Reboot Alberta

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Harper, Layton, Duceppe - the New Coalition of Political Hypocrisy

I caught Robin Williams on Leno last night. In another context he said "...the hypocrisy gods are unhappy and the pay back is going to be a bitch." Couldn't help but think of that reality in terms of Harper, Layton and Duceppe, and their new coalition of the willing to serve their own self interests and beggar the best interests of the country.

The hypocrisy of Harper to say the next election is unnecessary when he did called his own unnecessary election - the last election. He broke his own fixed date election law and ran from the House of Commons begging the Governor General to call an expensive and unnecessary election to save his own hide, the good of the country be damned. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the Democracy Watch law suit against the Harper Cons for breaking their own law.

Then we have Smilin' Jack Layton who all through last Parliament lambasted the Liberals for propping up Harper's radical regime. While he did his dog in a manger magic show of alleging the high road of constantly voting against Harper he now has turned tail and is now covering up for Harper's personal political ambitions and supporting the Reform Conservatives. Talk about "inconvenient truths."



The Liberals were not ready to run another election lat year. They debated and criticized the Harper policies but in the end pragmatism prevailed and they voted for the government policies partly because Harper made every bill a "confidence vote" for no good reason than playing political chicken with the good of the country. The Liberal did not want to be blamed for another unnecessary election, especially one they could neither win nor afford. Canadians all knew that and we wanted the minority parliament to work that way anyway.

Ignatieff is adamant that times have changed. He has money and moxie and the means to make Harper accountable. He intends to do just that and an eventual election is the litmus test for all of this.. Layton now is going to bear the blame for the next unpopular but ultimately very necessary election.



Now Layton is the one who can't afford an election. He is withering in the polls, money is tight, has lost his mojo and he has messed up his message with superficial and cosmetic musings about changing the party name. The only thing New about the New Democrats is the utter hypocrisy of them now propping up the Harper Reform Conservatives. This new found coalition between Layton and Harper is not for the good of the country but to save Layton's political hide.

Duceppe is on autopilot politically. He wants out of the game but can't find an effective exit strategy. An unpopular election that has not yet squeezed the same amount and kind of blood out of Harper as last election will not serve him or his party interests well. Remember last time Harper was even more hypocritical in Quebec, pandering promises to recognize Quebec as a nation and reviving the mythical fiscal imbalance issue in that province. If the Bloc can't play its separatists card for domestic political purposes, they risk the fate of the PQ provincially - a Liberal majority.

And finally we have the sad and sorry state of affairs around Rahim Jaffer's arrest for drunk driving and possession of cocaine. Jaffer is former Harper poster-boy MP from Alberta who lost the last election to a New Democrat of all things. He was just arrested for drunk driving an possession of cocaine in Ontario. An arrest is far from a conviction and he is innocent until proven guilty. It is important to remember that!



In the meantime social media is all over this hypocrisy and that is fair game politically. This is because of the hard line law and order fear based Reform Conservative radio ad he did in the last election campaign. Here is what he said then:

"Jack Layton and the Ottawa NDP have publicly supported the legalization of marijuana. In fact when asked about marijuana Jack Layton called it a wonderful substance which Canadians should be free to smoke at home or in a cafe. Edmontonians understand how difficult it is to make sure our children make the right choices especially on serious issues like drug use. The Conservative Party supports drug free schools and getting tough with drug dealers who sell illegal drugs to children. Don't let our schools go up in smoke..on October 14th vote Conservative."
Rahim Jaffer
Radio Ad
(in the final days of the 2008 Federal Election)

(HAT TIP to Buckdog)



Yes Robin Williams is right. The hypocrisy gods are unhappy and the payback is going to be a bitch. The payback will come in the next election and no hypocrite, be it Harper, Layton or Duceppe, will be safe from the wrath of the vengeful voter.

8 comments:

  1. Ken,

    Not that I am the full-time blog-pro you are, I posted something similar on my own little blog (newsarepta.blogspot.com).

    Being the Green candidate for Vegreville-Wainwright (call me Sysyphis), I'm torn between wanting the election so Canada could potentially send someone serious to the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change in December, personally I don't want another election because I know the toll it takes on my family, farm and (real) job.

    The hypocrisy flying around this potential call to the polls is stunning. The only real thing that will come of another election is more voter disgust and apathy. Canadians simply aren't stupid enough to forget the stands each of these parties had a few short months ago and who sided with whom.

    This whole scene reminds me of the bits of Orwell's 1984 when history kept changing, each time being erased from record to create the impression the current situation had always been so.

    As for Mr. Jaffer, you are right; we have to wait to see if he is convicted of drunk driving and possession of cocaine. If he is, I will be pretty tough on him. I remember his radio ads at the end of the last campaign telling voters that his party opposed the de-criminalisation of marijuana because it opposed getting young people hooked on drugs. It was a direct attack on the ND and Green policies. More hypocrisy.

    If the charges are valid, it will be interesting how the Conservatives distance themselves from Rahim (and you know they will).

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  2. Anonymous10:58 am

    What's interesting is that ultraconservative MLA Jonathan Dennis has been appointed Parliamentary Assistant for Energy. Watch royalties be abolished - we'll never get our fair share.

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  3. Anonymous5:07 pm

    Another expected appointment by "Top Soil" Eddie. Calgary is making poor Eddie quake in his rubber boots. What a useless tit.

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  4. Anonymous7:24 pm

    Harper is able to argue all of sides of an issue. He's against the coalition...unless it supports him. I am amazed that voters are so disinterested in politics that they don't see the hyopcrisy.

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  5. Glen Argan9:07 am

    Well, it's right that the federal Liberals are finally acting like the official opposition, forcing the Tories to rely on smaller parties to remain in office. The political situation is inherently unstable and will remain so until (yet another)federal election is called to clarify it. If the NDP and/or the Bloc choose to prop up the Tories for the short term, that is not an inherently bad thing, even if they have to eat merde to do so.

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  6. Anonymous3:54 pm

    I think people should learn from the 2006 PC Alberta Leadership Contest.

    If the provincial PC's, ND's and Libs were smart they would all be buying Wildrose Alliance Party memberships and voting for the person who is NOT the perceived front runner.

    Why is it only Libs can play that game? LOL

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  7. Anonymous9:50 am

    Propping up is not a coalition!

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  8. Layton has said he will continue to support Harper for as long as it takes to get EI through. Harper will now do everything in his considerable power to delay any EI reform bill being actually passed. Layton will be the victime on intemittendt reinforcement and be sucked into supporting all kinds of dangerous and destructive ultra conservative political proposals.

    What will it take to break a sustained support of Harper's government by Layton? Layton by declaring this kind of support is as good as any formal coalition.

    He has painted himself into a political corner that neuters him and his party. It also hurts the people he says he is trying to help, the unemployed.

    Again self-perpetuating political pragmatism trumps good government and sound public policy principles. This time it is Layton who copying the Harper approach to politics.

    Sustain power at all cost is the goal of the political gamesmanship being played by both Harper and Layton while good people continue to suffer all over this country through no fault of their own.

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