ReplyDeleteIt's fine to have shifting allies and alliances... that is, in fact, a feature of Canada's own north. Witness the non-partisan legislatures of the NWT and Nunavut... going to school in the NWT as I did, I knew very little about political parties until the move to BC in high school...
Anyway Ken, we all know you are a secret Brian Mason fan. Great post. :)
Jeff.
Thanks for the kind words, Ken. I do indeed understand "how a citizen can engage in active politics and not be hampered by rabid adherence to a narrow ideology". Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Alberta's Tory government.
ReplyDeleteEd Stelmach's "new" royalty regime still leaves Alberta collecting some of the lowest oil royalties in the world. Alaska's royalty system, supported by Gov. Palin, brings in far more per barrel than Ed Stelmach's sellout scheme.
At $100/bbl, Alaska gets 60% more than Alberta. And under Alaska's system, the higher the price of oil, the greater the state's take. Contrast that to Alberta's Tory scheme, where royalty rates are capped at $120/bbl. When oil prices rise again, as they surely will, the big oil corporations will get yet another windfall.
The photo is from my visit to Alaska last January to study their royalty system. While there I was briefed by the Governor's staff, and met with state representatives from both sides of the house. My purpose in posting the photo was simply to illustrate that even a gun totin', bible thumpin', right wing Republican can stand up to big oil and get a better deal than Alberta's PC government.
There are Alaskans who think Palin is a Communitarian Socialist because the state owns the mineral rights, and she raised the taxes.
ReplyDeleteScary isn't it Aaron!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the commercial Brian. "Rabid adherence to a narrow ideology"? I wasn't aware that smoking bans, royalty increases, and greater funding for the arts are centrepieces of a hard right agenda.
ReplyDeleteNow back to our regularly scheduled program.
She may have been registered as a Republican, but party officials have said she had a membership in the AIP, and attended several of their conventions.
ReplyDeleteBut Ken, I thought you'd love Mason. It would only make sense with you being such a socialist.
ReplyDeleteNope Anon you are wrong. I save all my love for cowardly radical right-wing anonymous trolls.
ReplyDeleteAnything remotely right wing is "cowardly" or "radical" to an extreme socialist like you.
ReplyDeleteKen Chapman: extreme socialist.
ReplyDeleteHilarious. Now on to the federal campaign!
Glad you agree he's a socialist. So does anyone reading this leftist blog.
ReplyDeleteI am a Red Tory - a true Blue Progressive Conservative.
ReplyDeleteI like Mason and agree that he one of the good guys but, if I were him I am not so sure I'd want my photo, standing beside Sarah Palin, posted on line.
ReplyDelete